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> Trafficking in women (http://lipietz.net/?article40)
19 May 2000 Trafficking in women Resolution
A5-0127/2000 The European Parliament,
A. whereas according to UN and IOM estimates four million people are victims of trafficking worldwide and 500 000 victims of trafficking enter Western Europe annually; whereas according to all indicators the number of victims is on the increase and the flows from Central and Eastern European countries have dramatically increased, in addition to the already existing flow from Africa, Latin-America, the Caribbean and Asia, B. points out that, as a rule, prostitution is not the result of a lifestyle choice, but is a phenomenon closely linked to the economic, social, political and cultural possibilities open to women in a given social environment and, in one way or another, is forced upon those who carry it out, and that sexual exploitation is a serious crime; points out that it is therefore necessary to focus greater efforts and resources on the fight against forced prostitution and trafficking in human beings, particularly women, aimed at sexual exploitation, C. whereas many victims of trafficking were kidnapped by international gangs, whilst others were sold by their families or lured away with false promises of work, D. whereas women and children are particularly vulnerable to this contemporary form of slavery, including sexual exploitation, where victims are deprived of any elementary right, have no legal status and are reduced, through threats and violence, to a state of extreme dependency, E. whereas many women who have become victims of trafficking are now living on the territory of the European Union and the great majority of them have no access whatsoever to social protection, F. whereas sectors other than the sex industry are involved in trafficking in human beings in general and in trafficking in women and children in particular, G. whereas trafficking in women is one branch of organised crime, with highly organised networks making huge profits from the exploitation of human beings and often being involved in other criminal activities such as drugs and weapons trafficking, with comparatively low penalties, H. whereas there has been a huge increase in violence and mental cruelty suffered by the victims and in violence between competing gangs, I. considers that the system of direct and indirect prohibition of prostitution used in the majority of Member States creates a black market monopolised by organised crime, which exposes those involved, particularly immigrants, to violence and marginalisation, J. whereas the Treaty of Amsterdam (Article 29 EU) has made the fight against trafficking in human beings one of the objectives for the implementation of an area of freedom, security and justice, K. whereas the conclusions of the European Council of Tampere contain a clear mandate for EU action to combat to combat trafficking in human beings, particularly sexual exploitation of women and children, since this is one of the sectors where efforts should be focused in order to agree speedily and as a priority on common definitions, incriminations and sanctions, L. whereas in the Hague ministerial declaration of 26 April 1997 the Justice ministers called on each Member State to appoint a national rapporteur to inform the government on the developments in the extent, nature and methods of trafficking in women, M. whereas in Tampere the European Council confirmed its determination to tackle illegal immigration, by combating those who engage in trafficking in human beings and economic exploitation of migrants, and urged the adoption of legislation providing for severe penalties for this crime, N. whereas commitments and policy statements have not been adequately translated into penal legislation; whereas the lack of specific legal provisions on trafficking in women in some Member States and applicant countries and the divergent legal systems and the lack of cooperation within and between the judicial authorities in the countries of origin, transit and destination allow traffickers to operate with impunity, O. whereas the lack of a common agreed definition of trafficking in human beings is a major obstacle to coherent action and policies to fight this crime, P. whereas the legal international instruments available, in particular the 1949 UN Convention on the suppression of trafficking in persons and the exploitation of the prostitution of others, are inadequate and there is no international instrument addressing all aspects of trafficking in persons; whereas, however, the perceiving of such instruments as inadequate is also due to a lack of political will or commitment to give priority to these issues, Q. whereas trafficking in women is a complex phenomenon and involves such aspects as human rights violations, the fight against organised crime, migration and visa policies, gender inequalities, poverty and socio-economic inequalities within and between countries; noting that a consensus exists on the need for a multidisciplinary approach involving all actors and for national and international cooperation between the origin, transit and destination countries, R. whereas the European Union needs to ensure the coordination and coherence of its action within various international fora, such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the Beijing review process, the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe and the G8, 1. Condemns trafficking in women and children as an intolerable violation of fundamental human rights and consequently as a criminal act and stresses that such violations take place increasingly and repeatedly on EU territory; 2. Welcomes the Commission communication which confirms the commitment to keep high on the Union’s political agenda the fight against trafficking in women and children, and expects practical actions/initiatives; 3. Points to the links between trafficking in persons, migration and asylum policies; calls on the Commission to analyse the extent to which immigration laws and practices in the EU contribute to trafficking and calls for a specific approach to trafficking in women beyond irregular migration issues; 4. Urges the Commission to take full advantage of all the possibilities afforded by Articles 30, 31 and 34 of the Treaty on European Union to combat trafficking in human beings for the purposes of sexual exploitation; 5. Calls on the IGC to insert in the Treaty a clear legal basis for combating all forms of violence against women, including trafficking in women, at the same time as integrating police and judicial cooperation into the Community pillar in order to achieve greater legislative coherence and stronger democratic controls; 6. Recommends a common EU policy focused on a legal framework, on law enforcement, on measures to combat and punish offenders, on prevention and on protection of and support for victims; 7. Believes that a clear and harmonised definition of trafficking is a pre-condition for effectively countering trafficking in women and that such definition should cover all slavery-like practices besides forced prostitution and sexual exploitation, e.g. forced labour and forced marriage; 8. Calls on the Member States and applicant countries
9. Calls on the Commission, further to the poor implementation of the 1997 Joint Action and in line with the conclusions of Tampere, to make specific proposals towards the harmonisation of national laws and methods of detection and prosecution, with a view to ensuring
10. Stresses the key role of Europol in crime prevention, analyses and investigation; calls on the Council to provide the necessary support and resources; urges the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to strengthen Europol’s resources, both personnel and financial, so that it can combat trafficking in women; 11. Calls on Member States to adequately tackle the tendency to use new technologies, in particular the Internet, for the circulation of supply and demand information by trafficking networks including sale of women by mail order; 12. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with Member States and the applicant countries, to take immediate and effective measures in the following areas:
13. Calls on Interpol to publish regularly, starting by the end of 2000, overviews on legislation and penalties relating to forced prostitution and trafficking in women and on police methods in the fight against trafficking to be reviewed and supplemented with information on all Member States and candidate countries; 14. Calls on all Member States to act on the Hague Declaration and to appoint without delay a national rapporteur on trafficking in women; 15. Calls on the Council, in cooperation with the Member States, to assign a liaison officer to one embassy of the Member States in the applicant countries and countries of origin for trafficking in women and children; 16. Draws attention to the emergence of new trends in trafficking and to the situation of women in conflict and post-conflict areas, where political, social and economic disruption and a large international presence create conditions in which trafficking can flourish; calls on the international organisations to sensibilise staff deployed in those areas; 17. Calls on the Member States, in cooperation with local/regional authorities and NGOs, to provide to victims of trafficking of insufficient means, free of charge:
18. Points out that people who are sexually exploited must be regarded as victims and that, in view of the great difficulty they have in escaping sexual exploitation, both the Union and the Member States must take the measures necessary for their reintegration through the use of Community resources and the development of programmes for combating social exclusion, as well as through special measures for the reintegration of female prostitutes; 19. Calls on the Commission to add to the measures proposed an initiative to encourage, as part of its legitimate multidisciplinary approach, cooperation between all those who are in a position to help the victims of trafficking in men and women, such as NGOs working in this field, judicial and police authorities in the Member States and in the applicant countries, Europol and Interpol; 20. Stresses the vital role played by NGOs; calls on governments and on the Commission to adopt measures to build capacity and support emerging local NGOs, in particular in the applicant countries; 21. Believes that the countries of destination should grant temporary residence permits to victims of trafficking in human beings, regardless of whether or not they wish to testify subsequently in court that they have been victims of trafficking; furthermore, calls on the Member States to grant, in the framework of readmission agreements, a special permanent residence permit on humanitarian grounds to women victims of trafficking; suggests that NGOs with established credentials in assisting women victims of trafficking be authorised to give their opinions as to whether or not residence permits should be issued; 22. Welcomes the intention of the Commission to present, before the end of the Portuguese presidency, a proposal for legislative measures for victims; 23. Believes that victims of persecution on grounds of gender and, more specifically, of trafficking in human beings, should be eligible for refugee status; 24. Calls on the Commission
25. Calls on the Commission in particular to extend the proposals it envisages presenting, firstly, to trafficking in human beings in general, so as to include trafficking in men and children and, secondly, to trafficking in human beings who are nationals of the Member States of the European Union; 26. Stresses that an effective EU policy to combat trafficking and violence against women requires adequate funding and demands that sufficient resources be allocated to the EU budget; 27. Calls on the Commission and the Council
28. Draws attention to origin regions such as the ACP, Latin America and Asia; calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the underlying causes through gender specific poverty programmes and development cooperation instruments ensuring sustainable and community-based development and to organise information campaigns; 29. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the governments of the signatory states to take account of the need to adjust legislation and the clampdown on trafficking in human beings in the countries of origin when verifying the implementation of the democracy clause within the context of cooperation agreements; 30. Calls on the Council to appoint a EU rapporteur on trafficking; 31. Calls on the Commission to focus, in the negotiations on the UN trafficking Protocol, on the definition of trafficking, its recognition as a national and international crime and on coherence with national legislation and existing treaties; 32. Calls on the European Union to provide the initiative for a UN convention on the punishment of persons who instigate, organise or perpetrate any form of trafficking in human beings; 33. Recommends that Parliament’s interparliamentary delegations hold regular talks on the problem of trafficking in human beings at the meetings they have with members of other parliaments and representatives of civil society; 34. Calls on the media, through its code of good practice, to limit or refuse publicity for the sex trade, with a view to making it as difficult as possible for networks engaged in trafficking in women to operate; 35. Stresses that the International Criminal Court could be an effective instrument for combating trafficking in human beings and calls on the Member States to ratify the statute of the International Criminal Court; 36. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the applicant countries. In French. ![]() |
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