High-level expert meeting in Warsaw focuses on updating handbook for protecting rights of trafficked persons

Updating a handbook created to assist OSCE participating States in establishing sustainable mechanisms and structures to counter human trafficking was the focus of a high-level international expert meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 13 and 14 December 2017.

The 30 participants in the meeting (25 women and 5 men) identified gaps, successes and emerging good practices in developing national responses to trafficking and approaches to protecting the rights of victims, which will direct the update of the handbook National Referral Mechanisms – Joining Efforts to Protect the Rights of Trafficked Persons.

The resource will reflect on issues such as sex, labour, child and organ trafficking, as well as human trafficking in crisis situations and for criminal and terrorist activities. It will also provide an overview of existing national practices in addressing these threats.

“OSCE participating States need to further clarify functions for each stakeholder in the national referral mechanisms, to prevent discrimination against victims of trafficking and establish a gender-sensitive approach to providing assistance to them,” said ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir. “This includes developing special strategies to counteract demand for sexual exploitation and for goods produced by victims of labour trafficking.”

During the meeting, participants highlighted challenges such as identifying victims of trafficking and ensuring their access to justice, rehabilitation and the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity. They stressed that the needs of victims should be placed at the centre of decision-making on developing responses to trafficking.

“Survivor leaders have capacity to inform governments and help make anti-trafficking policies, regulations and programmes more effective,” said Shandra Woworuntu, member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking and a trafficking survivor.

Issues and challenges related to ensuring respect for human rights while preventing trafficking in mixed migration flows were also explored at the event.

Siobhan Mullally, President of the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking body, Greta, and Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, stressed that “urgent measures of prevention are required to enable legal migration, and to tackle the deep-rooted inequalities and poverty that further exacerbate the risks of human trafficking.”