Training Related to Combating 

Human Trafficking 

in Selected Countries

February 2016

The Law Library of Congress, Global Legal Research Center

(202) 707-6462 (phone) • (866) 550-0442 (fax) • law@loc.gov • http://www.law.gov
This report is provided for reference purposes only. 

It does not constitute legal advice and does not represent the official 

opinion of the United States Government. The information provided 

reflects research undertaken as of the date of writing. 

It has not been updated.
Contents

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1 

Argentina..........................................................................................................................................2 

Brazil ................................................................................................................................................7 

Canada............................................................................................................................................16 

China ..............................................................................................................................................24 

Egypt ..............................................................................................................................................29 

England and Wales ........................................................................................................................35 

European Union .............................................................................................................................45 

France .............................................................................................................................................53 

Germany .........................................................................................................................................58 

Israel ...............................................................................................................................................64 

Italy ................................................................................................................................................73 

Japan ..............................................................................................................................................82 

Jordan .............................................................................................................................................86 

Malaysia .........................................................................................................................................89 

Mexico .........................................................................................................................................102 

Netherlands ..................................................................................................................................104 

South Africa .................................................................................................................................117 

Sweden .........................................................................................................................................127 

Ukraine .........................................................................................................................................133 

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................146 
Introduction 

Luis Acosta 

Chief, Foreign, Comparative, and 

International Law Division II 

This report, prepared by foreign law specialists, analysts, and consultants of the Law Library of 

Congress, describes the programs of eighteen countries and the European Union involving 

combating human trafficking, with a special focus on the training of personnel. 

Each survey provides a brief introduction to the jurisdiction’s legal framework on human 

trafficking, describes the roles and responsibilities of particular government agencies in 

enforcing laws against human trafficking, and provides a description of training programs or 

initiatives that are conducted by and provided to government personnel. 

Some common threads are apparent across the surveyed jurisdictions. A majority of the 

surveyed countries have laws specifically targeting the problem of human trafficking. Almost all 

the surveyed countries are parties to relevant international instruments addressing human 

trafficking, particularly the United Nations’ 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 

Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. (While Japan has not ratified the 

Protocol, it has enacted domestic legislation providing for prosecution, protection, and 

prevention mechanisms similar to those in the Protocol.) 

All of the surveyed jurisdictions have multiple agencies with specifically identified

responsibilities to address human trafficking; these usually include police forces, labor agencies, 

border control authorities, and immigration bureaus. Some countries, including Argentina, 

Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, and the Netherlands, 

have national interministerial or interagency councils, task forces, or committees responsible for 

coordinating anti-trafficking efforts across governmental agencies. 

The surveys highlight the diverse approaches taken by the covered jurisdictions to the training of 

government officials with respect to combating human trafficking. Information on training 

programs is identified for each of the surveyed countries. In several instances, training programs 

provided by nongovernmental organizations are identified. 

A bibliography on recent resources on international and comparative treatments of human 

trafficking is also provided. 

The Law Library of Congress 1
Argentina

Graciela Rodriguez-Ferrand 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY Argentina is a party to the major international agreements on human trafficking and has 

enacted comprehensive legislation at the domestic level as well. The Ministry of Justice 

and Human Rights is the authority in charge of the coordination of all agencies and 

institutions involved in human trafficking issues. There is a special unit on the Office of 

the National Prosecutor on Human Trafficking and Kidnappings that assists in the 

prosecution of the crime throughout the country. Training for staff of the Municipal, 

Provincial, and National Administration as well as social, cultural, political, and labor 

unions throughout the country is provided by the Instituto Nacional para la Administración 

Pública. Special training is also provided to members of the judiciary as well as all agents 

involved in the investigation of the crime of human trafficking.

I. Legal Framework 

In 1957, Argentina ratified the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and 

of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.

1

 In 2002, Argentina ratified the Protocol to 

Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,

2 which 

complements the UN Convention Against Organized Transnational Crime (the 

Palermo Protocol).3

In 2008, Law 26364 on the Prevention and Punishment of Trafficking in Persons was adopted to 

prevent, punish, and fight human trafficking of any form as well as to assist and protect its 

victims.4

 Law 26364 adds human trafficking as a federal crime in the Penal Code.5 

1 Decreto-Ley 11.925, Sept. 30, 1957, BOLETÍN OFICIAL [B.O.], Oct. 30,1957, http://infoleg.mecon.gov.ar/infoleg 

Internet/anexos/200000-204999/201859/norma.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/UBB4-UECN. 

2 Ley 25.632, Aug. 29, 2002, B.O., Aug. 30, 2002, http://www.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/75000-

79999/77329/norma.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/UE8F-L4XC, and Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 

Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against 

Transnational Organized Crime Nov. 15, 2000, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, http://www.unodc.org/

unodc/en/treaties/CTOC/countrylist-traffickingprotocol.html, archived at https://perma.cc/6VNM-DK2F. 

3 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, supra note 2.

4 Ley 26.364 Prevención y Sanción de la Trata de Personas y Asistencia a sus Víctimas art. 1, B.O., Apr. 29, 2008, 

http://www.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/140000-144999/140100/texact.htm, archived at

https://perma.cc/VS66-26XD, as amended by Ley 26842, B.O., Dec. 27, 2012, http://www.infoleg.gob.ar/ 

infolegInternet/anexos/205000-209999/206554/norma.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/Z8WL-Z62T. 

5 Código Penal, Ley 11.179 (Revised text 1984) arts. 140–149 ter, http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infoleg 

Internet/anexos/15000-19999/16546/texact.htm#19, archived at https://perma.cc/3FJT-7MQB; Código Procesal 

Penal Ley 23.984, B.O., Sept. 9, 1981, http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/0-4999/383/texact.htm#4, 

archived at https://perma.cc/XEP6-3828. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Argentina 

In addition, Resolution 731/12 of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights created the 

Programa Nacional de Rescate y Acompanamiento a las Personas Damnificadas por el Delito de 

trata (National Program for the Rescue and Accompaniment of Victims of Human Trafficking) 

to provide human trafficking victims with psychological, social, medical, and legal support

through the participation of an interdisciplinary team of security forces, psychologists, social 

workers, and lawyers to prevent and investigate human trafficking as well as to provide support 

to trafficking victims and their families.

6

 The National Program is the continuation of the former 

Office of Rescue and Accompaniment of People Affected by Human Trafficking created on 

August 2008 within the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights by Resolution 

2149/2008.7 

Within the Office of the National Prosecutor, there is a Special Unit (Procuraduría de Trata de 

Personas y Secuestros Extorsivos, PROTEX) (Office of the Prosecutor of Human Trafficking 

and Kidnappings) to assist prosecutors throughout the country with the investigation of crimes of 

kidnapping and trafficking in persons.8

II. Enforcement Authorities

Law 26364 created the Consejo Federal para la Lucha contra la Trata y Explotación de Personas 

y para la Protección y Asistencia de las Víctimas (Federal Council on the Fight Against Human 

Trafficking and Exploitation and for the Protection and Assistance of Victims) within the 

Jefatura de Gabinete de Ministros (Chief of Cabinet of Ministries) as the permanent authority in 

charge of action and coordination plans on human trafficking and to implement the law.9

 The 

Federal Council has the following powers: 

• Set up the strategic planning in the fight against human trafficking

• Recommend and approve the legal framework applicable to the crime of human trafficking

• Promote the adoption of standards and best practices to all those intervening in the fight

against human trafficking and the protection of its victims

• Oversee the Executive Committee’s activities

6

 ZAIDA GATTI ET AL., INFOJUS, TRATA DE PERSONAS: POLÍTICAS DE ESTADO PARA SU PREVENCIÓN Y SANCIÓN,

SISTEMA ARGENTINO DE INFORMACIÓN JURIDICA 15 (June 2013), http://www.jus.gob.ar/media/1008426/ 

Trata_de_personas.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/QCR6-LJ6F. 

7 Resolución 2149/08 of the Ministerio de Justicia, Seguridad y Derechos Humanos de la Nación, Crea la Officina 

de Rescate y Acompañamiento[Creates the Office of Rescue and Accompaniment of People Affected by Human 

Trafficking] arts. 1–2, B.O., Aug. 12, 2008, http://www.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/140000-

144999/143388/norma.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/VPE8-VH2T; see also Trata de Personas Oficina de 

Rescate y Acompañamiento, MINISTERIO DE JUSTICIA (official website), http://www.jus.gob.ar/areas-tematicas/tratade-personas/oficina-de-rescate-y-acompanamiento.aspx (last visited Feb. 10, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/QE8D-QBME. 

8 Acerca de Procuraduría de Trata y Explotación de Personas (Protex), PROCURACIÓN GENERAL DE LA NACIÓN 

[NATIONAL PROSECUTOR], https://www.mpf.gob.ar/protex/ (last visited Feb. 10, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/7DNZ-UH6T. 

9 Ley 26364, as amended by Law 26842 art. 20. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Argentina

• Disseminate statistics and reports prepared by the Executive Committee

• Promote studies and research on human trafficking

• Publicize a guide of assistance services available to human trafficking victims

• Promote international cooperation in the fight against human trafficking

• Prepare an Annual report that must be approved by the Argentine Congress and, once 

approved is submitted before international and regional organizations involved in 

human trafficking

• Approve the biannual action plan prepared by the Executive Committee

• Issue its internal regulation10

Law 26842 amending Law 26364 created the Comité Ejecutivo para la Lucha contra la trata y 

Explotación de Personas y para la Protección y Asistencia a las Víctimas (Executive Committee 

for the Fight against Human Trafficking and Exploitation and the Protection and Assistance of 

Victims) within the Jefatura de Gabinete de Ministros (Chief of Cabinet of Ministries).

11 It is 

headed by representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; the Ministry of Security;

the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security; and the Ministry of Social 

Development.

12 The Executive Committee has the following responsibilities:

• Draft procedural protocols and standards to prevent and fight human trafficking as well as to 

protect trafficking victims and their families

• Develop action plans to enhance capabilities to detect, prosecute, and dismantle human 

trafficking networks

• Safeguard the rights of the victims while providing them access to free,

comprehensive assistance

• Provide job-search training and assistance for victims

• Prevent the revictimization of trafficking victims and their families

• Keep a National Database Registry of human trafficking crimes data

• Organize activities aimed at the dissemination of information, awareness, and training on 

human trafficking-related issues

• Promote information on human trafficking at the educational-system level in coordination 

with the Ministry of Education

• Devote public and private resources to the prevention of trafficking and assistance of victims, 

providing them with needed housing for their protection according to the law

10 Id.

11 Id. art. 21.

12 Id. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Argentina 

• Provide training and specialization to public officers of all institutions related to the

protection and assistance of victims, as well as to the police, security institutions, and public

officers in charge of criminal prosecution and judgment of the crime of human trafficking

• Coordinate with public and private institutions providing training to air pilots, flight

attendants, and all crew members of air and land transportation, both domestic and

international, for setting up a mandatory training course aimed at detecting among the

passengers possible victims of human trafficking

• Coordinate with provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the implementation of

the Synchronized Reporting System on Human Trafficking and Exploitation13

The Executive Committee prepares a two-year work plan that is submitted to the Federal Council 

for its approval.14

III. Training Programs

As part of a joint strategy and to coordinate the standards of best practices in the prevention and 

treatment of human trafficking crimes, the Executive Committee offers an online training course 

to staff of the Municipal, Provincial and National Administration as well as to social, cultural, 

political, and labor unions throughout the country.15

The Instituto Nacional para la Administración Pública (INAP, the National Institute for Public 

Administration) provides a five-week course on human trafficking16 that includes four modules:

(1) Human Trafficking in General; (2) Human Trafficking for Sex Exploitations; (3) Human 

Trafficking for Labor Exploitation; and (4) Human Trafficking: Prevention, Detection 

and Assistance.17

One of the main goals of the National Program is the prevention of the crime through awareness 

and training campaigns for all those interested and involved in combatting human trafficking.18

From 2008 to 2013, 4,602 people have been trained in human trafficking under the 

National Program.

19

13 Id. art. 12.

14 Id. 

15 Recurso On Line, Capacitaciones: Paremos la Trata, COMITÉ EJECUTIVO PARA LA LUCHA CONTRA LA TRATA DE

PERSONAS, JEFATURA DE GABINETE DE MINISTROS DE LA PRESIDENCIA DE LA NACIÓN, https://www.comitecontra 

latrata.gob.ar/capacitaciones_p333 (last visited Feb. 10, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/R5SB-3667. 

16 Conceptos Básicos sobre Trata de Personas IN-ES-11790, INAP, https://capacitacion.inap.gob.ar/?cursos= 

conceptos-basicos-sobre-trata-de-personas-in-es-11790 (last visited Feb. 10, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/6N7H-XSE3. 

17 Id.; Sistema Nacional de Capacitación, Conceptos Básicos sobre Trata de Personas-2014, at 2–3, 

https://sai.inap.gob.ar/download_pdf.dhtml?contenido=diseno&formact_codigo=1&act_codigo=18202&tipoact_cod

igo=1, archived at https://perma.cc/6JHD-VPH5. 

18 GATTI ET AL., supra 6, at 15.

19 Id. at 16.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Argentina

According to Resolution PGN 805/2013, PROTEX is in charge of providing training for

members of the judiciary and all agents involved in the investigation of the crime of human 

trafficking.20 In its 2014 Annual Report, PROTEX reported the drafting of a training program 

designed for the staff of the Ministerio Público (Government Attorney) involved in the 

investigation and prosecution of human trafficking. The program would require staff to spend a 

brief period of time, such as two weeks, in PROTEX to participate in the different assignments 

of investigation and institutional intervention on human trafficking carried out by PROTEX in 

order to acquire expertise in the specific issues involved in the crime.21

20 Id. at 118; Resolución 805/2013 Procuración General de la Nación, http://www.mpf.gov.ar/resoluciones/ 

pgn/2013/pgn-0805-2013-001.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/JWZ3-ZJVH.

21 PROTEX INFORME ANUAL 2014, at 44, http://www.mpf.gob.ar/protex/files/2015/02/INFORME-ANUAL2014.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/A4YX-DAPA.

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Brazil 

Eduardo Soares 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY The Brazilian Constitution provides several principles for the protection of human rights. 

Many federal laws can be used to combat human trafficking, including the Penal Code, the 

Alien’s Statute, and the Child and Adolescent Statute. Brazil has also incorporated into its 

domestic legislation the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime; 

the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air; and the Protocol to 

Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

A decree enacted in 2006 approved a national policy to establish principles, guidelines, and 

actions to prevent and suppress human trafficking and provide assistance to victims, and 

also created the First National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. This plan, covering the 

period of 2008–2010, established the priorities of the national policy, which included 

setting short-, medium-, and long-term goals, and defining the bodies and entities

partnering to achieve these goals. 

The Second National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, covering the period of 2013–

2106, proposed the preparation and implementation of a National Training Matrix, which 

is a technical reference manual for the preparation of organized, integrated, and continuous 

actions designed to combat human trafficking and training courses for personnel involved 

in combating human trafficking.

I. Legal Framework

A. Constitutional Principle 

The Brazilian Constitution establishes human dignity as one of the fundamental principles of the 

country.

1

 Similarly, a fundamental constitutional principle governing Brazil’s international relations 

is that human rights must “prevail” in Brazil’s relations with other countries.

2

 The Constitution also 

states that all Brazilians and resident foreigners are equal under the law, and guarantees their

inviolable right to life, liberty, equality, security, and property.

3

 Brazil’s Constitution further protects 

against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment,

4 providing that the law must severely punish 

those who abuse, perpetrate violence against, and sexually exploit children and adolescents.5

 The 

Constitution thus makes clear that Brazilians and foreigners residing in the country should be 

protected against the degradations of human trafficking. 

1

 CONSTITUIÇÃO FEDERAL [C.F.] art. 1(III), http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Constituicao/Constituicao.htm, 

archived at https://perma.cc/NP4G-WV55. 

2 Id. art. 4(II).

3 Id. art. 5.

4 Id. art. 5(III).

5 Id. art. 227(§4).

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B. Penal Code 

The Brazilian Penal Code defines and punishes with imprisonment and fines many acts that may 

be associated with human trafficking, including, but not limited to, 

• depriving persons of their freedom through kidnapping or false imprisonment;6

• reducing persons to a condition analogous to slavery, either by submitting them to hard labor

or exhausting journeys, or subjecting them to degrading working conditions, or restricting, by

any means, their movement because of a debt contracted with the employer or agent;7

• recruiting workers by fraud in order to take them to a foreign country;8

• enticing workers, in order to take them from one place to another within the national

territory, by fraud, by demanding the payment of their debt, or without guaranteeing the

conditions for their return to their place of origin;

9

• promoting or facilitating the entry of persons into the national territory to practice

prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, or the departure of persons to practice

prostitution abroad;

10

• negotiating, enticing, or purchasing trafficked persons and transporting, transferring, or

harboring them while being aware of their condition;11

• promoting or facilitating the movement of persons within the country for prostitution or other

forms of sexual exploitation;12

• negotiating, enticing, selling, or purchasing trafficked persons and transporting, transferring,

or harboring them while being aware of their condition;

13

• delivering children under eighteen years of age to persons in whose company the deliverer

knows or should know that the minors are morally or materially in danger,

14 with the

punishment for such acts increased if the acts are performed for the sake of a profit or if the

minors are sent abroad;15 and

• three or more persons associating for the purpose of committing crimes.16

6

 CÓDIGO PENAL, Decreto-Lei No. 2.848, de 7 de Dezembro de 1940, art. 148, http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/ 

Decreto-Lei/Del2848compilado.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/B67S-LNJU. 

7 Id. art. 149.

8 Id. art. 206.

9 Id. art. 207.

10 Id. art. 231.

11 Id. art. 231(§1).

12 Id. art. 231-A.

13 Id. art. 231-A(§1).

14 Id. art. 245.

15 Id. art. 245(§1).

16 Id. art. 288.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Brazil

C. Alien’s Statute

The Alien’s Statute (Estatuto do Estrangeiro) defines the legal situation of aliens in Brazil and the 

punishments for particular acts that may be associated with human trafficking, such as

transporting to Brazil aliens who do not have appropriate documentation,

17 employing or keeping 

at a person’s service aliens who are in an irregular situation or who are not allowed to work in the 

country,

18 and smuggling aliens into the country or hiding them in an illegal or irregular manner.19

D. Child and Adolescent Statute

Many articles of the Child and Adolescent Statute (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente) may 

also apply to the fight against human trafficking. Article 82 prohibits the lodging of children or 

adolescents in hotels, motels, hostels, or similar places without authorization or the company of a 

parent or guardian.

20 Article 83 determines that no child may travel outside the district where 

the child resides when not accompanied by a parent or guardian, without express judicial 

authorization (except in certain situations).21 Without prior judicial authorization, no child or 

adolescent born in the national territory may leave the country in the company of an alien who 

resides or is domiciled abroad.22

The statute lists several crimes that may be associated with human trafficking and their 

respective punishments. These crimes include removing children or adolescents from those who 

are their custodians by reason of law or a court order in order to place them in a foster home, 

which is punishable by imprisonment for two to six years and a fine;

23 promising to deliver or 

delivering a Brazilian child or adolescent or a protégé to a third party for money or a reward, 

which is punishable by imprisonment for one to four years and a fine;

24 and offering or providing 

payment or a reward for such delivery, which is also punishable by imprisonment for one to four 

years and a fine.

25

The statute also punishes with up to six years in prison anyone promoting or helping in the process 

of sending a child or adolescent abroad illegally or for profit.26 If violence, a serious threat, or 

17 ESTATUTO DO ESTRANGEIRO, Lei No. 6.815, de 19 de Agosto de 1980, art. 125(VI), http://www.planalto.gov.br/ 

ccivil_03/Leis/L6815compilado.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/ZJ9J-RY4D. 

18 Id. art. 125(VII). 

19 Id. art. 125(XII). 

20 ESTATUTO DA CRIANÇA E DO ADOLESCENTE, Lei No. 8.069 de 13 de Julho de 1990, art. 82, http://www.plan 

alto.gov.br/ccivil_03/LEIS/L8069.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/UB27-KV2G. 

21 Id. arts. 83, 84.

22 Id. art. 85.

23 Id. art. 237.

24 Id. art. 238.

25 Id. art. 238(sole para.).

26 Id. art. 239.

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fraud is used, the punishment increases to up to eight years’ imprisonment plus the corresponding 

punishment for the violent acts.27

E. United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 

On March 12, 2014, Brazil enacted Decree No. 5,015, which promulgated the United Nations 

Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime;

28 Decree No. 5,016, which promulgated the 

Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air;29 and Decree No. 5,017, 

which promulgated the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, 

Especially Women and Children.30 Both Protocols supplement the United Nations Convention 

Against Transnational Organized Crime.

II. National Policy to Combat Human Trafficking

In an effort to curb trafficking in persons, on October 26, 2006, Brazil enacted Decree No. 5,948, 

which approved a National Policy to Combat Human Trafficking and established the 

Interministerial Working Group for the purpose of elaborating a proposal for a National Plan to 

Combat Human Trafficking.31 The purpose of the national policy is to establish principles, 

guidelines, and actions to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons and provide assistance to 

victims, in accordance with domestic and international human rights norms and Brazilian law.

32

The national policy adopts, inter alia, the expression “trafficking in persons,” which the 

Additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime to 

Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, 

defines as 

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the 

threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of 

the abuse of power or the situation of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of 

payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another 

person for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the 

exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced 

labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal 

of organs.33

27 Id. 239(§1).

28 Decreto No. 5.015, de 12 de Março de 2014, http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2004-2006/2004/ 

decreto/d5015.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/6V63-J24F. 

29 Decreto No. 5.016, de 12 de Março de 2014, http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2004-2006/2004/ 

Decreto/D5016.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/632V-JR8Y. 

30 Decreto No. 5.017, de 12 de Março de 2014, https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2004-2006/2004/ 

Decreto/D5017.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/NQH7-QT2V. 

31 Decreto No. 5.948, de 26 de Outubro de 2006, http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2004-2006/2006/ 

Decreto/D5948.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/P5YM-BG8C. 

32 Id. art. 1.

33 Id. art. 2.

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Article 3 of Decree No. 5,948 defines the guiding principles of the national policy, article 4 

determines the general guidelines, and articles 5 to 7 establish specific guidelines. 

To implement the national policy, Decree No. 5,948 determines, among other things, that it is the 

responsibility of the public bodies and entities, within their respective powers and conditions, to 

adopt the following judicial and public security measures: 

a) provide initial humane care to victims of human trafficking who return to the country

after being deported or not admitted at airports, ports and entry points on land routes;

b) prepare an intergovernmental proposal to improve Brazilian legislation addressing

human trafficking and related crimes;

c) foster cooperation among federal, state and local public safety agencies to coordinate

action to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons and hold

perpetrators accountable;

d) propose and encourage the adoption of the theme of human trafficking and human

rights in federal, state and municipal training curricula for public safety professionals

and legal professionals who are admitted to such institutions and their continuous

training thereafter to combat this type of crime;

e) strengthen existing budget items and create other items focused on the training of law

enforcement professionals and justice professionals in the area of confronting

human trafficking;

f) include in the specific structures of police intelligence the investigation and

suppression of trafficking in persons;

g) create in the Regional Superintendence of the Federal Police and the Federal

Highway Police specific structures to combat human trafficking and other crimes

against human rights;

h) promote the interaction of public safety professionals and legal professionals with

civil society;

i) enter into cooperation agreements with civil society organizations working to prevent

human trafficking and assisting victims;

j) promote and encourage, on an ongoing basis, refresher courses on trafficking in

persons, to members of the justice system and to public safety servants, preferably

through their training institutions;

l) coordinate the various branches of the Public Prosecutor’s Office [Ministério

Público] of the states and the federal government, the state and federal judiciary, and

the organs of the justice and public security systems;

m) organize and integrate existing databases concerning the combating of human

trafficking and related areas;

n) enter into technical cooperation agreements with public and private entities to support

judicial and extrajudicial actions;

o) include the topic of trafficking in persons in courses on combating money laundering,

trafficking in drugs and arms, and other related crimes;

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p) develop at the national level mechanisms for preventing, investigating and

prosecuting human trafficking perpetrated through the use of the Internet, and for

consequently [holding] the perpetrators accountable; and

q) include the possible link between the disappearance of persons and human trafficking

in research and police investigations.

34

Decree No. 5,948 further establishes actions to be taken in the areas of foreign relations, 

education, health, social assistance, the promotion of racial equality, labor, agricultural 

development, human rights, the protection and promotion of women’s rights, tourism, 

and culture.35

III. National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking

A. First National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking

The First National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking was established by Decree No. 6,347, of

January 8, 2008, to cover the period of 2008–2010. The plan was prepared by representatives of 

several federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international organs. Its objective 

was to prevent and suppress human trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and ensure assistance to 

victims, under the domestic legislation in force and international human rights instruments.

36

The priorities established by the plan were to

• collect, organize, prepare, and publish studies, research, information, and experience on

human trafficking;

• train agents directly or indirectly involved with combating human trafficking [to approach

the problem] from a human rights perspective;

• mobilize and sensitize specific groups and the community in general with regard to

human trafficking;

• reduce the vulnerability of specific social groups to human trafficking;

• articulate, organize, and consolidate from existing services and networks a national reference

system and a system for providing assistance to trafficking victims;

• improve the Brazilian legislation addressing human trafficking and related crimes;

• expand and improve knowledge about combating human trafficking among bodies involved

in the suppression of crime and prosecution of the perpetrators;

34 Id. art. 8(I) (translation by author). 

35 Id. art. 8(II–XII).

36 Decreto No. 6.347, de 8 de Janeiro de 2008, art. 1, http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2007-2010/2008/ 

Decreto/D6347.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/MSU2-Q5Y2. 

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• promote cooperation among federal, state, and municipal agencies involved in combating

human trafficking in coordinating measures to suppress human trafficking and prosecute

the perpetrators;

• create and improve tools for combating human trafficking;

• organize agencies in charge of combating human trafficking and prosecuting the

perpetrators; and

• promote international cooperation in combating human trafficking.37

B. Network to Combat Human Trafficking

As a result of the First National Plan, a Network to Combat Human Trafficking was created. The 

network is the generic name given to the collective institutional efforts of the different powers and

levels of government in partnership with organs of civil society, research institutes, and 

international organizations to combat human trafficking in an articulated and 

decentralized manner.38 

The Network to Combat Human Trafficking consists of the Network of Centers to Combat Human 

Trafficking (Rede de Núcleos de Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas), Outposts of Humane Care

for Migrants (Postos Avançados de Atendimento Humanizado ao Migrante), and State Committees

to Combat Human Trafficking (Comitês Estaduais de Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas). 

These institutions are responsible for putting the principles of the National Policy to Combat

Human Trafficking into practice in the states and municipalities.39

On August 20, 2009, the National Secretary of Justice issued an Administrative Act (Portaria), 

which established the guidelines for the functioning of the centers and outposts.40 According to 

article 1 of the Administrative Act, the main function of the Network of Centers is to plan actions 

to combat human trafficking at the state level that are to be implemented in partnership with the 

federal government, through the National Secretariat of Justice and state governments.

41 Article 2 of 

the Act defines the competence of the centers. Article 3 determines that the main function of the 

outposts is to receive nonadmitted or deported Brazilians at entry points, while article 4 defines the

competence of the outposts. 

37 Id. Decreto No. 6.347, Anexo. 

38 Rede de Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas, MINISTÉRIO DA JUSTIÇA, http://www.justica.gov.br/suaprotecao/trafico-de-pessoas/redes-de-enfrentamento, archived at https://perma.cc/9B6Q-SBB2 (last visited 

Jan. 14, 2016). 

39 Id.

40 Portaria SNJ No. 31, 20 de Agosto de 2009, https://www.legisweb.com.br/legislacao/?id=213493, archived at

https://perma.cc/5GX9-5Z85, as amended by Portaria SNJ No. 41, de 6 de Novembro de 2009, https://www.legis 

web.com.br/legislacao/?id=213656, archived at https://perma.cc/B76Z-38X9. 

41 Id. art. 1.

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C. Second National Plan and National Training Matrix to Combat

Human Trafficking

On February 4, 2013, a new decree approved the Second National Plan to Combat Human 

Trafficking, to cover the period of 2013–2016.

42 The purpose of the second plan is, among other 

things, to expand and improve the fight against human trafficking in a coordinated and 

interdependent manner among the bodies and agencies involved in the prevention and 

suppression of crime. Measures to be taken include presenting criminal charges against the

perpetrators of human trafficking, caring for the victims, and protecting victims’ rights.43

One of the proposals mentioned in the Second National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking 

makes reference to training guidelines, including the preparation and implementation of the 

National Training Matrix to Combat Human Trafficking (Matriz Nacional de Formação para o 

Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas).

44 The National Matrix is a technical reference manual

for the preparation of organized, integrated, and continuous actions designed to combat human 

trafficking and training courses for agency personnel involved in combating human trafficking.

45

The political-pedagogical guidelines of the Matrix to Combat Human Trafficking are contextualized

in a process of interdisciplinary and cross-learning programs oriented toward the development of

cognitive, procedural, and personal skills.

46 

Concerning cognitive skills, the training and education courses should promote recognizing the 

different human rights violations connected with human trafficking; understanding the concept 

of human trafficking; recognizing the modalities of human trafficking; identifying the 

differences between human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and irregular migration; and 

becoming familiar with the political, national, and international legal framework for combating

human trafficking.

47 

With regard to procedural skills, the courses should provide information on the measures 

available for combating human trafficking; explain the interrelationships of poverty, migration, 

illegal immigrant smuggling, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and prostitution; and 

present measures to prevent and crack down on human trafficking.48 

42 Decreto No. 7.901, de 4 de Fevereiro de 2013, art. 3, http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2011-2014/2013/ 

Decreto/D7901.htm#art10, archived at https://perma.cc/N45E-K7GV. 

43 Id. art. 3(§1)(I).

44 Formação em Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas, MINISTÉRIO DA JUSTIÇA, http://www.justica.gov.br/suaprotecao/trafico-de-pessoas/formacao-em-etp, archived at https://perma.cc/3HV4-PZU6 (last visited Feb. 11, 2016).

45 Id.

46 SECRETARIA NACIONAL DE JUSTIÇA ET AL., MATRIZ NACIONAL DE FORMAÇÃO EM ENFRENTAMENTO AO TRÁFICO 

DE PESSOAS (2013), http://www.justica.gov.br/sua-protecao/trafico-de-pessoas/formacao-em-etp/anexos/matrizformacao.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/JD4Q-YBKG.

47 Id. at 53, 54.

48 Id. at 54.

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As for personal skills, the courses must inculcate in agency personnel a commitment to tackling

human trafficking, professional ethics, and the capability to act with balance and

common sense.49

The Matrix also details the modules and content for the training courses to combat human 

trafficking, which are divided into five areas: the ethical and conceptual dimension of human 

trafficking, human mobility and human trafficking, public policies and human trafficking, the 

criminal justice system and human trafficking, and the Network to Combat Human Trafficking 

and assistance and protection provided to victims.50 

49 Id.

50 Id. at 66–68.

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Canada

Tariq Ahmad 

Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY In Canada, the legal framework related to combatting human trafficking consists primarily 

of provisions in the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Public Safety Canada leads a Human Trafficking Taskforce, made up of ten federal 

departments, that is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the commitments 

made under the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, coordinating the 

federal anti-human-trafficking response, and reporting to the public annually on progress. 

Training programs, courses, and tools have been established for law enforcement at the 

federal and provincial levels. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Human Trafficking 

National Coordination Centre has developed an online training course for law enforcement 

that is available through the Canadian Police Knowledge Network. British Columbia’s 

Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons has developed an online training course for frontline service providers called Human Trafficking: Canada is Not Immune.

I. Legal Framework on Human Trafficking 

In Canada, the criminal legal framework1 related to combatting human trafficking consists 

primarily of provisions in the Criminal Code2 and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 

(IRPA).

3

 According to Public Safety Canada, which is responsible for national security and the 

safety of Canadians, the Criminal Code “contains the tools to hold traffickers accountable and 

includes four specific indictable offences to address human trafficking,”4 namely, sections 

279.01 (Trafficking in persons),

5 279.011 (Trafficking of a person under the age of eighteen 

years),

6

 279.02 (Material benefit),7 and 279.03 (Withholding or destroying documents).8

1 For core criminal legislation (including specific provisions), see Human Trafficking: Legislation, DEPARTMENT OF 

JUSTICE, http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/tp/legis-loi.html (last modified May 21, 2015), archived at 

https://perma.cc/M4TQ-JDG3. 

2 Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/C-46.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/43FV-54NA. 

3 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, http://laws.justice.gc.ca/PDF/I-2.5.pdf, archived at 

https://perma.cc/7PZ9-PTAS. 

4

 PUBLIC SAFETY CANADA, NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 7 (2012), 

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ntnl-ctn-pln-cmbt/ntnl-ctn-pln-cmbt-eng.pdf, archived at 

https://perma.cc/2FWT-WTU3. 

5 Trafficking in Persons (section 279.01) “carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a mandatory 

minimum penalty of 5 years where the offence involved kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault or 

death, and a maximum penalty of 14 years and a mandatory minimum penalty of 4 years in all other cases.” Human 

Trafficking: Legislation, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, supra note 1. 

6 Trafficking of a person under the age of eighteen years (section 279.011) “carries a maximum penalty of life 

imprisonment and a mandatory minimum penalty of 6 years where the offence involved kidnapping, aggravated 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Canada 

The Criminal Code includes other offenses that can also apply to human trafficking cases 

including kidnapping, forcible confinement, uttering threats, extortion, assault, sexual assault, 

prostitution-related offenses, and criminal organization offenses.9

According to Public Safety Canada:

The Criminal Code also contains measures designed to make testifying less traumatic for 

victims and other vulnerable witnesses. Testimonial aids, such as a screen that prevents 

the witness from seeing the accused, the use of closed-circuit television that permits the 

witness to testify from outside the courtroom or the presence of support persons may be 

made available in appropriate circumstances. Other measures that may be available are 

publication bans on information that would identify a complainant or witness and, in 

some cases, orders excluding the public from the courtroom.10

Section 118 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) defines the crime of 

trafficking in persons, providing that “[n]o person shall knowingly organize the coming into 

Canada of one or more persons by means of abduction, fraud, deception or use or threat of force 

or coercion.”11 A person who commits the offense of trafficking in persons is liable, taking into 

account certain aggravating factors,

12 to a fine of up to Can$1 million (about US$722,139) 

and/or up to life imprisonment.13

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government

A. Public Safety Canada 

Public Safety Canada leads a Human Trafficking Taskforce, made up of representatives from ten 

federal departments,

14 that “is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the National 

assault, aggravated sexual assault or death, and a maximum penalty of 14 years and a mandatory minimum penalty 

of 5 years in all other cases”. Id. 

7 Receiving a Financial or Other Material Benefit for the purpose of committing or facilitating trafficking in persons 

– Adult Victim (subsection 279.02(1)) “carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.” Id.

8 Withholding or Destroying a Person’s Identity Documents (for example, a passport) for the purpose of committing 

or facilitating trafficking of that person – Adult Victim (subsection 279.03(1)) “carries a maximum penalty of five 

years imprisonment” and Withholding or Destroying a Person’s Identity Documents (for example, a passport) for 

the purpose of committing or facilitating trafficking of that person – Child Victim (subsection 279.03(2)) “carries a 

maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a mandatory minimum penalty of 1 year.” Id.

9 Id. at 8. 

10 Id. 

11 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act § 118(1)(2). 

12 Id. § 121(1).

13 Id. § 120.

14 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 4.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Canada 

Action Plan commitments and for coordinating the federal anti-human trafficking response and 

reporting annually on progress to the public.”15

The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking was launched by the Government of 

Canada on June 6, 2012, in order to consolidate “ongoing efforts of the federal government to 

combat human trafficking and introduces aggressive new initiatives to prevent human 

trafficking, identify victims, protect the most vulnerable, and prosecute perpetrators.”16 The Plan 

includes agency-specific commitments related to training, outreach, and intelligence activities, 

with the objectives of preventing human trafficking, identifying victims, protecting the most 

vulnerable, and prosecuting perpetrators. 

B. Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is the Canadian national police service and an 

agency of Public Safety Canada. Apart from enforcing the laws enumerated above, Canada’s 

law enforcement officials have the following responsibilities:

• identify children and adults at risk

• inform potential victims of their rights

• identify and investigate criminal elements of circumstances and seek to prosecute

individuals involved in human trafficking

• refer potential victims who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents to

Citizenship and Immigration Canada to learn of their options regarding

immigration status

• identify support services and refer victims/potential victims to specialist nongovernment organizations that may assist with finding safe accommodation, and

various needs including medical, psychological, legal assistance, education, and

work placement

• conduct interviews, seek intelligence, undertake investigations with immigration

officials and any other appropriate parties, and ensure that links are made with other

agencies and national/international policing organizations

• provide protection to victims and staff supporting them

• work closely with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada Border Services

Agency, provincial/territorial and municipal agencies, social services, child welfare

authorities and any non-government organizations involved in service delivery to

provide protection to victims, including children

• conduct a continuous risk assessment with respect to the safety and welfare of the

victims and their families at every stage of the investigation and judicial process

and beyond17

15 Human Trafficking, PUBLIC SAFETY CANADA, http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/hmn-trffckng/indexen.aspx (last updated Dec. 16, 2015), archived at https://perma.cc/2E9C-NJHZ. 

16 Id.; NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 4.

17 Frequently Asked Questions on Human Trafficking, RCMP, http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ht-tp/q-a-traffickingtraite-eng.htm#q10 (last updated Mar. 13, 2014), archived at https://perma.cc/TF9A-ZJR5. 

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The RCMP has established a Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre (HTNCC)18 at 

RCMP Headquarters in Ottawa. According to the RCMP, “[t]he Centre provides a focal point 

for law enforcement in their efforts to combat and disrupt individuals and criminal organizations 

involved in Human Trafficking activities.”19

C. Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) can help protect victims of trafficking by securing 

their immigration status with a special temporary resident permit (TRP).20

D. Canada Border Services Agency

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) combats human trafficking as part of its function 

to manage Canada’s borders and fighting cross-border crime.21 The CBSA

• identifies instances of cross-border human trafficking;

• helps potential victims by referring them to appropriate government services; and

• supports the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking offenders.22

The CBSA has been working with other federal partners in the implementation of the National 

Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. According to the Plan, the CBSA “will undertake 

efforts to raise awareness with vulnerable foreign nationals at ports of entry.”23

The CBSA is also part of an RCMP-led integrated enforcement team dedicated to 

human trafficking.24

III. Training Programs for Law Enforcement

According to a 2014 study prepared for Public Safety Canada, “[t]raining for police officers on 

human trafficking varies depending on the region and the police service.”25 Interviews in the 

18 Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre, RCMP, http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ht-tp/index-eng.htm (last 

updated March 13, 2014), archived at https://perma.cc/93AX-TKA9. 

19 Id.

20 Protection and Assistance for Victims of Human Trafficking, CIC, http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/ 

applications/trp.asp (last updated Sept. 18, 2013), archived at https://perma.cc/CWA3-CY9T. 

21 Human Trafficking, CBSA, http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/ht-tp-eng.html (last updated Sept. 24, 

2014), archived at https://perma.cc/496U-G8N3. 

22 Id.

23 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 4, at 15.

24 Human Trafficking, supra note 22. 

25 RED WILLOW CONSULTING INC., DR. YVONNE BOYER, PEGGY KAMPOURIS, TRAFFICKING OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN 

AND GIRLS 42 (May 2014) (prepared for the Research and Analysis Division, Community Safety and Countering 

Crime Branch, Public Safety Canada), http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/sp-ps/PS18-8-2014-

eng.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/3DK2-NKAN. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Canada 

study showed that available training can range from three hours to several days, “while some police 

services have no formal training on human trafficking at all.”26

The Government of Canada has stated that, under the National Action Plan, “efforts will 

continue to focus on targeted training for first responders and service providers because they are 

often the first point of contact and provide victims with essential care and emergency relief.”27

When the Plan was introduced, emphasis was placed on increasing “front-line training to identify 

and respond to human trafficking and enhance prevention in vulnerable communities.”28 The 

Plan also calls for stepping up the training of prosecutors, border guards, and judges.29

A. Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre

One of the priorities of the HTNCC is to “develop tools, protocols and guidelines to facilitate 

Human Trafficking investigations” and “coordinate national awareness/training and antitrafficking initiatives.”30 According to the National Action Plan, 

[t]he Royal Canadian Mounted Police will develop and coordinate specialized training 

for police officers through the Canadian Police College and will add human trafficking 

awareness to its cadet training curriculum. In addition, the Royal Canadian Mounted 

Police will develop a victim-centred guidebook for investigators to assist them in 

working with victims and will finalise the on-line human trafficking course for all 

Canadian law enforcement.31

According to a 2014-15 departmental report, a human trafficking course component has been 

added to RCMP’s cadet training curriculum at the RCMP Academy, “Depot” Division in Regina, 

Saskatchewan, and at the Canadian Police College.32

The HTNCC has developed an online training course for law enforcement that is available 

through the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN)33 as well as the RCMP’s online 

training tool, AGORA.34

26 Id.

27 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 4, at 11. 

28 The Harper Government Launches Canada’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, PUBLIC

SAFETY CANADA (June 6, 2012), available at https://web.archive.org/web/20130703001948/https://www.public 

safety.gc.ca/media/nr/2012/nr20120606-eng.aspx, archived at https://perma.cc/G5GS-PQGV. 

29 Bethany Hastie, Canada’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking: Initial Reflections, HANS AND

TAMAR OPPENHEIMER CHAIR IN PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW (June 15, 2002), http://oppenheimer.mcgill. 

ca/Canada-s-National-Action-Plan-to, archived at https://perma.cc/R3RW-6L6E. 

30 Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre, supra note 19. 

31 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 4, at 18.

32 RCMP, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE 2014–15 DEPARTMENTAL PERFORMANCE REPORT (2015), 

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/royal-canadian-mounted-police-2014-15-departmental-performance-report, archived

at https://perma.cc/A8RU-7XZT. 

33 Introduction to Human Trafficking, CPKN, (2016) http://www.cpkn.ca/course_human_trafficking, archived at 

https://perma.cc/WNY6-RLJD. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Canada 

In partnership with the Canadian Police College, the HTNCC has also developed a Human 

Trafficking Investigator’s Course35 for Canadian law enforcement.36 According to the US State 

Department’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, “[t]he federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

(RCMP) included trafficking in the national academy training for all new recruits;[and] trained 

55 police officers in an in-depth human trafficking investigator’s course.”37 

In addition, the HTNCC has produced a “Human Trafficking Tool Kit available to all law 

enforcement officers across Canada” with a primary objective of “inform[ing] investigators of 

the human trafficking legislation.”38

B. Other Federal Programs 

According to the National Action Plan, Status of Women Canada has collaborated with the 

RCMP to “deliver training on human trafficking to officials in law enforcement, the justice 

system, and border and immigration services.”39

The National Action Plan also states that “[t]he Victims Fund has supported trafficking in 

persons projects including, in partnership with Public Safety Canada’s Contribution Program to 

Combat Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking, the development and delivery of a training 

curriculum and toolkit on human trafficking for first responders.”40

According to the RCMP, “[i]nformation pertinent to training for police regarding cases of 

missing persons/children can be obtained through the National Centre for Missing Persons and 

Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR).”41

34 Publications and Resources, RCMP, http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ht-tp/publications/index-eng.htm#l7 (last updated 

Apr. 15, 2014), archived at https://perma.cc/AUZ4-XN6M. 

35Human Trafficking Investigator’s Course (HTIC), CANADIAN POLICE COLLEGE, https://www.cpc.gc.ca/en/htic (last 

updated Jan. 26, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/LG5W-39L7. 

36 Frequently Asked Questions on Human Trafficking, supra note 18. 

37 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, 2015 TRAFFICKING IN

PERSONS REPORT: CANADA, http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2015/243411.htm, archived at 

https://perma.cc/9FR6-DBC9. 

38 Frequently Asked Questions on Human Trafficking, supra note 18.

39 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 4, at 24.

40 Id.

41 Id. 

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C. Provincial-level Initiatives 

1. Ontario Online Training Initiative to Address Human Trafficking

A nonprofit organization, MCIS Language Services, with funding from the Province of Ontario

and working through the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Ontario Victim Services, has 

developed the Online Training Initiative to Address Human Trafficking,

42 which provides a free 

online training program (available both in English and French) “for service providers who 

support victims of human trafficking across Ontario.”43 This is for persons in the “legal and law 

enforcement communities, as well as the labour, licensing enforcement, child support, health, 

welfare, social and victim services sectors.”44

The online training program45 consists of a series of modules built around the 

following curriculum:

• An overview of human trafficking

• Human trafficking in Canada and Ontario

• Dynamics of human trafficking

• Human trafficking indicators

• Service needs of trafficked persons

• Unique needs of Aboriginal clients

• Unique needs of Francophone clients

• First response practices

• Medium and long-term support.46

2. British Columbia’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons Online Training Course

The province of British Columbia established the Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons 

(OCTIP)47 in order to develop and coordinate British Columbia’s strategy to combat human 

42 Online Training Initiative to Address Human Trafficking, MCIS LANGUAGE SERVICES, 

http://helpingtraffickedpersons.org/ (last visited Feb. 16, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/BL3B-TD3Q. 

43 Human Trafficking – Online Training for Service Providers, ONTARIO’S MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, 

https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/ovss/human_trafficking/, archived at https://perma.cc/82VVBTE4. 

44 Id. 

45 Id. 

46 Online Training Initiative to Address Human Trafficking: Curriculum, MCIS LANGUAGE SERVICES, 

http://helpingtraffickedpersons.org/curriculum/ (last visited Feb. 12, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/B6XLHHKZ. 

47 About Us, OCTIP, http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/victims-of-crime/humantrafficking/about-us (last visited Feb. 12, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/6ZA5-UTRR. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Canada 

trafficking.48 In 2011, the OCTIP, with federal funding and partnership, created Canada’s first 

online training course for front-line service providers called “Human Trafficking: Canada Is Not 

Immune”49 In 2012 the online training course was made available in French.

50 The online 

training course consists of four modules, which provide “information on how to recognize, 

protect, and assist a person who may have been trafficked in Canada.”51 The course modules 

consist of: Defining human trafficking; Canada’s response to human trafficking; How to 

recognize a trafficked person; and How to help a trafficked person.

52 Throughout the four 

modules and resource section of this training, participants will find the following resources: 

• Case studies, each of which presents a unique situation drawn from recorded cases.

• Reality Checks that ask [participants] to reflect on the material in the context of

[their] own area of practice.

• Quotes from service providers and other subject matter experts.

• A national list and map of organizations working on human trafficking issues in

Canada.

• Glossary terms (identified throughout the course by bolded words . . . ).

• Printable PDFs of resources or specific sections of the training.

• A comprehensive listing of web and print resources on human trafficking and related

topics.53

48 BRITISH COLUMBIA MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, BC’S ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 14 (2013–2016) 

(Mar. 2013), http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/victims-of-crime/humantrafficking/about-us/action-plan.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/4J5J-PZS9. 

49 Welcome to the Online Training Human Trafficking: Canada is Not Immune 2nd Edition – 2014, OCTIP,

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octiptraining/index.html, archived at https://perma.cc/FGW9-DMS7. 

50 Id. 

51 Id. 

52 How the Course is Set Up, OCTIP, http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octiptraining/, archived at https://perma.cc/AU23-

TL53.

53 Features of This Course, OCTIP, http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octiptraining/overview/002.html (last visited Feb. 16, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/DJT2-3B37. 

The Law Library of Congress 23
China

Laney Zhang 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY Article 240 of China’s Criminal Law prohibits abducting and trafficking women or 

children and provides harsher punishments if forced prostitution is involved. The Criminal 

Law also prohibits buying abducted women or children, forced labor, forced prostitution, 

and luring girls under fourteen into prostitution. 

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is primarily responsible for combating crimes of 

trafficking. Led by the MPS, the Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference for Anti-Trafficking in 

Women and Children is tasked with overall anti-human-trafficking activities. It has a 

number of central government departments and agencies as its member units, including the 

Central Office for Comprehensive Management of Public Security and the Ministry of 

Justice.

The national anti-trafficking action plan requires training programs on anti-trafficking 

laws, regulations, and policies to be provided to anti-trafficking personnel at various levels

nationwide, in order to enhance their abilities with regard to anti-trafficking law 

enforcement. References have also been found to various training programs related to 

COMMIT, an anti-trafficking initiative involving Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, 

Thailand, and Vietnam. 

I. Legal Framework on Human Trafficking 

The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China prohibits many trafficking activities, 

including abducting and trafficking women or children, buying abducted women or children, 

forced labor, forced prostitution, and luring girls under fourteen into prostitution.1 The Criminal 

Law was recently amended on August 29, 2015, effective November 1, 2015, to revise some of 

the Law’s trafficking provisions.2

A. Abducting and Trafficking Women or Children

Article 240 of the Criminal Law prohibits abducting and trafficking women or children, which is 

punishable by five to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine. 

1 Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Xingfa [Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)] (Criminal Law) 

(adopted by the National People’s Congress (NPC), Mar. 14, 1997, effective Oct. 1, 1997, as last amended Feb. 25, 

2011), XINBIAN ZHONGHUA RENMIN GONGHEGUO CHANGYONG FALÜ FAGUI QUANSHU 6-1 (2014), English 

translation available at WESTLAWCHINA.COM (by subscription). 

2 Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Xingfa Xiuzheng An (Jiu) [Ninth Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People’ 

Republic of China] (Ninth Amendment) (adopted by the NPC Standing Committee, Aug. 29, 2015, effective Nov. 1, 

2015), 9 XIN FAGUI HUIBIAN 1 (2015), English translation available at WESTLAWCHINA.COM (by subscription).

The Law Library of Congress 24
Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: China 

Under prescribed conditions, including forced prostitution, the penalties are much harsher: no 

less than ten years’ or life imprisonment and a fine or confiscation of property, and if the 

circumstances are particularly serious, the death penalty and confiscation of property.3

 Such 

conditions prescribed by article 240 are as follows: 

(1) being a ringleader of a gang engaged in abducting and trafficking in women and 

children; 

(2) abducting and trafficking in three or more women and/or children; 

(3) raping the woman who is abducted and trafficked; 

(4) enticing or forcing the woman who is abducted and trafficked to engage in 

prostitution, or selling such woman to any other person who would force her to engage 

in prostitution; 

(5) kidnapping a woman or child by means of violence, coercion, or anesthesia for the 

purpose of selling the victim; 

(6) stealing a baby or an infant for the purpose of selling the victim; 

(7) causing serious injury or death to the woman or child who is abducted and trafficked 

or to her or his relatives or any other serious consequences; or 

(8) selling a woman or a child out of the territory of China.4

Prohibiting the abduction and trafficking of women or children, article 240 does not apply to the 

trafficking of men. 

B. Buying Abducted Women or Children

According to article 241 of the Criminal Law, buying an abducted woman or child subjects the 

buyer to no more than three years’ imprisonment, criminal detention, or public surveillance.5

 

Under the Criminal Law as it existed before the Ninth Amendment, the buyer of an abducted 

woman or child might be exempt from criminal punishment if the buyer did not obstruct the 

woman from returning home of her own will, or maltreat the child or obstruct the child’s rescue.6

 

The Ninth Amendment abolished this exemption, providing that such a buyer is criminally 

punishable but may receive a lighter sentence.

7

3 Criminal Law art. 240.

4 Id. art. 240.

5 Id. art. 241.

6 Id. 

7 Ninth Amendment art. 241.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: China 

C. Forced Labor

Article 244 of the Criminal Law prohibits forced labor, which is punishable by no more than 

three years’ imprisonment or criminal detention and a fine. When the circumstances are serious, 

it is punishable by three to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine. The provision also applies to 

those who facilitate recruiting or transport, or assist by other means in forced labor.8

D. Organizing Prostitution or Forced Prostitution

According to paragraph 1 of article 358 as newly revised by the Ninth Amendment, organizing 

prostitution or forced prostitution is punishable by five to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine. 

Under serious circumstances, the punishment is no less than ten years’ or life imprisonment and 

a fine or confiscation of property.9 A heavier penalty within the scope of paragraph 1 will be 

imposed on those organizing or forcing minors to engage in prostitution, according to the new 

paragraph 2 of the article.10 

E. Luring Others into Prostitution

Article 359 prohibits luring others into prostitution. In particular, paragraph 2 of the article 

provides that luring girls under the age of fourteen into prostitution is subject to over five years’ 

imprisonment and a fine.11

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing Laws Against

Human Trafficking

A. Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference for Anti-Trafficking in Women and Children 

The Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference for Anti-Trafficking in Women and Children (Joint 

Conference) is tasked with drafting the national action plan, coordinating relevant government 

departments, and directing provinces in carrying out anti-trafficking activities in China, as well 

as coordinating and promoting international anti-trafficking cooperation.12 

8 Criminal Law art. 244.

9 Ninth Amendment art. 358.

10 Id.

11 Id. art. 359.

12 ZHONGGUO FANDUI GUAIMAI FUNÜ ERTONG XINGDONG JIHUA (2008–2012) [CHINA NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION 

ON COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN (2008–2012) ] (2008–2012 National Action Plan), 

CENTRAL PEOPLE’S GOVERNMENT, http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2007-12/20/content_839479.htm, archived at

https://perma.cc/L8TV-NPXV, English translation at http://www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/China_ 

National_Plan_of_Action_on_Combating_Trafficking_in_Women_and_Children_December_2007.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/UQ89-5PBJ. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: China 

The Joint Conference is led by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and has a number of 

central government departments and agencies as its member units, including the Central Office 

for Comprehensive Management of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

13

The office of the Joint Conference is located in the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the MPS, 

and the Director-General of the Bureau is in charge of the office.14 

B. Ministry of Public Security

The MPS is primarily responsible for combating trafficking crimes in China. The Supreme 

People’s Court (SPC), the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), the All-China Women’s 

Federation (ACWF), and several other central government departments and agencies are required 

to support the MPS in this regard.

15

III. Training Programs for Law Enforcement

A. National Anti-Trafficking Workshops

According to the 2013–2020 China National Plan of Action on Combating Trafficking in 

Women and Children (2013–2020 National Action Plan), training programs are to be provided to 

anti-trafficking personnel nationwide. Specifically: 

• The MPS, SPP, and the SPC are responsible for providing training programs on antitrafficking laws, regulations, and policies to anti-trafficking personnel at various levels, in

order to enhance their ability with regard to anti-trafficking investigation, prosecution, and

adjudication.

• The MPS, SPC, SPP, and MOJ are responsible for providing training programs to lawenforcement personnel on the country’s borders, in order to enhance their awareness and

ability in preventing and combating cross-border trafficking in persons.16

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the MPS, the Ministry of Commerce, and the ACWF

are tasked by the 2013–2020 National Action Plan to coordinate with international organizations 

and foreign countries in providing joint anti-trafficking training programs.17

National anti-trafficking workshops have reportedly been held in various places in China, 

including the following: 

13 Id.

14 Id.

15 ZHONGGUO FANDUI GUAIMAI RENKOU XINGDONG JIHUA (2013–2020) [CHINA NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION ON 

COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (2013–2020)] (2013–2020 National Action Plan), 

http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-03/08/content_2349019.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/V4KZ-MF4J. 

16 Id.

17 Id.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: China 

• August 2007, in Lijiang, Yunan Province18

• August 2009, in Huangshan, Anhui Province19

• July 2010, in Hulunbei’er, Inter Mongolia20

• March 2012, in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province21

B. COMMIT Training Workshops 

The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) has had their 

training workshops financially supported by the Chinese government, according to the Annual 

Progress Report of the United Nations Action for Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons

2014.

22 Through the COMMIT, the six governments of the Greater Mekong Sub-region 

(Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) are committed to a response to 

human trafficking, highlighting the need for multilateral, bilateral, and government-NGO 

cooperation to fight human trafficking.23

References have been found to various training programs related to the COMMIT:

• Around 2004, the public security organs of China and Vietnam jointly held training programs

for personnel of the two countries’ law-enforcement agencies and women’s

protection organizations.24

• In June 2007, the COMMIT China working group developed an anti-trafficking

training brochure.25

18 Report on the National Anti-Trafficking Workshop in China, HUMANTRAFFICKING.ORG (Oct. 4, 2007), 

http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates/712, archived at https://perma.cc/4RRQ-GRC8. 

19 Guowuyuan Fanguai Buji Lianxi Huiyi Bangongshi Juban Fanguai Peixunban [The State Council AntiTrafficking Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference Held Workshop], PEOPLE.COM (Aug. 25, 2009), 

http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/9923194.html, archived at https://perma.cc/9W5U-SZZY. 

20 Quanguo Daguai Fanguai Peixunban Zai Hulunbei’er Juban [National Combating-and-Anti-Trafficking 

Workshop Held in Hulunbei’er], SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT OF THE PRC (July 28, 2010), 

http://courtapp.chinacourt.org/shenpan-xiangqing-1357.html, archived at https://perma.cc/BE3F-26SU. 

21 Quanguo Daguai Fanguai Gongzuo Peixunban Kaiban [National Combating-and-Anti-Trafficking Workshop 

Held], UN-ACT CHINA (Mar. 31, 2012), http://www.notip.org.cn/article/Details.asp?LanFlag=1&News 

Id=7382&classid=20&BID=, archived at https://perma.cc/UN8T-D8FW. 

22 UNITED NATIONS ACTION FOR COOPERATION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 

2014, at 13, http://un-act.org/publication/view/un-act-2014-annual-report/, archived at https://perma.cc/8ZUJHKRV. 

23 COMMIT: The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking, UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY 

PROJECT ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING, http://www.no-trafficking.org/commit.html (last visited Feb. 5, 2016), archived 

at https://perma.cc/F4NW-V93F. 

24 Gong’anbu Xingzhen Ju Du Hangwei Juzhang Zai Meigonghe Ciquyu Hezuo Fanguai Diwuci Gaoguan Huiyi 

Shang de Fayan [Speech of Du Hangwei, Director-General of the MPS Criminal Investigation Bureau on the Fifth 

Meeting of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Anti-Trafficking Cooperation], MPS, http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/ 

n983040/n1294479/n1294540/1718652.html (last visited Feb. 5, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/MK66-3AH8. 

25 Id.

The Law Library of Congress 28
Egypt 

George Sadek 

Senior Legal Analyst 

SUMMARY There are three legal instruments in Egypt that prohibit human trafficking for the purpose 

of sexual exploitation and forced labor: the Egyptian Constitution of 2014, Law No. 64 of 

2010, and Law No. 126 of 2008. In July 2007, the National Coordinating Committee on 

Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking was established through Prime Ministerial 

Decree No. 1584 of 2007. Government officials, including members of law enforcement 

agencies, have received a series of training courses on combating human trafficking. 

Those training programs are delivered by experts appointed by the National Coordinating 

Committee on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking, which has also coordinated 

with international organizations. 

I. Legal Framework 

There are three legal instruments in Egypt prohibiting the trafficking of women and children for 

the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labor: the Egyptian Constitution of 2014, Law No.

64 of 2010 on Combating and Preventing Trafficking in Persons, and Law No. 126 of 2008 on 

Child Protection. In 2015, a bill was also drafted to combat human smuggling. 

Articles 80 and 89 of the Egyptian Constitution of 2014 prohibit trafficking in persons and 

exploiting women and children. Article 80 requires the state to “provide children with care and 

protection from all forms of violence, abuse, mistreatment, and commercial and sexual 

exploitation.”1

 Article 89 prohibits “all forms of slavery, oppression, [the] forced exploitation of 

human beings, [the] sex trade, and other forms of human trafficking.”2

Law No. 64 of 2010 prohibits all forms of human trafficking and exploitation that are prohibited 

in the UN’s 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially 

Women and Children, which was ratified by Egypt in March 2004.

3

 Article 2 of the Law 

prohibits both domestic and international trafficking of persons, and defines human trafficking to 

cover all forms of exploitation, including the sexual exploitation of women, forced labor, 

1

 CONSTITUTION OF 2014, art. 80, unofficial English translation available at http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustoren001.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/Y4J8-Y6DD. 

2 Id. art. 89.

3 Law No. 64 of 2010, 18 AL-JARIDA AL-RASMIYYA (Duplicate), 9 May 2010, p. 5, English translation available at

http://www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Law_regarding_Combating_Human_Trafficking_ 

FINAL.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/DC6N-JKJY; Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 

Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational 

Organized Crime, Nov. 15, 2000, 2237 U.N.T.S. 343, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY 

&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-a&chapter=18&lang=en (click “vol. 2237” under “Text”), archived at https://perma.cc/ 

W3M3-THJ9; Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children: 

Status, UNITED NATIONS TREATY COLLECTION, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_ 

no=XVIII-12-a&chapter=18&lang=en (last visited Feb. 11, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/MW6H-FUC8. 

The Law Library of Congress 29 
Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Egypt 

slavery, servitude, and the removal of human organs.

4

 Article 16 extends the Law’s jurisdiction 

to non-Egyptian citizens if

• the crime was committed on board any means of transportation that was registered in Egypt;

• one or more of the victims was Egyptian;

• the preparation for the crime or its planning, direction, supervision, or financing occurred

in Egypt;

• the crime was committed by an organized criminal group engaged in a criminal activities in

more than one state, including Egypt;

• the crime caused the harm of any Egyptian citizen or resident, or to the security or the

interests of the Egyptian state; or

• the individual who committed the crime in Egypt was located by foreign law enforcement

authorities and not extradited.5

Article 1 of the Law also defines the trafficking victim as “a natural person who suffered any 

material or moral harm, in particular bodily, psychological or mental harm, or economic loss if 

the harm or loss was caused directly by one of the crimes stipulated in [Law No. 64].”6

 Article 

23 of the Law protects the rights of trafficking victims, including the right to safety and legal 

assistance during all stages of evidence collection, investigation, or trial proceedings.7

 It is not 

clear whether the Law provides protection to foreign victims of trafficking. According to article 

26, the Egyptian authorities must provide care, education, training, and rehabilitation to Egyptian 

victims, with no mention being made of foreign victims.8

Law No. 126 of 2008 on child protection punishes individuals who violate the right of a child to 

be protected from trafficking and sexual, commercial, or economic exploitation.9

 The Law 

penalizes individuals who buy or sell a child; offer a child for sale; deliver, accept, or transfer a 

child as a slave; exploit a child sexually, commercially, or through forced labor; or use the child 

for other illegal purposes, even if the crime is committed transnationally. Such offenses are 

punishable by hard labor for a period of not less than five years and a fine of E£50,000–200,000 

(approximately US$6,365–25,470).10 

4 Law No. 64 of 2010, art.2.

5 Id. art.16.

6 Id. art.1

7 Id. art. 23.

8 Id. art. 26.

9 Law No. 126 of 2008 Amending Penal Code No. 85 of 1937, art. 291, 24 AL-JARIDA AL-RASMIYYA (Duplicate), 

15 June 2008, unofficial English translation available at http://www.africanchildforum.org/clr/Legislation%20Per 

%20Country/Egypt/egypt_children_2008_en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/S372-5JQ2. 

10 Id.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Egypt 

On September 6, 2015, an anti-human-smuggling bill was approved by the Egyptian National 

Security Committee (it has yet to become law). The bill, drafted by the National Coordinating 

Committee on Preventing and Combatting Illegal Migration, calls for the punishment of

smugglers facilitating undocumented migration into or out of Egypt with life imprisonment and 

fines of up to E£500,000 (approximately US$63,670). The bill proposes a fund to assist 

refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, while holding the state responsible for protecting them.11

With respect to the implementation of the government’s anti-trafficking plan under Law No. 64 

of 2010, the US State Department reports that in 2014 the Egyptian government did not comply 

with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking or adequately address the needs of 

foreign trafficking victims. Because many officials failed to systematically identify victims 

among vulnerable groups, victims were “routinely treated as criminals and punished for unlawful 

acts committed as a direct result of being subject to human trafficking.”12 In addition, the 

Egyptian authorities collected data in 2014 from district courts nationwide to gather information 

on trafficking cases over the previous five-year period to properly allocate training and prioritize 

anti-trafficking efforts. As a result of this collection, twenty-seven potential trafficking 

investigations were conducted. However, only fifteen prosecutions were initiated in 2014 under 

the 2010 anti-trafficking law, and no suspects were convicted. Instead, according to the State 

Department, “many trafficking cases were settled out of court, failing to adequately punish 

offenders or serve as a sufficient deterrent to the commission of trafficking crimes.”13

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Combating

Human Trafficking

In July 2007, the National Coordinating Committee on Preventing and Combating Human 

Trafficking was established through Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1584 of 2007.

14 The 

Committee, composed of representatives from a number of government agencies,15 focuses on 

four areas in its fight against human trafficking: the prevention of the crime, protection of 

victims, prosecution of offenders, and cooperation with international organizations and academic 

institutions. In addition, the Committee is charged with preparing an annual report for the 

11 Tom Rollins, Smugglers Could Face Life Sentence Under New Migration Bill, MADA MASR (Sept. 6, 2015), 

http://www.madamasr.com/news/smugglers-could-face-life-sentence-under-new-migration-bill, archived at 

https://perma.cc/X24A-9PCS. 

12 Egypt, in U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 148 (July 2015), http://www.state. 

gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/WN3U-2YEN. 

13 Id.

14 Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1584 of 15 July 2007, available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at

http://www.mfa.gov.eg/Arabic/Ministry/TraffickinginPersons/report/Documents/Unnamed.doc (in Arabic), archived 

at https://perma.cc/VU25-2JF6. 

15 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior (agency responsible for domestic

security), Ministry of Defense, General Intelligence Service, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of 

Social Solidarity, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Education, General Prosecution, National Council for Human 

Rights, National Council for Mother and Childhood, and National Council for Women. Id.

The Law Library of Congress 31 
Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Egypt 

Council of Ministers concerning efforts to combat trafficking in persons and ensuring 

cooperation with the specialized office of the United Nations.16

After the passage of Law No. 64 of 2010, the National Coordinating Committee was 

reestablished by a new Prime Ministerial Decree, No. 2353 of 2010.

17 In December 2010, the 

Committee created an action plan for January 2011–January 2013 to combat human trafficking.18

The action plan consists of four chapters that

• discuss methods of raising public awareness, building law enforcement capacity, and

combating the root causes of human trafficking;

• deal with the personal safety of human trafficking victims and educate law enforcement

officials on how to identify victims of trafficking;

• describe measures that contribute to effective criminal prosecution of traffickers and build

the capacity of law enforcement agencies to combat trafficking efficiently; and

• discuss the strengthening of cooperation with international organizations and academic

institutions on bilateral and multilateral levels.19

Prime Ministerial Resolution No. 239 of 2013 repealed Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2353 of 

2010 and renamed the Committee as the National Coordinating Committee on Preventing and 

Combating Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration.

20 Article 2 of the Resolution granted the 

Committee the authority to develop plans and coordinate efforts to combat not only human 

trafficking but also illegal migration.21

In March 2014, a new independent committee was established by Prime Ministerial Resolution 

No. 380 of 2014 to focus only on combating and preventing illegal migration. Thus, the 

objectives of the new committee are different from those of the anti-humantrafficking committee.

22

16 Id.

17 Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2353 of 23 August 2010, http://www.mfa.gov.eg/Arabic/Ministry/Traffickingin 

Persons/committee/Documents/resource.doc (in Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/AJD8-DPYC. 

18 NATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON PREVENTING AND COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, NATIONAL PLAN 

OF ACTION AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING (JANUARY 2011–JANUARY 2013) (Dec. 2, 2010), available at

http://www.ungift.org/doc/knowledgehub/resource-centre/Governments/Egypt_National_Action_Plan_2011-2013-

en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/CT8F-NWKS. 

19 Id.

20 Prime Ministerial Resolution No. 239 of 12 March 2013, available at http://www.vetogate.com/387107 (in 

Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/KXQ4-E769. 

21 Id. art. 2.

22 Prime Ministerial Resolution No. 380 of 9 March 2014, http://www.mfa.gov.eg/Arabic/InsideEgypt/economy 

indicator/Documents/New%20Doc%207%20%282%29.pdf (in Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/VV4D-ZY2Z. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Egypt

III. Training Programs Provided to Law Enforcement Agencies and Other 

Government Agencies

Since the passage of Law No. 64 of 2010, government officials, including members of law 

enforcement agencies, have received a series of training courses on combating human trafficking 

offered by experts appointed by the National Coordinating Committee on Preventing and 

Combating Human Trafficking, including in coordination with international organizations, such 

as the International Organization of Migrations (IOM). US nonprofit organizations, such as the 

International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), and foreign academic institutions, such as 

the Protection Project of Johns Hopkins University, have also provided training to groups 

in Egypt.

Workshops and training programs organized by the National Coordinating Committee have 

focused on enhancing victim protection, trafficking prevention, and criminal prosecution. The 

Committee coordinates with other government agencies to provide the training programs at their 

facilities, and also hires field experts to provide training sessions.23

In collaboration with the National Committee on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking, 

the IOM has sponsored a number of training programs over the past five years. The purpose of 

the training programs has been to raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking among 

risk communities, enhance victim identification, and strengthen the investigation and prosecution 

capacities of law enforcement agencies and the Prosecutor’s Office. The programs have targeted 

law enforcement officials, including representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Interior 

(responsible for domestic security), and community and religious leaders. The IOM staff has 

also trained diplomats and army officers in combating human trafficking in peacekeeping missions.24

In 2010, the International Research and Exchanges Board initiated a training program targeting 

journalists and editors to educate them about reporting on human trafficking in order to 

strengthen public awareness and protect potential victims. The program was funded by the 

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State.25

Despite the ongoing training programs, the National Committee on Combating Human 

Trafficking has stated that those programs have not been sufficient, especially the programs 

targeting law enforcement officials.26 The State Department’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons 

23 THE PROTECTION PROJECT, A HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND 

CHILDREN: EGYPT, http://www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Egypt.pdf (last visited Feb. 12, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/6495-57F6.

24 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) CAIRO, COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN EGYPT:

2012 FACT SHEET, http://www.egypt.iom.int/Doc/Counter%20Trafficking%20Fact%20Sheet%20Egypt%20% 

282012%29.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/96RM-35E3. 

25 IREX, REPORTING ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A MANUAL FOR TRAINING JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS IN EGYPT

(Apr. 2010), https://www.irex.org/system/files/TOT.Reporting%20on%20TIP.Eng_..pdf, archived at https://perma. 

cc/ETX2-YUB7. 

26 NATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON COMBATING AND PREVENTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, EVALUATING 

THE EXECUTION OF THE NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING (JANUARY 2011–DECEMBER 

The Law Library of Congress 33

 
Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Egypt 

Report also reached the same conclusion after evaluating the current anti-human-trafficking 

programs in the country. It stated that law enforcement officers lacked an understanding of Law 

No. 64 of 2010 and that they also need more training in effective investigations.27 

2013) 1 (Dec. 31, 2012), http://www.mfa.gov.eg/Arabic/InsideEgypt/economyindicator/Documents/Evaluating 

%20the%20Execution%20of%20the%20National%20Plan%20of%20Action%20Against%20Human%20Traffickin

g%20(January%202011-%20December%202013)[1].doc, archived at https://perma.cc/F4Q4-K8UC. 

27 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, supra note 12, at 148.

The Law Library of Congress 34 
England and Wales

Clare Feikert-Ahalt

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY England and Wales is taking a robust approach to tackle human trafficking. It introduced 

the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 to consolidate provisions relating to human trafficking,

forced labor, and sexual exploitation, and significantly increased the penalties for these 

offenses, as well as providing police with a way to seize the proceeds of these crimes and 

provide reparations to the victims. A national referral mechanism is in place to put 

potential victims in contact with one of two agencies that are specialized in dealing with 

these types of crime. There are statutory guidelines in place to help train the police and 

other first responders who are the victims’ first point of contact with authorities. These 

guidelines train these first responders to see the indicators of modern slavery and take 

appropriate action to carefully interview such victims and meet their needs. 

I. Introduction 

Human trafficking increasingly has become a priority on the government agenda in England and 

Wales. England is considered to be a destination country, with the majority of trafficking 

victims originating from Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, the Balkans, and the Far East.1 The 

Home Office has acknowledged that there is no reliable total available of the number of adults 

and children brought into the UK for the purposes of exploitation. It is estimated that 2014 saw 

an overall increase of 21% in human trafficking victims, and an increase of over 50% for British 

national victims of human trafficking,

2

 although the rise could be attributed to an increased 

detection of the victims of this crime rather than an increase in incidences. 

II. Laws

The UK adopted the term “modern slavery” in 2013 to cover offenses that were previously 

described as human trafficking, forced labor, slavery, sexual exploitation, and domestic 

servitude.3 The Modern Slavery Act entered into force on July 31, 2015, and served to 

consolidate previous legislation, creating a single offense of human trafficking that covers both 

1 UK Human Trafficking Centre, NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/aboutus/what-we-do/specialist-capabilities/uk-human-trafficking-centre (last visited Feb. 10, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/27PQ-TCRW.

2

 NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, NCA STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT THE NATURE AND SCALE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN

2014 (Sept. 12, 2015), http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/656-nca-strategic-assessment-thenature-and-scale-of-human-trafficking-in-2014/file, archived at https://perma.cc/HG84-4RLH. This report notes 

that the statistics “should be considered an indication of the nature and scale of human trafficking. This is because 

trafficking and slavery are hidden crimes, and statistics and analysis can only be provided on what is already known, 

and cannot be exhaustive.” Id. para. 3. See also Press Association, Number of British Trafficking Victims More 

Than Doubles, GUARDIAN (London) (Dec. 15, 2015), http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/dec/16/british-victimshuman-trafficking-increase-2014-nca-report, archived at https://perma.cc/34XA-AZQD. 

3

 NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, supra note 2, ¶ 6. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

sexual and nonsexual exploitation. It further simplified previous legislation and increased the 

maximum sentence to life imprisonment on a number of offenses. The Act enables the courts to 

issue “prevention and risk orders,” which restrict the activity of the individuals named in the 

order if they present a risk to others. 4 

The Modern Slavery Act introduced a number of provisions to help victims of modern slavery. 

It provides statutory defenses to victims of modern slavery who are forced to commit crimes as a 

direct consequence of their slavery and enables the court to compensate victims if their assets 

have been confiscated from the perpetrators through reparation orders.5 The Act requires the 

Secretary of State to issue statutory guidance to help frontline workers identify and support 

victims of modern slavery.6 

The Modern Slavery Act provides that trafficking is facilitating or arranging the travel of another 

person with a view to that person being exploited.7 Any consent to travel from the victim is 

irrelevant in this offense.8 The offense is extraterritorial, so it applies to UK nationals wherever 

the offense is committed.9 Exploitation covers a number of areas including slavery, servitude, 

forced or compulsory labor, sexual exploitation, moving a person for the purposes of organ 

removal or the sale of human tissue, or any type of behavior that would provide an advantage to 

the trafficker.10 The maximum penalty for this offense is up to life imprisonment for a 

conviction on indictment.11 Any assets generated during the course of modern slavery may be 

confiscated after conviction.12 In addition to confiscating the proceeds of crime, the Modern 

Slavery Act provides the court with the ability to provide reparations to the victim of the crime 

upon the conviction of the defendant. This order allows the court to take into account the 

exploitation and degradation the victim has suffered.13

To further help protect victims of modern slavery, the Act provides for a system of prevention 

orders, which enables the court to prohibit an individual subject to an order from doing certain 

activities. These orders can be made against people who are involved in slavery or trafficking, 

regardless of whether they have been convicted of an offense.

14 The prohibitions in these orders 

may vary and are in accordance with the wishes of the court, but may include such things as a 

prohibition on foreign travel and restrictions on individuals visiting certain businesses or places. 

4 Modern Slavery Act 2015, c. 30, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/pdfs/ukpga_20150030_en.pdf, 

archived at https://perma.cc/2879-MFK7; NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, supra note 2, ¶ 8.

5 Modern Slavery Act 2015, c. 30, § 45. 

6 Id. § 49.

7 Id. § 2.

8 Id. 

9 Id. 

10 Id. § 3.

11 Id. § 5.

12 Id. § 7. 

13 Id. § 8. 

14 Id. §§ 13–22.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

The Modern Slavery Act further empowers magistrate’s courts to issue slavery and trafficking 

risk orders.15 These orders are issued upon application from a chief officer of police, an 

immigration officer, or the Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA). These orders 

are issued in cases where the court is satisfied there is a risk that the defendant may commit a 

slavery or human trafficking offense and that the order is necessary to protect individuals from 

harm.16 The prohibitions contained in this order are similar to those contained in preventive 

orders, and the magistrate’s courts have discretion in determining what prohibitions 

are necessary.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 established an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, who is 

responsible for encouraging good practices to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute slavery 

and human trafficking offenses and for identifying victims of these offenses. The Commissioner 

has a wide vary of activities that he or she may undertake to support this role, including making 

recommendations to public authorities about the exercise of his or her functions; financially 

supporting research into modern slavery; providing information, education, or training; and 

issuing reports on matters of modern slavery to the Secretary of State.17 

III. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies and the National Referral

Mechanism

A number of agencies tasked with tackling modern-day slavery are organized under the National 

Referral Mechanism (NRM). This mechanism was introduced in 2009 to meet the UK’s 

obligation under the Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. It aims to 

locate and identify potential victims of trafficking and ensure they receive appropriate support.

18 

To be referred to the NRM, the potential victim must be referred to one of two competent 

authorities by one of a number of agencies or organizations. The two competent authorities are 

the UK Human Trafficking Center, which handles referrals from the police, local authorities, and 

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the Home Office’s Immigration and Visas, which 

handles referrals that include part of the immigration process. These authorities, known as first 

responders, must make the initial referral to the two competent authorities and include a mixture 

of government agencies and NGOs. The statutory first responder agencies include the following: 

• The forty-three police forces of England and Wales

• British Transport Police

• Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)

• Police Scotland

• Border Force

15 Id. § 23.

16 Id. §§ 25–29.

17 Id. pt. 4. 

18 National Referral Mechanism, NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/aboutus/what-we-do/specialist-capabilities/uk-human-trafficking-centre/national-referral-mechanism (last visited Feb. 14, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/GYS7-3VD9. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

• National Crime Agency (NCA)

• Home Office UK Visas and Immigration Directorate (UKVI)

• Home Office Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (HO ICE)

• Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA)

• Local Authorities

• National Health Service (NHS) (England, Scotland and Wales) and local health boards

• Health and Social Care Trusts (Northern Ireland)19

Additional bodies that may frequently find themselves in the role of first responders include 

charities such as the Salvation Army, the Poppy Project, Migrant Help, Kalayaan, Barnardos, 

Unseen, TARA Project (Scotland), National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 

(NSPCC), Black Association of Women Step Out (BAWSO), New Pathways, and the 

Refugee Council.20 

To refer a case to the competent authority, the first responder must complete a form that provides 

the reasons the responder thinks the person is a potential victim of human trafficking. Referral to 

the competent authority is voluntary for adults, who must provide permission by signing the 

referral form. The consent of potential child victims is not required for referral. The completed 

form initially goes to the UK Human Trafficking Centre, which determines which competent 

authority will handle the case.21 Once the referral is made to one of the competent authorities, it 

will be assessed and a decision will be made as to whether the individual is a victim of 

modern slavery. 

The competent authority then has a two-stage process to determine whether or not someone is a 

victim of modern slavery. The competent authority must assess, within five working days, 

whether there are reasonable grounds, based upon statements from the victim and information 

from the first responder or other sources, to believe that the individual is a potential victim of 

human trafficking or modern slavery. The NCA has stated that “[t]he threshold at Reasonable 

Grounds stage for the trained decision makers is; ‘from the information available so far I believe 

but cannot prove’ that the individual is a potential victim of trafficking or modern slavery.”22 If 

such reasonable grounds are found, the potential victim may, if appropriate, be provided with 

accommodation and subsistence at a safe house at the government’s expense. The potential 

victim will then receive a period of forty-five calendar days of rest and reflection to determine 

19 Modern Slavery Act 2015, c. 30, sched. 3. 

20 For a more complete list, see Major Investigation and Public Protection: List of Anti-Slavery Charities and NonGovernmental Organisations, COLLEGE OF POLICING, https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/majorinvestigation-and-public-protection/modern-slavery/list-of-anti-slavery-charities-and-non-governmentalorganisations/?s=trafficking (last visited Feb. 14, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/MQV8-LMU5. 

21 National Referral Mechanism, NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, supra note 18. 

22 Id. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

his or her next course of action. During this time frame the competent authority works to gather 

further information from the first responder that made the initial referral, as well as other 

agencies, to make a conclusive determination as to whether the individual is a victim of human 

trafficking or modern-day slavery. The decision maker bases his or her decision on the balance 

of probabilities—it must be more likely than not that the individual is a victim of human 

trafficking or modern slavery.23 If the individual is an immigrant, he or she may be granted 

discretionary leave to remain in the UK for one year, which can be extended, to allow him/her to 

cooperate in any police investigation and/or legal action.24 Where the victim’s case has no 

involvement in the criminal justice process the Home Office may still provide a grant of 

discretionary leave to remain25 if the individual is conclusively recognized as a victim of human 

trafficking.

26 If the victim is from outside the European Economic Area he or she is entitled to 

receive financial assistance and help to return home through a program run by the Home Office 

known as the Assisted Voluntary Return of Irregular Migrants. Nationals from European 

Economic Area states are put in contact with their embassy and NGOs who may be able to assist 

them.27 If the individual is found not to be a victim of trafficking or modern slavery then the 

circumstances of the case need to be taken into account. Depending upon these circumstances 

the individual may be referred to law enforcement or offered support to voluntarily return to 

his/her country of origin if the circumstances do not provide the individual with a right to live in 

the UK.28 

IV. Training for Law Enforcement

Training for the police starts at the College of Policing. This College has produced a number of 

Authorized Professional Practice materials, one of which covers modern slavery. The 

Authorized Professional Practice materials note that when police come into contact with 

potential victims of modern slavery, the officers must immediately take steps to ensure the safety 

of the potential victim. If the officer who makes initial contact with either the potential victim, a 

third party, or a witness does not have the requisite knowledge or expertize to “sensitively handle 

vulnerable and traumatized individuals,”29 he or she must refer the case to his/her line manager 

or duty officer, who is then responsible for arranging, if necessary, a referral into the NRM.

30 

23 Id. 

24 Id. 

25 Id.

26 Home Office, Victims of Modern Slavery – Frontline Staff Guidance, Version 2, at 7 (July 2015), 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488188/Victims_of_modern_slavery_

-_frontline_staff_guidance_v2.0_EXT_clean.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/LCM5-PK92. 

27 National Referral Mechanism, NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, supra note 18. 

28 Id.

29 Major Investigation and Public Protection: First Response and the National Referral Mechanism, COLLEGE OF 

POLICING, https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/modernslavery/national-referral-mechanism/?s=trafficking (last visited Feb. 14, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/24S6-

KUBN.

30 Id. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

When a trained first responder is made aware of a potential victim, arrangements should be made 

for specialist interviewers at the earliest stage possible to conduct the interview in accordance 

with guidance from the Ministry of Justice on how to obtain the best evidence.31 The 

interviewer should take account of indicators of exploitation and use the information obtained in 

the interview to complete the national referral form to refer the potential victim into the NRM.

32 

The police are made aware that it can take time for a potential victim to disclose information 

relating to the case. In situations where such disclosure is not imminent the potential victim can 

be placed in local temporary accommodation, which should be secure, and the potential victim 

should be “under strict instructions not to attempt communication with their exploiter(s) or other 

victims. The placement should be kept confidential.”33 

For potential victims that are under the age of eighteen years of age, a child advocate or other 

selected representative should be present during any interview. It may not be appropriate to 

interview children immediately following their discovery and they should be placed in secure 

accommodation, the location of which should be kept confidential prior to any interview.34 

During the child’s time in accommodation, all steps should be taken to ensure that they do not go 

missing and are not re-exploited.35 In cases where there is uncertainty over the age of a potential 

victim, they should be presumed to be a child.36 

Police that interview children are trained to understand that child victims of modern slavery are 

the most vulnerable, the easiest to control, and the least likely to admit or realize their situation. 

Child victims may also be wary of adults, particularly the police, and interviews must be 

conducted in a child-friendly environment. If a child goes missing before or after his/her 

interview, the case is treated as a missing person case.

37

Police may receive specialist training to recognize and help victims of modern slavery through 

additional programs. Charities who have either received funding from the Home Office or 

independently have created programs to provide further training to frontline professionals, 

including nurses, midwives, police officers, and prison staff, to raise awareness and 

31 MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, ACHIEVING BEST EVIDENCE IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS (Mar. 2011), www.cps.gov.uk/ 

publications/docs/best_evidence_in_criminal_proceedings.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/WNB3-YG4E. 

32 Major Investigation and Public Protection: Risk and Identification, COLLEGE OF POLICING, https://www.app. 

college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/modern-slavery/risk-and-identification/

(last visited Feb. 10, 2015), archived at https://perma.cc/82CR-4Q5Z. 

33 Major Investigation and Public Protection: First Response and the National Referral Mechanism, COLLEGE OF 

POLICING, supra note 29. 

34 Id.

35 Id. 

36 Modern Slavery Act 2015, c. 30, § 51. 

37 Major Investigation and Public Protection: First Response and the National Referral Mechanism, COLLEGE OF 

POLICING, supra note 29.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

understanding of trafficking and provide them with knowledge of how to help 

potential victims.38 

V. Guidance for Frontline Workers 

There are a number of guidelines in place to assist all frontline workers, not just the police, who 

come into contact with potential victims of modern slavery. The purpose of the guidance is to 

give such staff information so they understand all the aspects involved in modern slavery, to help 

them identify and assist potential victims. The guidance provides detailed information on how 

frontline workers should identify and handle potential victims. There are certain provisions in 

the guidance that have been redacted as being sensitive information.39 The guidance notes that 

victims of modern slavery are most frequently identified during the border and immigration 

process, and that individuals working in these areas must complete e-learning training on 

modern slavery.40

The difficultly in identifying victims of modern slavery are noted, and the guidance emphasizes 

that victims are extremely vulnerable and frequently mistrust individuals in positions of 

authority.41 The first guidance for frontline practitioners is to work to put the potential victim at 

ease as far as possible, being careful to watch the potential victim’s verbal and body language. 

Guidance notes that victims of human trafficking may frequently appear unwilling to cooperate 

and feel not only fear of their trafficker but also dependence upon the trafficker.42 

Frontline responders are required to consider all health concerns, both psychological and 

physical, and ensure that care for these are provided in a timely manner. To help build rapport 

and the victim’s confidence with the frontline responder, changes in personnel should be 

avoided. The responder should research the victim’s cultural background, covering gender, 

religion, and ethnicity, and, if an interpreter is required, ensure that the interpreter, selected from 

the national register of interpreters, speaks the same dialect as the victim. The victim should be 

helped to understand the process.43

Once a potential victim of modern slavery has been identified, the frontline worker must take the 

potential victim to a secure environment away from any potential trafficker or other potential 

victims. During this time, the frontline worker informs the potential victim of their right to 

assistance, protection, and emotional and practical help.44 The interview of the victim is an 

38 Eaves To Deliver Human Trafficking Training To Frontline Professionals, EAVES, http://www.eavesforwomen. 

org.uk/news-events/news/eaves-to-deliver-human-trafficking-training-to-frontline-professionals (last visited Feb. 10, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/3ND2-YRCD.

39 Home Office, Victims of Modern Slavery – Frontline Staff Guidance, supra note 26, at 42.

40 Id. at 14.

41 Best Practice Guide, NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/about-us/what-wedo/specialist-capabilities/uk-human-trafficking-centre/best-practice-guide (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/M2U6-P9YP. 

42 Id.

43 Id. 

44 Home Office, Victims of Modern Slavery – Frontline Staff Guidance, supra note 26, at 13.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

important stage in the process, as evidence from this will be used to determine whether the 

individual is a potential victim of human trafficking and will be provided on the form to the 

NRM. All interviews must be conducted to achieve the best evidence. To meet this standard the 

victim’s health and fitness for the interview should first be considered. If it is determined that 

the victim’s health and fitness is sufficient to allow for the interview, the roles of those involved 

and the process of the interview should be clearly explained to the victim so that he or she 

understands it. The pace of the interview should be determined by the victim’s state of mind. 

Neutral space should be used for the interview and interviewers should not be in uniform. In 

cases of female victims, both female interviewers and interpreters should be utilized.

45

Guidance provides the examples of the Border Force processing a passenger during an asylum 

interview or during a visit from Immigration Enforcement to a premises.46 Frontline staff are 

trained to recognize indicators to assist them in identifying whether a person is a potential victim 

of human trafficking. There are many indicators that a person may be a potential victim. Some 

of these indicators are that the potential victim may be reluctant to come forward with 

information, or even recognize that they are a victim of modern slavery. The information that 

they provide may contain obvious errors, or may be unrealistic, as the victim’s trafficker may 

have taught them information to provide to authorities if questioned.47 If the suspected trafficker 

is present, frontline staff must be aware of any nonverbal communication and body language 

between the victim and trafficker.48 Frontline staff should be aware that the victim will likely 

have been affected by trauma, and could be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder and as a 

result may display hostility, aggression, or difficulty recalling information or concentrating. 

Children in particular may find it difficult to trust authorities as the traffickers may have told 

them that the authorities should not be trusted, or may have faced negative experiences in their 

home country with corrupt officials.49 There may also be physical indicators of human 

trafficking. These physical indicators are extensive and include injuries that may have occurred 

as a result of assault or measures to control the victim, or neurological symptoms. The presence 

of certain tattoos or marks may also signify that an individual is a potential victim of human 

trafficking.50 Frontline workers are also trained to look for psychological indicators of modern 

slavery. These indicators include expressions of fear and anxiety, depression, isolation, 

substance abuse, self-harm and an attitude of self-blame, and shame, as well as symptoms of 

post-traumatic stress disorder, which as noted above, can cause hostility and aggression.51

Frontline workers are trained to look for situational and environmental signs that indicate a 

person is a potential victim of modern slavery. The UK uses a report produced by the 

International Labor Organization that lists the following specific signs of modern slavery: 

45 National Crime Agency, Best Practice Guide, supra note 41.

46 Home Office, Victims of Modern Slavery – Frontline Staff Guidance, supra note 26, at 12.

47 Id. ¶ 7. 

48 Id. 

49 Id. 

50 Id. ¶ 7.1.

51 Id. ¶ 7.3. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

• distrust of authorities

• acting as if instructed by another

• lack of knowledge about the area they live in the UK

• fear of saying what their immigration status is

• fearful and emotional about their family or dependents

• limited English, for example only having vocabulary relating to their

exploitative situation

• passport or travel document has been confiscated

• someone has taken advantage of their illegal status in the UK52

Frontline workers are trained to understand that victims of human trafficking may be reluctant to 

identify themselves as such and unwilling to disclose details of their experience for many reasons 

including fear of reprisal from the trafficker against themselves or their families, punishment 

from the authorities, deportation, juju or witchcraft rituals, or discrimination from their 

community and families, or because they are concerned they will be considered complicit in their 

situation.53 There are many other factors that cause victims of human trafficking to conceal the 

fact—most are caused by fear of the traffickers or lack of information about their real situation 

and the laws that can help to protect and support them. Given all these factors, frontline workers 

are trained to recognize objective signs and indicators to help them identify potential victims.

Once a victim has been identified as a potential victim of modern slavery, emergency medical 

treatment should be provided to the potential victim if appropriate.54 Once any medical needs 

have been attended to, potential victims of human trafficking should be referred to the 

Competent Authority of the NRM to investigate the case further.55 While frontline staff are 

trained to identify indicators of modern slavery, there is no minimum threshold to meet to refer a 

case to the NRM.

56 The frontline workers must include all indicators of modern slavery that he 

or she has noted and all the circumstances in which the person was identified on the referral 

form.57 After the referral, the frontline worker must then provide accommodation for the 

potential victim.58

Specific guidance is provided for frontline workers that come into contact with child victims. 

This guidance notes that these workers require specific knowledge and understanding about child 

victims, as the characteristics and issues they face are different from those of adult victims. 

Frontline responders are required to deal with children as a priority because of their 

vulnerability. Frontline responders are trained to identify potential child victims of trafficking. 

Indicators of this include children who arrive in the UK accompanied by adults who are not 

52 Id. ¶ 7.4.

53 Id. ¶ 8.1.

54 Id. ¶ 5.

55 Id. ¶ 3. 

56 Id. 

56 Id. ¶ 13.2.4.

57 Id. 

58 Id. ¶ 3. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: England and Wales 

related to them, or in circumstances that raise child-protection concerns. These circumstances 

include those where there is no parental permission for the child to travel to the UK or stay with 

the adult, no evidence of a preexisting relationship with the adult, or evidence of unsatisfactory 

accommodation in the UK.59 

Responders are trained to address the child with special care to avoid causing alarm or concern 

and take into account the developmental stage the child is at and any grooming from the 

perpetrator.60 If the potential victim is a child, frontline staff should immediately refer the child

to the local authority’s children’s services, which is the primary service responsible for 

safeguarding and responding to the needs of child victims of modern slavery.61 As with adult 

victims, children may be inconsistent with their stories and experiences, and frontline staff are 

trained to recognize this. As it is not possible for a child to give informed consent, any child 

who is transported or transferred for the purpose of exploitation is considered to be a potential 

victim of modern slavery.62 

While the government is working to expand its program to help prevent and prosecute incidents 

of modern slavery, some charities that work in this area consider that the actions are not enough, 

that there is a lack of support for victims, and that the process victims must go through as 

agencies seek to determine if they are a victim sometimes amounts to “a 

slow dehumanization.”63

59 Id. ¶ 11.2.

60 Id. ¶ 11.10. 

61 Id. ¶ 11.1. 

62 Id. ¶ 11.3.

63 Irina Do Carmo, Trafficking Victims Often Treated as Illegal Immigrants First, Human Beings Last, GUARDIAN

(London) (July 30, 2015), http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jul/30/trafficking-victims-treatedillegal-immigrants-modern-slavery-act, archived at https://perma.cc/7UXB-VA6A. 

The Law Library of Congress 44 
European Union

Theresa Papademetriou 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY Under European Union legislation, trafficking of human beings constitutes a human rights 

violation and is prohibited. EU Member States play a critical role in the identification, 

prevention, and protection of victims of trafficking and the prosecution of perpetrators. 

Under European Court of Human Rights case law, states of the Council of Europe have a 

positive obligation to put in place an effective legal framework against human trafficking 

and take protective measures. Training of officials who come into contact with victims of 

trafficking is legally required and is an indispensable tool in ensuring that such officials 

are better able to identify victims of trafficking. A number of EU agencies provide 

training and other support to Member States in identifying trafficking victims. 

I. Introduction 

The European Union, in its efforts to eliminate human trafficking, has developed a

comprehensive strategy by adopting legislation to criminalize human trafficking, formulating 

policy documents, funding programs, and establishing the office of the European AntiTrafficking Coordinator.1

 Key priorities of the EU’s policy are to prevent human trafficking, 

facilitate identification of trafficking victims through proper training for those who are likely to 

come into contact with victims or potential victims, and support and protect such victims. EU 

Members are legally required to train those officials who come in contact with victims of 

trafficking in order to facilitate and speed identification of victims. The Commission provides 

funding to various projects that deal with the issue of identification of victims of trafficking.2

In general, the EU is a destination region, with many of its Member States being transit and 

source countries, especially those who joined the EU more recently.

3

 A 2015 report of the 

Statistical Office of the European Union highlights the extent of the trafficking phenomenon 

across Europe.4 The report provides statistical data, as submitted by national authorities of the 

twenty-eight EU Member States, and from Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, 

1 EU Actions Explained, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, TOGETHER AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, 

http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/citizens-corner-eu-actions-explained/eu-actions-explained_en, archived at

https://perma.cc/GH2U-QRYA. 

2 EU Projects and Funding, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, TOGETHER AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, 

http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-projects/_en?solrsort=ds_field_publication_date%20desc, archived at

https://perma.cc/E5LH-NN3F. 

3

 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, THE EU POLICY TO FIGHT AND PREVENT TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, DIRECTORATE

GENERAL, JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND SECURITY, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Trafficking/Dakar_ 

Protection_Gert_Bogers.pdf (last visited Feb. 14, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/8DCP-PRQU. 

4

 EUROSTAT, STATISTICAL WORKING PAPERS: TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS (2015), http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/ 

home-affairs/what-is-new/news/news/docs/20141017_working_paper_on_statistics_on_trafficking_ 

in_human_beings_en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/CZA4-F2LS. 

The Law Library of Congress 45
Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: European Union 

and Turkey. According to key findings of this report, during the period of 2010–2012, 30,136 

people were registered as victims in the twenty-eight Member States. Of these, 80% were 

women and 1,000 were children trafficked for sexual exploitation.5

 In spite of the global 

dimensions of the trafficking problem, more than 65% of registered victims in the EU are 

EU citizens.6 

II. Legal and Policy Framework on Human Trafficking

A. General Overview

The EU derives its power to legislate in the field of trafficking from the Treaty on the 

Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Under article 79 of the TFEU, the EU may enact 

rules in order to combat illegal immigration and human trafficking, particularly trafficking 

involving women and children.7 Moreover, trafficking of human beings is a human rights 

violation and is prohibited by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.8 

The main EU legislation on human trafficking is Directive 2011/36/EU on Preventing and 

Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims.

9

 Directive 2011/36/EU 

establishes common rules regarding the definition of “trafficking” and sanctions against 

perpetrators. It also includes common provisions designed to prevent trafficking and to 

protect victims.

10 

In addition, the legal framework on human trafficking is complemented by two directives: (a) 

Directive 2012/29/EU, which establishes minimum standards on the rights, support, and 

protection of victims of crime;

11 and (b) Directive 2004/80/EC Relating to Compensation to 

Crime Victims.

12 The latter requires Member States to create compensation schemes for victims 

5 Id. at 13.

6 Id. 

7 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 2012 O.J. (C 326) 47, http://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A12012E%2FTXT, archived at https://perma.cc/2MES-ASJT. 

8 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union art. 5, para. 3, 2012 O.J. (C 326) 391, http://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT, archived at https://perma.cc/CTJ4-56ABF

9 Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on Preventing and 

Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting Its Victims, and Replacing Council Framework Decision 

2002/629/JHA, 2011 O.J. (L 101) 1, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:101:0001: 

0011:EN:PDF, archived at https://perma.cc/U8RU-CAZR. 

10 Id. art. 2. 

11 Directive 2012/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 Establishing Minimum 

Standards on the Rights, Support and Protection of Victims of Crime, and Replacing Council Framework Decision 

2001/220/JHA, 2012 O.J. (L 315) 57, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:315: 

0057:0073:EN:PDF, archived at https://perma.cc/VBB3-PV6. 

12 Council Directive 2004/80/EC of 29 April 2004 Relating to Compensation to Crime Victims, 2004 O.J. (L 261) 

15, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:261:0015:0018:en:PDF, archived at

https://perma.cc/D8RU-FTYF. 

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of intentional violent crimes in cross-border cases and specifies that compensation must be paid 

by the competent authority of the Member State on whose territory the crime was committed.

13

Under EU asylum legislation, victims of trafficking are deemed a vulnerable group and are

entitled to special measures. A 2014 study prepared by the European Migration Network, 

Identification of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in International Protection and Forced 

Return Procedures, contains practical guidance and advice to Member States in handling 

applications for international protection (asylum or subsidiary protection) or when enforcing

return decisions that involve victims of trafficking.

14

The EU’s policy to combat human trafficking for the period 2012–2016 is contained in a 

document titled EU Strategy Towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012–

2016 (Strategy Document).

15 The EU Strategy document focuses on certain priorities and 

outlines a number of measures the Commission has undertaken in cooperation with EU 

institutions, Member States, international organizations, third countries, and the private sector. 

The identification, protection, and prevention of trafficking in human beings are among the 

top priorities.

The Strategy Document urges the Member States to (a) take all measure to ensure early victim 

identification, and provide protection and assistance; (b) boost prevention of human trafficking; 

(c) establish National Multidisciplinary Law Enforcement Units that could be used as contact 

points with EU agencies, such Eurojust and Europol; (c) include a wide variety of actors in 

policy-making decisions, such as police officers, border guards, immigration and asylum 

officials, public prosecutors, lawyers, members of the judiciary, and housing, labor, health, 

social, and civil society organizations; and (d) create operational National Referral Mechanisms 

(NRMs) describing procedures to better identify, refer, protect, and assist victims.

16

In 2013, and in compliance with the targets set in the EU Strategy Document, the Commission 

published EU Rights of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, which is available in all EU 

languages.17 EU Rights of Trafficking Victims is a practical and simplified guide that explains 

the rights of such victims, inter alia related to assistance and support, health care, labor rights, 

13 Id. art. 2. 

14 EUROPEAN MIGRATION NETWORK, IDENTIFICATION OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS IN

INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION AND FORCED RETURN PROCEDURES (2014), http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/whatwe-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-studies/emn_study_identification_of_victims_ 

of_trafficking_web_140909_en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/RY6N-LT9S. 

15 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 

Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, The EU Strategy Towards the Eradication of Trafficking in 

Human Beings 2012–2016, COM (2012) 286 final, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX: 

52012DC0286, archived at https://perma.cc/SG7E-P4BN. 

16 Id. §§ 2.2–2.4. 

17 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, THE EU RIGHTS OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS (2013), 

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/docs/thb_victims_rights/thb_victims_rights_en.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/PDL3-DLJY. 

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access to justice, and compensation, that derive from EU legislation and court decisions of the 

Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights.18 

At the international level, in 2001 the then European Community signed the United Nations 

Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols on Combating Trafficking 

in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air 

and Sea.

19 Moreover, EU Members as members of the Council of Europe are required to ratify 

the Convention on Actions against Trafficking in Human Beings. 20 In a 2010 case interpreting 

the convention, the European Court of Human Rights, in Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, which 

concerned the death of a Russian woman who was trafficked from Russia to Cyprus and found 

dead in Cyprus, found against Cyprus for failing to protect the victim and investigate her death. 

Russia, as the country of origin, was found by the ECHR to have failed to adequately investigate 

the manner in which the victim was trafficked from its borders.21

B. Main Aspects of Directive 2011/36/EU 

Directive 2011/36/EU requires that EU Member States criminalize the following acts when 

committed intentionally: 

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or reception of persons, the exchange 

or transfer of control over those persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other 

forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a 

position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve 

the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose 

of exploitation.

22 

Member States are required to ensure that victims of human trafficking are not prosecuted or 

given penalties for being involved in criminal activities in which they were compelled to

participate.

23 In addition, Member States must ensure that the investigation and prosecution of 

perpetrators does not depend on reporting or an accusation made by the victim of 

human trafficking.24

18 Id. 

19 Council Decision 2001/87/EC of 8 December 2000 on the Signing, on Behalf of the European Community, of the 

United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and Its Protocols on Combating Trafficking in 

Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, 2001 O.J. (L 30) 

44, https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/decision_2001_87_on_un_convention_en_1.pdf, 

archived at https://perma.cc/WJ68-DMD4. 

20 Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, CETS No. 197, https://www.coe. 

int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/Docs/Convntn/CETS197_en.asp, archived at https://perma.cc/NTM4-PB6Y. 

21 Case of Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, App. No. 25965/04 (Eur. Ct. H.R. May 2010, final), https://www.coe. 

int/t/dghl/cooperation/economiccrime/corruption/Projects/CAR_Serbia/ECtHR%20Judgements/English/RANTSEV

%20v%20CYPRUS%20%20RUSSIA%20-%20ECHR%20Judgment%20_English_.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/9S4R-QUJJ. 

22 Directive 2011/36/EC, supra note 9, art. 2.

23 Id. art. 8.

24 Id. art. 9. 

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The penalties range from a maximum of at least five years to a ten-year maximum when the 

offense is committed against a particularly vulnerable person such as a child victim, was 

committed within the framework of a terrorist organization, involved gross negligence that put 

the life of the victim in danger, or has caused serious harm to the victim.25

During criminal investigations, victims of trafficking are granted certain rights under Directive 

2011/36/EC and Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA.26 Member States are required to ensure 

that trafficking victims have access to legal counseling and representation free of charge when 

they cannot afford it.

27 Moreover, Member States must ensure that victims have access to 

witness protection programs or other similar measures, in compliance with national law,

28 and in 

the case of child victims of trafficking and especially unaccompanied child victims must take 

special measures to assist and support them, based on the special circumstances of each child and 

taking into account the best interests of the child.29 In criminal investigations and proceedings 

that involve child victims, Member States must appoint a representative when the parents of the 

child are prohibited from representing the child due to a conflict of interest between the parents 

and the child.30 

In 2011, the European Commission appointed the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (EU ATC) 

with the mandate to improve cooperation and coordination among EU institutions, EU agencies 

who deal with trafficking, the European Asylum Office and Frontex, and Member States in 

implementing the EU legislation on human trafficking.31 In order to achieve a coordinated EU 

strategy, Member States are required to cooperate with the EU ATC and facilitate its mandate. A 

key requirement for the Member States is to transmit the reports drafted by National Rapporteurs 

under article 19 of Directive 2011/36/EC on the progress made on actions taken against 

trafficking, statistical data, and any trends in trafficking to the EU ATC, which will forward the 

reports to the Commission for progress evaluation.32 

III. Role of Member States

Prevention, protection of victims, and bringing to justice the perpetrators of human trafficking 

are implemented and enforced by the Member States, which were required to transpose Directive

2011/36/EC into their national legal systems by April 2013. They were also required to report to 

25 Id. art. 4. 

26 Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the Standing of Victims in Criminal Proceedings, 2001 O.J. 

(L 82) 1, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2001:082:0001:0004:en:PDF, archived at

https://perma.cc/P5S9-9CPY. 

27 Directive 2011/36/EC, supra note 9, art. 12, para. 2. 

28 Id. art. 12, para. 3.

29 Id. art. 14. 

30 Id. art. 15. 

31 Myria Vasssiliadou: EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, European Commission, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 

TOGETHER AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-anti-traffickingcoordinator_en (last updated Feb. 15, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/38CN-LZAF. 

32 Directive 2011/36/EC, supra note 9, art. 20. 

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the Commission the actions taken to implement the provisions of the Directive. The 

Commission in its monitoring of the implementation of Directive 2011/36/EC initiated

infringement proceedings against several Member States in 2013. An interim report by the 

Commission on the implementation of Directive 2011/36/EC indicates that by 2014, twenty-five 

EU Members had notified the Commission on transposition measures concerning the Directive.33

The Directive requires that competent national authorities involved with victims or potential 

victims, such as police officers, border guards, immigration officials, public prosecutors, 

members of the judiciary, lawyers, labor inspectors, and social workers, cooperate in combating 

human trafficking, including sharing information and best practices.34

In compliance with the Directive, EU Members have established national rapporteurs or 

equivalent mechanisms.35 The rapporteurs must be mandated to follow trends in human 

trafficking, assess the effectiveness of various programs implemented, gather statistics, and 

report on human trafficking issues.36

IV. Training Programs 

A. European Asylum Office 

The European Asylum Office (EASO), as the EU agency responsible for asylum issues, is also 

tasked to assist vulnerable groups within the framework of asylum and trafficking. The EASO’s 

core mission is to support Member States through, inter alia, common training and the 

development of training materials.37 Within the EASO, the Officer on Gender and Vulnerable 

Persons is in charge of victims of trafficking throughout all EASO activities.38 In 2014, the 

EASO updated its prior training on interviewing vulnerable persons to include cases where

applicants for international protection are victims of trafficking. The updated training guide is 

titled Practical Guide: Personal Interview.

39

33 Commission Staff Working Document, Mid-Term Report on the Implementation of the EU Strategy Towards the 

Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings, COM (2014) 635 final (Oct. 2014), http://ec.europa.eu/antitrafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/commission_staff_working_document_-_mid-term_report_on_the_imple 

mentation_of_the_eu_strategy_towards_the_eradication_of_trafficking_in_human_beings.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/2EMD-ECU2. 

34 Directive 2011/36/EC, supra note 9, Preamble, para. 25.

35 Id. art. 19. 

36 National Rapporteurs and/or Equivalent Mechanisms, EC, TOGETHER AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS,

https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/national-rapporteurs_en (last visited Feb. 14, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/8CGR-ZHQZ.

37 Vulnerable Groups, EASO, https://easo.europa.eu/about-us/tasks-of-easo/training-quality/vulnerable_groups/ (last 

visited Feb. 15, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/8KFK-SGQU. 

38 Id.

39 Id.; EASO PRACTICAL GUIDE: PERSONAL INTERVIEW (Practical Guide Series, 2014), https://easo.europa.eu/wpcontent/uploads/EASO-Practical-Guide-Personal-Interview-EN.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/272C-AUZQ.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: European Union 

B. Training of EU Border Guards

Frontex, the acronym for the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation 

at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union, comes in contact with 

victims of trafficking during border-control procedures and, hence, plays a key role in the 

identification of victims and traffickers.40 In 2011, the Frontex Training Unit developed the 

Anti-Trafficking Manual for European Border Guards, which has been translated into fourteen

EU languages.

41 The manual is designed to raise awareness of human trafficking as a serious 

crime and human rights violation, and to train border guards to identify and deal with potential 

victims of this crime.42 The training manual comprises three training areas: Awareness, 

Identification, and Interviewing. The Awareness training is designed to improve the 

understanding and knowledge of the human trafficking problem in general, and in particular as a 

human rights violation. The Identification training is intended to improve the ability of border 

guards to identify potential victims of trafficking and suspected traffickers. The third part, the 

Interview process, is designed to assist second-line experts determine whether a person is a 

victim of human trafficking.43

A reference document entitled Guidelines for the Identification of Victims of Trafficking in 

Human Beings44 prepared by the Commission is designed to assist and facilitate border guards 

and consular staff who come in contact with victims to better be able to identify such victims. 

C. Europol 

Europol is the EU’s law enforcement body and as such it supports Member States in preventing 

and combating all forms of serious international crime and terrorism. Europol provides support 

to law enforcement personnel of the Member States concerning human trafficking investigations

through operational support, access to criminal databases and other analytical tools, and sharing 

40 FRONTEX, SITUATIONAL OVERVIEW ON TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS (2011), http://frontex.europa.eu/assets/ 

Publications/Risk_Analysis/Situational_Overview_on_Trafficking_in_Human_Beings.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/AC6P-CQJA. 

41 Combating Human Trafficking at the Border – Training for EU Border Guards, FRONTEX (Oct. 18, 2012), 

http://frontex.europa.eu/feature-stories/combating-human-trafficking-at-the-border-training-for-eu-border-guardsrRzpfI, archived at https://perma.cc/8Z6S-TJQV; see also, FRONTEX, FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS TRAINING FOR

BORDER GUARDS: TRAINER’S MANUAL (2013), http://frontex.europa.eu/assets/Publications/Training/ 

Fundamental_Rights_Training_for_Border_Guardsl.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/U433-PRVJ. 

42 Id. 

43 Id. 

44 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, GUIDELINES FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS

(2013), https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/guidelines_on_identification_of_victims_1.pdf, 

https://perma.cc/CH9T-H6L9. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: European Union 

of intelligence information.

45 Europol, which is currently under reform, will assume more 

powers on fighting organized crime, including human trafficking.46

D. Law Enforcement Personnel of the Member States 

EU Member States are required to actively engage in preventing human trafficking. To achieve 

this objective, Directive 2011/36/EC requires Member States to take the necessary measures to 

train, educate, and initiate awareness-raising campaigns jointly, where appropriate, with civil 

society organizations and other partners to eliminate human trafficking.47

With regard to training law enforcement personnel, the Directive requires that Member States 

“shall promote regular training for officials likely to come into contact with victims or potential 

victims of human trafficking, including front-line police officers,” in order to enable them to 

identify victims of human trafficking.48 

45 Mandate, EUROPOL, https://www.europol.europa.eu/content/page/mandate-119 (last visited Feb. 15, 2016), 

archived at https://perma.cc/FNH3-5QDQ. 

46 Press Release, European Parliament, Europol: Deal on New Powers to Step Up EU Police Cooperation and Fight 

Terrorism (Nov. 30, 2015), http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20151130IPR05456/Europol-dealon-new-powers-to-step-up-EU-police-cooperation-and-fight-terrorism, archived at https://perma.cc/957A-HQHZ. 

47 Directive 2011/36/EC, supra note 9, art. 18, paras. 1 & 3. 

48 Id. 

The Law Library of Congress 52
France

Nicolas Boring 

Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY France is bound by international agreements and European Union directives to fight human 

trafficking. At the national level, human trafficking is defined and prohibited by the Penal 

Code, and the different elements of the definition of human trafficking are individually 

prohibited by the Penal Code as well. Additionally, some instances of human trafficking 

may fall under immigration or labor laws. 

The main government authority involved in the suppression of human trafficking is the 

National Police, which includes several specialized units that have missions that make 

them likely to discover and investigate cases of human trafficking. The National 

Gendarmerie, a separate law enforcement agency, is also involved in the fight against 

human trafficking. Additionally, labor inspectors are involved as the principal enforcers of 

labor laws in France. 

Documents published by the French government highlight the importance of implementing 

training programs to help identify and protect victims of human trafficking. In particular, 

a two-year action plan published in 2014 places a high priority on a broad 

multidisciplinary training and continuing education program. This training should be 

aimed not just at law enforcement personnel but also all other professions that are likely to 

encounter victims of human trafficking, including medical professionals, teachers, judges, 

lawyers, labor inspectors, and social workers. It is unclear to what extent this training 

program has been implemented. 

I. Legal Framework on Human Trafficking 

As a member of the European Union, France is required to implement Directive 2011/36/EU on 

Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.1

 Furthermore, France has ratified the 

2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, also known as the 

Trafficking Protocol of the Palermo Convention.2 Additionally, at the national level, human 

trafficking is punished by the French Penal Code, which defines the crime (traite des êtres 

humains) as the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, housing, or receiving a person, under 

1 Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on Preventing and 

Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims, and Replacing Council Framework Decision 

2002/629/JHA, 2011 O.J. (L 101) 1, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX: 

32011L0036&from=EN, archived at https://perma.cc/ZU8T-3ZYJ. 

2 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing 

the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Nov. 15, 2000), Status as of Dec. 24, 2015, 

UNODC, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CTOC/countrylist-traffickingprotocol.html, archived at

https://perma.cc/DH8D-JK3G. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: France

certain circumstances, for the purpose of exploitation.3 The circumstances listed as part of the 

definition of the crime of human trafficking include the use of threat, pressure, violence, deceit, 

abuse of authority, taking advantage of a victim’s vulnerability (age, illness, handicap, physical 

or mental deficiency, or pregnancy), the exchange of remuneration or other advantage, or the 

promise of remuneration or other advantage.4 Exploitation, in the context of human trafficking, 

is defined as the act of placing the victim at the disposal of the perpetrator or of another party, for 

the purpose of committing one or several of the following criminal offenses: procuring, sexual 

assault or violation, slavery, forced labor or services, servitude, organ harvesting, exploitation of 

begging, subjecting the victim to work or living conditions contrary to human dignity, or forcing 

the victim to commit a criminal offense.5

Other provisions of French law deal with human trafficking, sometimes overlapping with article

225-4-1 of the Penal Code. Indeed, all of the elements of the definition of human trafficking are 

criminal offenses on their own. In addition, some instances of human trafficking may fall under 

other laws as well. The Code of Entry and Residence of Foreigners, for example, contains 

provisions that prohibit helping foreigners to enter the country illegally.

6

 Similarly, the French 

Labor Code’s provisions on illegal labor may also apply to certain cases of human trafficking.7

II. Government Agencies Involved in Suppressing Human Trafficking

The principal government agency responsible for enforcing laws on human trafficking is the 

National Police (Police nationale), which has several services that deal with various aspects of 

human trafficking.8

 Among these services is the Central Office for the Repression of Human 

Trafficking (Office central pour la répression de la traite des êtres humains).9

 The name of this 

Office implies that it deals with human trafficking in general, but in reality its role is to focus 

3

 CODE PÉNAL [PENAL CODE] art. 225-4-1, http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCode.do;jsessionid=D100960A41B6 

AC4D9FF7BA808866ACCE.tpdila11v_3?idSectionTA=LEGISCTA000006165299&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006

070719&dateTexte=20160129, archived at https://perma.cc/4JQK-PE6V. 

4 Id.

5 Id.

6

 CODE DE L’ENTRÉE ET DU SÉJOUR DES ÉTRANGERS ET DU DROIT D’ASILE [CODE OF ENTRY AND RESIDENCE OF 

FOREIGNERS AND OF THE RIGHT OF ASYLUM] arts. L622-1 through L622-10, http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ 

affichCode.do;jsessionid=C04365DF2063C6C78D12A6DAE5779FD5.tpdila18v_3?idSectionTA=LEGISCTA0000

06147789&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006070158&dateTexte=20160201, archived at https://perma.cc/U9KL-968N. 

7

 CODE DU TRAVAIL [LABOR CODE] art. L8211-1, http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCode.do;jsessionid= 

C04365DF2063C6C78D12A6DAE5779FD5.tpdila18v_3?idSectionTA=LEGISCTA000006178266&cidTexte=LE

GITEXT000006072050&dateTexte=20160201, archived at https://perma.cc/56UN-BJTX. 

8

 COMMISSION NATIONALE CONSULTATIVE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME [FRENCH NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS], LA TRAITE ET L’EXPLOITATION DES ÊTRES HUMAINS EN FRANCE [HUMAN 

TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION IN FRANCE] 115 (2009), http://www.cncdh.fr/sites/default/files/etude_traite_et_ 

exploitation_des_etres_humains_en_france.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/PS9P-W545. 

9 L’office central pour la répression de la traite des êtres humains [The Central Office for the Repression of Human 

Trafficking], POLICE NATIONALE [NATIONAL POLICE] (Dec. 9, 2011), http://www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr/ 

Organisation/Direction-Centrale-de-la-Police-Judiciaire/Lutte-contre-la-criminalite-organisee/Office-central-pourla-repression-de-la-traite-des-etres-humains, archived at https://perma.cc/Z5HY-MYF2. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: France

solely on prostitution-related trafficking.10 Other specialized services of the National Police 

have responsibilities that cover different aspects of human trafficking. For example, the Central 

Office Against Organized Crime (Office central de lutte contre le crime organisé),11 the Central 

Office for the Repression of Violence Against Persons (Office central pour la répression des 

violences aux personnes),12 the Sub-Directorate Against Cybercriminality (Sous-direction de 

lutte contre la cybercriminalité),13 the Central Office for the Repression of Illegal Immigration 

and the Employment of Undocumented Foreigners (Office central pour la répression de 

l’immigration irrégulière et l’emploi d'étrangers sans titre),14 and the Border Police (Police aux 

frontières)15 all have missions that may lead them to discover and investigate instances of 

human trafficking.16

The National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale) is another important law enforcement 

organization that may be called upon to deal with cases of human trafficking. Traditionally, the 

National Police is in charge of law enforcement in urban areas, while the Gendarmerie operates 

in rural areas.17 Like the National Police, the Gendarmerie has some specialized services that are 

likely to find and investigate cases of human trafficking, although it does not appear to have any 

unit that specializes solely in that subject.18 Among these specialized services are the Central 

Office Against Illegal Labor (Office central de lutte contre le travail illegal),

19 the Central Office 

10 Id.; COMMISSION NATIONALE CONSULTATIVE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME, supra note 8, at 116. 

11 L’office central de lutte contre le crime organisé [Central Office Against Organized Crime], POLICE NATIONALE

[NATIONAL POLICE] (Dec. 8, 2011), http://www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr/Organisation/Direction-Centralede-la-Police-Judiciaire/Lutte-contre-la-criminalite-organisee/Office-central-de-lutte-contre-le-crime-organise, 

archived at https://perma.cc/RSQ6-95D6. 

12 L’Office central pour la répression des violences aux personnes [The Central Office for the Repression of 

Violence Against Persons], POLICE NATIONALE [NATIONAL POLICE] (Dec. 9, 2011), http://www.policenationale.interieur.gouv.fr/Organisation/Direction-Centrale-de-la-Police-Judiciaire/Lutte-contre-la-criminaliteorganisee/Office-central-pour-la-repression-des-violences-aux-personnes, archived at https://perma.cc/DW9H-92P7. 

13 Sous-direction de lutte contre la cybercriminalité [Sub-Directorate Against Cybercriminality], POLICE

NATIONALE [NATIONAL POLICE] (Dec. 13, 2011), http://www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr/Organisation/ 

Direction-Centrale-de-la-Police-Judiciaire/Lutte-contre-la-criminalite-organisee/Sous-direction-de-lutte-contre-lacybercriminalite, archived at https://perma.cc/HE3J-KULM. 

14 Office central pour la répression de l’immigration irrégulière et l’emploi d’étrangers sans titre [Central Office 

for the Repression of Illegal Immigration and the Employment of Undocumented Foreigners], POLICE NATIONALE

[NATIONAL POLICE] (Oct. 10, 2011), http://www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr/Organisation/Direction-Centralede-la-Police-Aux-Frontieres/Office-central-pour-la-repression-de-l-immigration-irreguliere-et-l-emploi-d-etrangerssans-titre, archived at https://perma.cc/EYE4-3PLS. 

15 Direction Centrale de la Police Aux Frontières [Central Directorate of the Border Police], POLICE NATIONALE

[NATIONAL POLICE], http://www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr/Organisation/Direction-Centrale-de-la-PoliceAux-Frontieres (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/5UC7-7N2Q. 

16 COMMISSION NATIONALE CONSULTATIVE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME, supra note 8, at 116–23. 

17 Benoît Dupont, The French Police System, in COMPARATIVE POLICING 255 (M.R. Haberfeld & Ibrahim Cerrah 

eds., 2008). 

18 COMMISSION NATIONALE CONSULTATIVE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME, supra note 8, at 120–23. 

19 Travail illégal (OCLTI) [Illegal Labor (OCLTI)], GENDARMERIE NATIONALE [NATIONAL GENDARMERIE], 

http://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/Notre-Institution/Nos-missions/Police-judiciaire/Travail-illegal-OCLTI

(last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/LDX9-YHMK. 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: France

Against Itinerant Criminality (Office central de lutte contre la délinquance itinérante),20 and units 

specializing in fighting online crime.21

Labor inspectors (inspecteurs du travail), who operate under the authority of regional prefects, 

also have an important role in suppressing human trafficking as they are the main enforcers of 

labor laws in France.22

III. Training Programs

A 2009 report by the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (Commission 

nationale consultative des droits de l’homme, CNCDH) repeatedly highlighted the value of 

training in the fight against human trafficking.23 In particular, the CNCDH pointed to the 

importance of training law enforcement officials on the signs that a person may be a victim of 

human trafficking, and on the risks faced by victims of trafficking or exploitation.24 The 

CNCDH also noted that the agency in charge of evaluating asylum applications should train its 

officials to better identify and understand victims of human trafficking.25 The report highlighted 

the importance of training officials such as those from child protective services, and all other 

specialists who may come across instances of human trafficking.26

In 2013, the French government created an Inter-ministerial Mission for the Protection of 

Women Against Violence and to Fight Human Trafficking (Mission interministérielle pour la 

protection des femmes contre les violences et la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains).27 One 

of the mandates of this Inter-ministerial Mission is to define, in collaboration with the relevant 

governmental agencies and civil society actors, the contents of training on violence against 

women, including human trafficking.28 

20 Délinquance itinérante (OCLDI) [Itinerant Criminality (OCLDI)], GENDARMERIE NATIONALE [NATIONAL 

GENDARMERIE], http://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/Notre-Institution/Nos-missions/Policejudiciaire/Delinquance-itinerante-OCLDI (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/RKE8-26WC.

21 Cybercriminalité [Cybercriminality], GENDARMERIE NATIONALE [NATIONAL GENDARMERIE], 

http://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/Notre-Institution/Nos-missions/Police-judiciaire/Cybercriminalite (last 

visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/Y6BJ-87XW.

22 Simon Auffret, A quoi sert un inspecteur du travail? [What is the Purpose of a Labor Inspector?], LE MONDE

(Oct. 22, 2015), http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2015/10/21/a-quoi-sert-un-inspecteur-dutravail_4794202_4355770.html, archived at https://perma.cc/X3UE-W78R.

23 COMMISSION NATIONALE CONSULTATIVE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME, supra note 8, at 231, 247, 280, 286, 298.

24 Id. at 231.

25 Id. at 247–48.

26 Id. at 280, 295.

27 Décret n° 2013-7 du 3 janvier 2013 portant création d’une mission interministérielle pour la protection des 

femmes contre les violences et la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains [Decree No. 2013-7 of January 3, 2013, 

Creating an Inter-ministerial Mission for the Protection of Women Against Violence and to Fight Human 

Trafficking], http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000026894612&categorieLien=id, 

archived at https://perma.cc/W9CW-FRK6.

28 Id. art. 2.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: France

In 2014, the government published a two-year national action plan to fight human trafficking.29 

One of the first priorities listed in this twenty-three-point plan was to develop training for 

professionals to better identify and protect victims.30 This training, to be conducted by the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women in partnership with relevant government 

agencies and civil society organizations, should include initial training modules followed by 

continuing education.

31 The national plan specifies that this training should mainly focus on 

identifying victims of human trafficking, their rights, the procedures to exercise these rights, the 

appropriate measures to protect different categories of victims, and the roles of other 

organizations involved in the fight against human trafficking.32 This training should be aimed at 

a broad audience of professionals who may encounter victims of trafficking: not only law 

enforcement personnel, but also doctors and other medical professionals, social workers, judges 

and lawyers, teachers, labor inspectors, consular personnel, customs agents, correctional staff, 

and the personnel of the agency in charge of evaluating applications for asylum.33 The training 

curricula should be harmonized to promote the sharing of a common body of knowledge between 

all categories of professionals.34 In the same spirit, the educational resources used for this 

training should be made available to all relevant organizations through a dedicated website.35 It 

is unclear how much of this action plan has been implemented as of February 2016. 

29 MINISTÈRE DES DROITS DES FEMMES, DE LA VILLE, DE LA JEUNESSE ET DES SPORTS [MINISTRY FOR WOMEN’S 

RIGHTS, URBAN POLICY, YOUTH, AND SPORTS], PLAN D’ACTION NATIONAL CONTRE LA TRAITE DES ÊTRES HUMAINS 

(2014–2016) [NATIONAL ACTION PLAN AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING (2014–2016)] (2014), http://femmes. 

gouv.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Plan-daction-national-contre-la-traite-des-%C3%AAtres-humains.pdf, 

archived at https://perma.cc/PE6C-ARGW. 

30 Id. at 6, 9–10. 

31 Id. at 9. 

32 Id.

33 Id. at 10. 

34 Id.

35 Id.

The Law Library of Congress 57 
Germany 

Jenny Gesley

Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY Legislation in Germany criminalizes human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation 

and implements the requirements of the European Union directives in human trafficking. 

Several government agencies, law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, and NGOs are 

involved in combating human trafficking and in offering specialized trainings and 

publishing guidelines.

I. Legal Framework on Human Trafficking 

Human trafficking is addressed in the German Criminal Code, the Residence Act, the Social 

Security Code, and the Crime Victim Compensation Act. These provisions also implement the 

requirements of the European Union (EU) directives on human trafficking—Directive 

2004/81/EC1 and Directive 2011/36/EU.2

A. Criminal Code

There are three different provisions in the German Criminal Code that criminalize 

human trafficking.3 

According to Section 232 of the Criminal Code, human trafficking for the purpose of sexual 

exploitation carries a sentence of imprisonment of six months to ten years. In aggravated cases 

involving children, serious physical abuse or the risk of death, or sexual exploitation on a 

commercial scale, the sentence is not less than one year of imprisonment.

Section 233 of the Criminal Code penalizes human trafficking for the purpose of labor 

exploitation. It is also punishable by a term of imprisonment of six months to ten years or one to 

ten years in aggravated circumstances. 

1 Council Directive 2004/81/EC of 29 April 2004 on the Residence Permit Issued to Third-country Nationals Who 

are Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings or Who Have Been the Subject of an Action to Facilitate Illegal 

Immigration, Who Co-operate With the Competent Authorities, 2004 OFFICIAL JOURNAL [O.J.] (L 261) 19, 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32004L0081&from=EN, archived at

http://perma.cc/R53V-3ZH2. 

2 Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on Preventing and 

Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims, and Replacing Council Framework Decision 

2002/629/ JHA, 2011 O.J. (L 101) 1, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:320 

11L0036&from=EN, archived at http://perma.cc/9CXC-33NS. 

3

 Strafgesetzbuch [StGB] [Criminal Code], Nov. 13, 1998, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBL.] I at 3322, as amended, 

http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/stgb/gesamt.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/6RF8-DDLB, unofficial 

English translation at http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/german_criminal_code.pdf, archived at 

http://perma.cc/R7Y9-K7XZ. 

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Finally, section 233a of the Criminal Code states that assisting in human trafficking under 

section 232 or section 233 by recruiting, transporting, referring, harboring, or sheltering another 

person carries a sentence of imprisonment of three months to five years. 

B. Residence Act 

The German Residence Act also contains provisions that specifically address victims of human 

trafficking. Victims of human trafficking are awarded a reflection and stabilization period of at 

least three months before they are deported.

4

 During that time, they can decide if they want to 

participate as a witness in the criminal prosecution of the traffickers.

If a victim of human trafficking decides to aid the prosecution of the perpetrator and testifies as a 

witness in the trial, a residence permit for humanitarian purposes will be granted according to 

section 25, paragraph 4a of the Residence Act, for the duration of the trial. 

Subsidiary protection according to section 60, paragraph 2 of the Residence Act may be granted 

after the criminal trial has been concluded, if the alien faces a concrete danger of torture or 

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in his or her country of origin. 

C. Social Security Benefits and Victim Compensation

Since adoption of an amendment to the Asylum Seeker Benefit Act in 2014,5 victims of human 

trafficking fall outside of the scope of section 1 of the Asylum Seeker Benefit Act, which 

provides recipients only with the necessary minimum benefits to survive. Instead, human 

trafficking victims are eligible for social security benefits according to the Second6 and Twelfth 

Book of the Social Security Code,

7 although a few restrictions apply in comparison to German 

social security beneficiaries. 

Furthermore, victims of human trafficking might be eligible for compensation payments 

according to the Crime Victim Compensation Act,

8 if they are either related up to the third 

4 Gesetz über den Aufenthalt, die Erwerbstätigkeit und die Integration von Ausländern im Bundesgebiet 

[Aufenthaltsgesetz] [AufenthG] [Act on the Residence, Economic Activity and Integration of Foreigners in the 

Federal Territory] [Residence Act], Feb. 25, 2008, BGBL. I at 162, as amended, § 59, para. 7, http://www.gesetzeim-internet.de/bundesrecht/aufenthg_2004/gesamt.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/QL34-TMTV, unofficial English 

translation at http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_aufenthg/residence_act.pdf, archived at 

http://perma.cc/A622-PSSV. 

5 Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz [AsylbLG] [Asylum Seeker Benefits Act], Aug. 5, 1997, BGBl. I at 2022, as 

amended, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/asylblg/gesamt.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/UZP5-

NY4B. 

6 Sozialgesetzbuch Zweites Buch [SGB II] [Social Security Code Second Book], May 13, 2011 BGBL. I at 850, 

2094, as amended, § 7, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/sgb_2/gesamt.pdf, archived at 

http://perma.cc/97SV-3KAP. 

7 Sozialgesetzbuch Zwölftes Buch [SGB XII] [Social Security Code Twelfth Book], Dec. 27, 2003, BGBL. I 

at 3022, 3023, as amended, § 23, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/sgb_12/gesamt.pdf, archived at 

http://perma.cc/CN7D-XCCT. 

8 Gesetz über die Entschädigung für Opfer von Gewalttaten [Opferentschädigungsgesetz] [OEG] [Act on 

Compensation for Victims of Violent Crimes [Crime Victims Compensation Act] [OEG], Jan. 7, 1985, BGBL. I at 1, 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Germany 

degree to a German national or if they are nationals of a Contracting State of the European 

Convention on the Compensation of Victims of Violent Crimes of November 24, 1983.9

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing Laws Against

Human Trafficking

The Federal Police is responsible for refusing entry of persons into Germany and for removal 

proceedings.10 If an alien identifies him or herself to the Federal Police as a victim of human 

trafficking, the Federal Police will refer the person to the respective state criminal police or the 

Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA).11

Asylum case officers receive training on identifying victims of human trafficking.12 If an 

applicant seems to have been the victim of human trafficking, the case officer will inform the 

applicant about the three-month reflection and stabilization period according to the Residence 

Act, and an eventual humanitarian residence permit or subsidiary protection. 

During the three-month reflection and stabilization period that the Residence Act grants to a 

victim of human trafficking, the Foreigner’s Office informs the alien of the applicable 

regulations, programs, and measures for victims of human trafficking.13 The Foreigner’s Office 

is also responsible for issuing a humanitarian residence permit or for awarding 

subsidiary protection.14

The Federal-State Working Group Human Trafficking, formerly known as the Federal-State 

Working Group Trafficking in Women, issued a cooperation concept that aims to streamline the

protection and aid offered to victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.15 The paper 

as amended, § 1, paras. 5, 6, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/oeg/gesamt.pdf, archived at

http://perma.cc/D5X3-SZ5Z, unofficial English translation at http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_ 

oeg/crime_victims_compensation_act.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/D975-FMXL. 

9 European Convention on the Compensation of Victims of Violent Crimes, Nov. 24, 1983, CETS No.116, 

1525 U.N.T.S. 26456, https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent? 

documentId=0900001680079751, archived at http://perma.cc/NTH5-4CH6. 

10 Id. § 71, para. 3; Gesetz über die Bundespolizei [Bundespolizeigesetz] –[BPolG] [Federal Police Act], Oct. 19, 

1994, BGBL. I at 2978, 2979, as amended, § 12, para. 1, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/bgsg_ 

1994/gesamt.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/H452-X9DQ. 

11 Federal Police Act, § 12, para. 3.

12 Ulrike Hoffmann, Identification of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in International Protection and 

Forced Return Procedures, Focussed [sic] Study of the German National Contact Point for the European Migration 

Network (EMN) 15 (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, EMN, Working Paper 56, 2013), 

http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/EN/Publikationen/EMN/Nationale-Studien-WorkingPaper/emn-wp56-

menschenhandel.pdf;jsessionid=DFEB8AB87411A2785C092AB8675456A4.1_cid294?__blob=publicationFile, 

archived at http://perma.cc/8HHT-BAKY. 

13 Id. at 11.

14 Residence Act, § 71, para. 1.

15 BUNDESMINISTERIUM FÜR FAMILIE, SENIOREN, FRAUEN UND JUGEND [FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR FAMILY AFFAIRS,

SENIOR CITIZENS, WOMEN, AND YOUTH], BUND-LÄNDER-ARBEITSGRUPPE FRAUENHANDEL.

KOOPERATIONSKONZEPT FÜR DIE ZUSAMMENARBEIT VON FACHBERATUNGSSTELLEN UND POLIZEI FÜR DEN SCHUTZ 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Germany 

assigns clear roles to the police and the counseling centers, and suggests the establishment of 

specialized units as well as specialized training.

16 The cooperation concept has been adopted in 

thirteen German states.17 Police and counseling units are supposed to be involved from the start 

and keep each other informed as well as organize contacts with other government agencies such 

as the Foreigner’s Office.18

III. Training Programs for Law Enforcement

A. Federal-State Working Group Human Trafficking

The Federal-State Working Group Human Trafficking (Bund-Länder-Arbeitsgruppe 

Menschenhandel) is composed of representatives of several Federal Ministries, specialized 

ministers, the BKA, the NGO Network Against Human Trafficking (Koordinierungskreis gegen 

Menschenhandel, KOK),

19 the Federal Association of Non-statutory Welfare 

(Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege, BAGFW),20 and the association

Solidarity with Women in Distress (SOLWODI21).22 The working group was founded under the 

name Federal-State Working Group Trafficking in Women and has been active in the fight 

against human trafficking since 1997. In 2012, it was renamed the Federal-State Working Group 

on Human Trafficking to reflect the international and European usage and the expanded view of 

trafficking. It has published a working paper on the standardization of training for law

enforcement and the judiciary on the crime of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.23 The 

VON OPFERZEUGEN/INNEN VON MENSCHENHANDEL ZUM ZWECK DER SEXUELLEN AUSBEUTUNG [FEDERAL-STATE 

WORKING GROUP TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN. COOPERATION CONCEPT FOR THE COOPERATION OF SPECIALIZED 

COUNSELLING CENTERS AND THE POLICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF VICTIMS/WITNESSES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION] (Nov. 2007), http://www.bmfsfj.de/RedaktionBMFSFJ/Abteilung4/PdfAnlagen/gewalt-kooperationskonzept,property=pdf,bereich=,rwb=true.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/GW43-

2CWH. 

16 Id. at 9.

17 Hoffmann, supra note 12, at 12.

18 BUNDESMINISTERIUM FÜR FAMILIE, SENIOREN, FRAUEN UND JUGEND, supra note 15, at 11 et seq. 

19 Gremienarbeit des KOK in Deutschland [Commitee Work of the KOK in Germany], KOK, http://www.kok-gegenmenschenhandel.de/vernetzung/bundesweit/gremienarbeit.html (last visited Jan. 28, 2016), archived at

http://perma.cc/Z5NN-GBXU. 

20 BUNDESARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFT DER FREIEN WOHLFAHRTSPFLEGE [BAGFW] [FEDERAL ASSOCIATION OF NONSTATUTORY WELFARE], http://www.bagfw.de/englisch/ (last visited Jan. 27, 2016), archived at

http://perma.cc/9AH7-3RFK. 

21 SOLIDARITY WITH WOMEN IN DISTRESS [SOLWODI], http://www.solwodi.de/791.0.html?&L=1 (last visited 

Jan. 27, 2016), archived at http://perma.cc/DN4P-HDJ6. 

22 BUND-LÄNDER-ARBEITSGRUPPE MENSCHENHANDEL [FEDERAL-STATE WORKING GROUP HUMAN TRAFFICKING],

http://www.bmfsfj.de/BMFSFJ/gleichstellung,did=73008.html (last visited Jan. 27, 2016), archived at

http://perma.cc/TR9K-RZ6W. 

23 Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend [Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior 

Citizens, Women, and Youth], Arbeitspapier zur Standardisierung der Aus- und Fortbildung im Deliktsbereich 

Menschenhandel zum Zweck der sexuellen Ausbeutung [Working Paper on the Standardization of Training on the 

Crime of Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation (No. 106/2007, Apr. 2008), http://www.bmfsfj.de/ 

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Germany

training is geared towards police officers, counseling services, prosecutors, judges, judicial 

witness programs, foreigners’ offices, employment agencies, social services, children and youth 

agencies, and health agencies, as well as customs officers and correctional facilities.

B. Training Conducted by the BAMF, IOM, and UNHCR

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 

BAMF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations High 

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conduct joint training sessions for caseworkers at BAMF 

in which police officers with expertise in human trafficking and specialized counselors 

participate and lecture.

24

C. Training Conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office

The Federal Criminal Police Office offers a course on human trafficking for police officers who 

work in specialized investigations and closing of cases related to human trafficking. The officers 

must have prior knowledge in this area. The training on human trafficking for sexual 

exploitation is offered twice a year and the training on human trafficking for labor 

exploitation once a year.25

D. German Judicial Academy/European Judicial Training Network

The German Judicial Academy, in cooperation with the European Judicial Training Network,

offers seminars on international human trafficking and trafficking of migrants.26 The seminars 

are geared towards criminal court judges, public administration judges, and public prosecutors 

dealing with international trafficking in human beings. In particular, the seminar aims to offer 

practical solutions and ways to accommodate and appropriately handle victims of 

human trafficking.27

RedaktionBMFSFJ/Broschuerenstelle/Pdf-Anlagen/bund-laender-arbeitsgruppe-frauenhandel,property= 

pdf,bereich=bmfsfj,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/J5M3-KBLG.

24 Hoffmann, supra note 12, at 28.

25 Id. at 29.

26 Internationaler Menschenhandel und Schleusung von Migranten [International Human Trafficking and 

Trafficking of Migrants], DEUTSCHE RICHTERAKADEMIE [GERMAN JUDGES’ ASSOCIATION], http://www.deutscherichterakademie.de/icc/drade/nav/4fc/broker.jsp?uMen=ade30d0d-33d0-6e41-8af1-a9c06350fd4c&uCon=bdf60a7eec5d-ef41-3171-e1c66350fd4c&press=true&pagesize=1&page=1&mode=detail (last visited Jan. 28, 2016), 

archived at http://perma.cc/SEH6-DKUC; European Judicial Training Network [EJTN], International Trafficking in 

Human Beings, http://www.ejtn.eu/Catalogue/Members-activities-2016/CP2015021711111121111111113 

2211111112111121111111111111111111/ (last visited Jan. 28, 2016), archived at http://perma.cc/NTN3-33ED. 

27 Id.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Germany 

E. Training Conducted by the NGO Network Against Human Trafficking

The NGO Network Against Human Trafficking28 holds internal training seminars for counseling 

centers that form part of its network and is involved in education and training measures as part of 

the Federal-State Working Group Human Trafficking, as discussed above. Furthermore, on the 

request of the police and the public prosecutor’s office, the KOK develops training formats and 

conducts training. Additionally, the KOK has organized joint workshops with the Federal Police 

and offered a workshop on Improving the Co-operation between NGOs and the Police.29

F. Regional Workshops of the German Institute for Human Rights 

Occasionally, the German Institute for Human Rights, in cooperation with the German Federal 

Consortium of Charitable Organizations, offers regional seminars with a focus on human 

trafficking for migration and refugee counselors.

30 The seminar report was made available to 

interested parties on the website of the German Institute for Human Rights.31

G. Training Seminars of the Academy of European Law 

The Academy of European Law (ERA) is a nonprofit public foundation located in Trier, 

Germany.32 It provides training in European law to legal practitioners and receives support from 

the European Union (EU). Among other trainings, it offers seminars on investigating and 

prosecuting trafficking in human beings,

33 and on countering trafficking in human beings,34 for 

law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges. 

28 KOK, supra note 19. 

29 Hoffmann, supra note 12, at 30.

30 Training Announcement, Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte [German Institute for Human Rights], 

“Arbeitsausbeutung und Menschenhandel – Handlungsmöglichkeiten für die Migrations- und Flüchtlingsberatung” 

[“Work Exploitation and Human Trafficking – Possible Courses of Action for Migration and Refugee Counselling”] 

(Mar. 22, 2012), http://www.jadwiga-online.de/data/programm_fortbildung.pdf, archived at http://perma.cc/GMR7-

5NDC. 

31 DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FÜR MENSCHENRECHTE [GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS], ARBEITSAUSBEUTUNG 

UND MENSCHENHANDEL. ARBEITNEHMERINNEN UND ARBEITNEHMERN ZU IHREN RECHTEN VERHELFEN – EINE 

HANDREICHUNG FÜR BERATUNGSSTELLEN [WORK EXPLOITATION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING – HELPING EMPLOYEES 

ENFORCE THEIR RIGHTS –HANDOUT FOR COUNSELING CENTERS] (June 2012), http://www.institut-fuermenschenrechte.de/uploads/tx_commerce/handreichung_arbeitsausbeutung_und_menschenhandel.pdf, archived at

http://perma.cc/2LQ8-34DE. 

32 Welcome to the Academy of European Law, ERA, https://www.era.int/ (last visited Jan. 27, 2016), archived at

http://perma.cc/6GN6-DDZX. 

33 Investigating and Prosecuting Trafficking in Human Beings, ERA, https://www.era.int/cgi-bin/cms?_SID= 

a946edf2191b3165367b8adf035afacf465c5d6c00453979857030&_sprache=en&_bereich=artikel&_aktion=detail&i

dartikel=121565 (last visited Jan. 27, 2016), archived at http://perma.cc/3AD9-N25A. 

34 Countering Trafficking in Human Beings, ERA, https://www.era.int/cgi-bin/cms?_SID=a946edf2191b316536 

7b8adf035afacf465c5d6c00453979857030&_sprache=en&_bereich=artikel&_aktion=detail&idartikel=125359 (last 

visited Jan. 27, 2016), archived at http://perma.cc/6GDB-VHXE. 

The Law Library of Congress 63
Israel

Ruth Levush 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY Israel seeks to address the problem of human trafficking by coordinating the efforts of a 

number of government agencies and private organizations. In 2006 it established the 

Office of the National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (ONATC) in the Ministry of Justice. 

The ONATC currently chairs an interministerial committee to study women and children

involved in prostitution in Israel. In 2014, the ONATC formed a working group with 

various ministries and a nongovernmental organization to address the problem of 

child prostitution. 

Among other tasks, the ONATC is responsible for advocacy and the education of officials 

and the public about human trafficking. It provides training for government officials, 

including police officers, social workers, immigration officers, state attorneys, and judges, 

as well as aid organizations and private-sector professionals, including medical 

professionals and members of the tourism industry. 

Topics in the ONATC training programs have recently included the identification of 

trafficking victims, the vulnerability of domestic labor migrants, migrant humantrafficking victims, and the cultures of origin of trafficking victims.

I. Introduction 

Israel is classified by the US Department of State’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report as a Tier 

1 country, having fully complied with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. 

The report states that the Israeli government has “continued its efforts to prevent and raise 

awareness of human trafficking.”1

 Israel’s classification upgrade from a Tier 2 country in the 

2007 State Department report2 to a Tier 1 category in the 2012 report3 reflects concentrated 

efforts by the Israeli government to eliminate trafficking in persons within Israel’s territory.

Israel particularly seeks to address the problem of human trafficking by coordinating the efforts 

of several government agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in this 

area. Such coordination is the responsibility of the Office of the National Anti-Trafficking 

1 Israel, in U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 193–94 (July 2015) (2015 TIP 

REPORT), http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/WN3U-2YEN

2 Israel, in U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2007 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 121 (June 2007) (2007 TIP

REPORT), http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82902.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/8UBZ-SKSN. 

3 See Trafficking in Persons Report 2012: Tier Placements, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/192363.htm (last visited Feb. 17, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/VQP5-PSFE.

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Coordinator (ONATC) in the Ministry of Justice.

4

 The ONATC was established in 2006 on the 

basis of a government decision to appoint an official from the Ministry of Justice to serve as an 

interministerial coordinator of governmental and nongovernmental activities in this area.5

The ONATC’s responsibilities include 

ongoing communication and collaboration with various Israeli and international bodies; 

serving as an informative source of data regarding human trafficking globally and in 

Israel; building and maintaining a database of judicial decisions as well as expert 

opinions on the matter; providing guidance and consultation for legislative action; 

participating in parliamentary meetings; participating in inter-ministerial committees, 

including the Directors General Committee for combating trafficking; educating and 

raising awareness on human trafficking; training key professionals in the field (police, 

social workers, immigration officers, state attorneys, judges, medical professionals, and 

more). In addition, the Office has an active role regarding the annual Presidential 

ceremony honoring efforts of combating human trafficking.6

The ONATC chairs an interministerial committee appointed to study women and children in 

prostitution in Israel. In 2014, it formed a working group with various ministries and an NGO to 

address child prostitution.7

This report provides a brief overview of Israel’s legal framework on human trafficking, describes 

the roles and responsibilities of the ONATC and other government agencies in enforcing laws 

against human trafficking, and provides information on training programs for law enforcement 

officers and personnel of other relevant agencies. 

II. Legal Framework

A. International Law 

Israel is a signatory to several conventions related to forced labor and human trafficking. In 

2006 it ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially 

Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational 

4 The ONATC operates a comprehensive website detailing national plans, interministerial activities, and other 

relevant information on fighting human trafficking; see ONATC, http://www.justice.gov.il/Units/Trafficking/Pages/ 

default.aspx (in Hebrew, last visited Jan. 19, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/QG9R-W64N. 

5 About the Unit, ONATC, http://www.justice.gov.il/Units/Trafficking/About/Pages/default.aspx (in Hebrew; last 

visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/92QA-TQRF. 

6 About Us, ONATC, http://www.justice.gov.il/En/Units/Trafficking/Pages/About.aspx (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), 

archived at https://perma.cc/BM7F-7R4G. 

7 2015 TIP REPORT, supra note 1, at 195.

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Organized Crime.8 In 2008, Israel ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights 

of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.9

B. Domestic Law

On October 18, 2006, the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) passed an amendment to the Penal Law 

(Amendment Law), thereby prohibiting human trafficking and subjecting convicted offenders to 

imprisonment for sixteen or twenty years (when the victim is a minor), forfeiture of property, 

and payment of monetary compensation to victims.10 

The Amendment Law prohibits trading in persons for the purpose of subjecting them to one of 

the following: 

• Removal of an organ

• Giving birth to a child and taking away the said child

• Slavery or forced labor

• Prostitution

• Participation in a pornographic advertisement or exhibition

• A sexual offense

11

The Amendment Law establishes a special fund to which all forfeited property and fines imposed 

in connection with human trafficking must be transferred. The fund’s assets are to be allocated 

for the following purposes: 

• Rehabilitation, treatment, and protection of trafficking victims (over half of the fund’s

yearly assets)

• Compensation (whole or partial) of individual victims who have been awarded such

compensation by civil or criminal court judgments and have established that they have no

reasonable possibility of enforcing the judgment

8

 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, Supplementing 

the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Nov. 15, 2000, 2237 U.N.T.S. 319, 

https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%202237/v2237.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/F8V9-

ABLK. 

9 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and 

Child Pornography, May 25, 2000, 2171 U.N.T.S. 227, available at https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/ 

2000/CN.1032.2000-Eng.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/U4HZ-EQ73. 

10 Penal Law, 5737-1977, LAWS OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL (LSI) (Special Volume), §§ 374–377E, as amended by

Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (Legislative Amendments) Law, 5766–2006, SEFER HAHUKIM [BOOK OF 

LAWS, SH] (official gazette) No. 2067 pp. 2–8.

11 Penal Law § 377A; see also RAHEL GERSHUNI, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATION AND LEGAL 

COUNSEL, ISRAEL’S NEW COMPREHENSIVE TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION 1, http://www.justice.gov.il/En/Units/ 

Trafficking/MainDocs/israeltraffickinglawexplained.pdf (last visited Jan. 11, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/ 

2GEQ-YYYS. 

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• Crime prevention

• Implementation of anti-trafficking legislation by law enforcement authorities12

According to Israel’s Ministry of Justice, 

[t]hese purposes reflect the various aspects of the battle against trafficking, as established 

by international conventions: protection, prosecution and prevention. Thus, the Fund is 

intended to be a tool to encourage the waging of this battle on all fronts. 

This provision is an important precedent, in its emphasis upon the protection of victims, 

above and beyond the other purposes of the Fund. This can be seen in the obligatory 

allocation of at least half of the yearly assets to the protection of victims and in the 

arrangement allowing for compensation of individual victims by the Fund, under 

certain circumstances.13

In addition to rights to rehabilitation and compensation, victims of human trafficking enjoy 

special procedural protections during the criminal process, including participation in in-camera

proceedings, gag orders on information involving minors, receipt of information and ability to 

express opinions at various junctures of the criminal process, permission to testify outside the 

presence of the accused. They also receive legal aid.

14

III. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing Human

Trafficking Law

A. Border Control and Law Enforcement 

The entry of persons into Israel is controlled by Israel’s Population, Immigration and Border 

Authority (PIBA).

15 The PIBA is responsible for the issue of entry visas to qualified applicants. 

It currently grants foreign-worker visas to experts and to workers in ethnic restaurants, domestic 

helpers, and agricultural workers.16 

12 Penal Law § 377E(d).

13 RAHEL GERSHUNI, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATION AND LEGAL COUNSEL, BATTLE AGAINST 

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: ISRAEL’S NEW COMPREHENSIVE TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION 12, http://www.justice. 

gov.il/En/Units/Trafficking/MainDocs/israeltraffickinglawexplained.pdf (last visited Jan. 28, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/A8JV-Z544. 

14 Id. at 14–16; see also RAHEL GERSHUNI, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATION AND LEGAL

COUNSEL, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN ISRAEL 22 (Apr. 2011), http://www.ungift.org/doc/knowledgehub/resourcecentre/Governments/Israel_Ministry_of_Justice_TIP.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/M86L-P8U9. 

15 MARIA RABINOWITZ, REVIEW OF ISRAEL’S ACTIVITY IN THE AREA OF THE FIGHT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING:

HANDLING OF THE PHENOMENON OF TRADING IN WOMEN (Knesset Information and Research Center, Oct. 20, 2013), 

http://www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/pdf/m03296.pdf (in Hebrew), archived at https://perma.cc/34QP-HZBA. 

16 Foreign Workers, PIBA, http://www.piba.gov.il/subject/foreignworkers/pages/default.aspx (in Hebrew; last 

visited Jan. 28, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/8XQT-VSX8. 

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Persons who enter Israel unlawfully, and even lawfully, can become victims of human 

trafficking if they are traded for one of the purposes listed under the Penal Law.17

The Israel Police is responsible for preventing crimes against trafficking victims once they enter

Israeli territory, and the personnel of a number of agencies involved in human trafficking cases 

may participate in identifying victims and providing them with assistance, including social and 

medical services. 

B. Agency Roles

In recent years most victims of trafficking in Israel appear to have been women brought to Israel 

for prostitution. According to testimony by the Ministry of Justice provided to the Knesset 

Committee for Promoting the Status of Women and for Gender Equality, Israeli authorities 

experience difficulties in identifying victims of sex trafficking and enforcing the law. This is due 

to the lawful arrival of the victims. Unlike victims who were previously smuggled into Israel via 

the Sinai desert, most victims of sex trafficking currently arrive in the country lawfully on threemonth tourist visas. Citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, the countries from 

which many of the victims arrive, are no longer required to obtain a visa before traveling to 

Israel and are therefore not screened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prior to their arrival. The 

tourism sector, therefore, has been identified by Israeli authorities as a necessary partner in the 

fight against human trafficking.18 

According to the testimony before the Knesset committee, 

[t]he Ministry of Tourism has joined the interministerial activity in this area because they 

arrive as tourists. Sometimes it is actually in a pretended organized group of travelers, 

and they arrive at hotels. Everything is organized ahead of time in travel packages, 

which is why we must recruit the tourism sector, from the point of view of identification, 

prevention, reporting, etc. So the Ministry of Tourism is recruited. 

It is more difficult [to act] against private elements such as the Hotel Association, owners 

of hotels, the Travel Agent Association; it is apparently unrelated to them and they are 

only expected to make money.19

Various government agencies are involved in carrying out duties related to human trafficking 

within their respective areas of responsibilities. These include the Ministry of Justice, which is 

responsible for indicting and prosecuting offenders, and providing legal assistance to victims; the 

Ministry of Health, which operates hospitals and anonymous clinics to which victims turn for 

medical help; the Ministry of Interior, which grants temporary work visas to victims for the 

17 See discussion of § 377A of the Penal Law in Part II, above.

18 Protocol No. 20: Hearing Before the Committee for Promoting the Status of Women and Gender Equality, 20th 

Knesset 5 (Oct. 12, 2015) (statement of Meirav Shmueli, Facilitator of the Fight Against Human Trafficking in the 

Ministry of Justice), http://www.justice.gov.il/Units/Trafficking/MainDocs/20_ptv_314575.doc (in Hebrew; last 

visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/CD85-U7GC. 

19 Id. (translated by author, R.L.).

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purpose of rehabilitation; and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services, which is responsible 

for operating shelters and providing social services for victims of human trafficking.20 

IV. Training Programs

A. General Training in Human Trafficking

The Israeli government’s efforts to increase awareness in identifying trafficking victims were 

acknowledged in the State Department’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, which stated that

[t]he government continued to widely circulate victim identification guidelines to 

government ministries, which regularly referred potential victims to the police to open an 

investigation and ensure the provision of protective services. Authorities also continued 

to cooperate with NGOs on victim identification and referral. The police continued a 

program with an NGO to help identify and refer protection sex trafficking victims picked 

up during police raids of brothels; police identified 28 victims during brothel raids 

in 2014.21

Recognizing that training and advocacy play an important role in the effort to combat trafficking, 

the ONATC provides information to educate the public on trafficking and victim recognition. It 

further provides law enforcement with the training necessary to operate effectively. The 

ONATC’s advocacy activities include media interviews, participation in conferences, and 

lecturing in various forums on human trafficking and the struggle to eliminate it in Israel.

The ONATC initiates, develops, and delivers expert anti-human trafficking training programs for

professionals in various fields, government agencies, aid organizations, other relevant bodies, 

and the general public.22 According to its website,

[t]hese trainings are specifically targeted at units or functions [sic] which may come in 

contact with human trafficking victims (or potential victims)[;] they are tailored to the 

needs of these functions and include legal content, description of relevant phenomena and 

the providing of tools for the identification of victims of trafficking and slavery. Some of 

the trainings consist of an entire day or more of lectures, some are shorter, and each is 

tailored to the specific needs and limitations of its target audience.23

Between 2009 and 2011 the ONATC conducted special seminars on identifying victims for 

government representatives and NGOs that interact with labor migrants. In addition, a special 

20 Id. at 52–65.

21 2015 TIP REPORT, supra note 1, at 194.

22 Trainings and Advocacy, ONATC, http://www.justice.gov.il/En/Units/Trafficking/EffortsNew/Pages/trainings. 

aspx (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/5K7E-7428. 

23 Id.

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Guide for Identifying Victims of Slavery and Forced Labor, which incorporates papers presented 

by subject matter experts, was later published, with financing provided by the European Union.24

Among governmental and nongovernmental bodies that have received training from the ONATC 

in recent years are the following:

• Migration authority: prosecution unit, border control, the RSD unit, the refused

facility’s team in Ben Gurion airport, social workers from private offices in the

nursing field (under the regulation of the migration authority).

• The Israeli police: various central units (Tel-Aviv, Negev, Lachish, North etc), Lahav

433 unit, including the Saar department, the school for the investigation and

intelligence unit.

• Prison service: the Saharonim, Givon and Mattan detention facilities.

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: training course for ambassadors and consuls leaving

the country.

• The Ministry of Justice: the prosecution, legal aid unit, the anti-money laundering

authority, judges in the tribunal for detention regulation.

• Court management: criminal judges, judges’ clerks.

• The Ministry of Economics: labor inspectors.

• The Ministry of health: hospitals (medical and social teams), the Levinsky clinic for

sexually transmitted diseases.

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

• International bodies: specialists and professionals in the field, including judges

and prosecutors.

• Various Israeli NGOs dealing with vulnerable populations: Assaf foundation, center

for refugees and migrants, Kav Laoved etc.

• Public panels accompanying film screening, symposiums, and other events.

• Academic institutions: The College for Management, Academic Center Rupin, TelAviv University, Hebrew University, Mendal Institution etc.

• High schools and youth facilities across the country.

• Religious leaders.

25

The ONATC plans to expand its training sessions in the coming year to new audiences, such as 

the private and business sectors.26

24 ONATC, GUIDE FOR IDENTIFYING VICTIMS OF SLAVERY AND FORCED LABOR, http://www.justice.gov.il/Units/ 

Trafficking/MainDocs/A%20Toolkit%20for%20Identifying%20Victims%20of%20Forced%20Labour%20and%20S

lavery.pdf (in Hebrew; last visited Feb. 16, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/N2PT-5ULC. 

25 Trainings and Advocacy, supra note 22. 

26 Id.

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In 2014, Israel’s Ministry of Interior reported an increased focus on training social workers to

identify potential cases of human trafficking among caregivers. Furthermore, the Ministry of 

Tourism has reportedly adopted the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO’s) 

Global Code of Ethics in Tourism27 and provided anti-trafficking training for government 

officials, tourism industry representatives and NGOs.28 Anti-trafficking training was similarly 

provided to Israeli diplomatic personnel.29

Topics in the ONATC training sessions in recent years have included human trafficking, the 

identification of trafficking victims, the vulnerability of labor migrants who engage in domestic 

work, migrant victims of human trafficking, and the cultures of origin of trafficking victims.30

In addition to conducting seminars and sharing information on human trafficking with relevant 

officials, the ONATC has coordinated special programs on human trafficking for students and 

the public at large. Informational seminars on the dangers posed by human trafficking were 

provided not only in Israel but also in countries where victims originate. The Israeli government 

has engaged in international exchanges of information with other countries to further improve its 

handling of the issue.

31

B. Special Training for Judges

An international seminar for judges on the role of the judiciary in combating human trafficking 

was conducted in Haifa, Israel, in October 2014. The seminar was based on the joint 

collaboration of several Israeli government and international organizations. Sponsors included 

Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Organization for Security and 

Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International 

Organization for Migration, the Institute of Advanced Judicial Studies, and the Israeli Ministry 

of Justice.32

27 GLOBAL CODE OF ETHICS FOR TOURISM (UNWTO 1999), http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/ 

docpdf/gcetbrochureglobalcodeen.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/RRP9-5BLG; see also UNODC-UNWTO Side 

Event on Human Trafficking in the Context of Tourism, UNWTO (Apr. 24, 2012), http://ethics.unwto.org/event/ 

unodc-unwto-side-event-human-trafficking-context-tourism, archived at https://perma.cc/BAD3-5BTV.

28 See Seminar by the Ministry of Justice and the Authority for Promoting the Status of Woman in the Prime 

Minister’s Office: Responsible Tourism, Cooperation with the Private Sector in the Field of the Fight Against 

Human Trafficking (Sept. 8, 2014), http://www.justice.gov.il/Units/Trafficking/MainDocs/אחראית תיירות עיון יום.doc

(in Hebrew), archived at https://perma.cc/5DCN-U63Z. 

29 RABINOWITZ, supra note 15, at 68. 

30 Id. at 66. 

31 Id. at 65.

32 MASHAV ET AL., INVITATION TO INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR FOR JUDGES: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY 

IN COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, http://mctc.co.il/public/files/attachments/235/2hucfh.pdf (last 

visited Jan. 20, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/N368-FRGY.

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The seminar included sessions on the following topics: 

• The international framework of combating trafficking in persons

• Key issues and concepts that arise in trafficking cases

• Patterns of trafficking, forms of exploitation, and the means used by traffickers

• Psychological symptoms of trafficking victims

• Evidential problems specific to trafficking cases

• Best practices for the protection of victims

• The rights of victims in criminal proceedings, including noncriminalization/nonpunishment

• The importance of international cooperation

• Mock trials highlighting core issues in the seminar33

Other programs are offered by the Institute of Legal Training for Attorneys and Legal Advisers 

of the Ministry of Justice (ILTALA). In March 2015, for example, a one-day seminar on human 

trafficking was conducted by the ILTALA in Jerusalem and included sessions conducted by 

experts in international law, criminal law, legal assistance, and immigration.34

C. Training for Police Personnel

Human trafficking and prostitution are mandatory training subjects for all Israeli police 

personnel. The Israel Police conducts workshops for officers and investigators on identifying 

victims and on cultural diversity, a topic viewed as essential for identifying and understanding 

traits of victimization.35 

D. Training for Members of the Knesset

The Knesset is similarly involved in increasing awareness of human trafficking and in 2012 

reportedly held a day-long conference for Knesset members on the cultures of East Asian 

countries, where labor migrants in Israel originate.36 

33 Id. at 2.

34 See, e.g., Training Agenda, Seminar on: “Trafficking in Persons” (Ministry of Justice, Mar. 12, 2015), 

http://index.justice.gov.il/Units/Trafficking/MainDocs/12.3.2015.doc (in Hebrew), archived at

https://perma.cc/39NB-L6UZ. 

35 See RABINOWITZ, supra note 15, at 66–67.

36 Id. 

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Italy 

Dante Figueroa 

Senior Legal Information Analyst

SUMMARY Italy is bound by a number of international treaties and other instruments covering human 

trafficking and smuggling. Due to its geographical location, Italy is a point of 

convergence between the European continent and other regions from which intense human 

trafficking takes place. Italy has enacted domestic legislation prohibiting the exploitation 

of human beings in its different modalities, including prostitution and other forms of abuse 

of persons in situations of vulnerability. The Italian Criminal Code contains specific 

provisions punishing conduct that relates to the trafficking and smuggling of persons. 

These provisions have been included in the Criminal Code over the years, pursuant to 

Italy’s obligations arising from international instruments and European legislation. 

Several government agencies at the national and the regional level cooperate to provide 

integral assistance to trafficking and smuggling victims.

I. Brief Introduction to Italy’s Legal Framework on Human Trafficking 

A. International Legal Framework Applicable to Italy

Italy has ratified the following international treaties that directly or indirectly deal with human 

trafficking: 

• The Slavery Convention, ratified by Italy on August 25, 1928,

1 defining slavery and the

slave trade.

2

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, adopted by the General Assembly of

the United Nations on December 10, 1948, prohibiting slavery or servitude and the

slave trade.

3

• The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of

1950, ratified by Italy on October 26, 1955,4 establishing provisions concerning slavery or

servitude and compulsory labor.

5

1 Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties – Italy, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, HUMAN RIGHTS

LIBRARY, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/ratification-italy.html (last visited Feb. 17, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/V95F-BWEY. 

2 Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery (Slavery Convention) arts. 1(1) & (2), Sept. 25, 1926, 

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/slavery.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/373Q-REMY. 

3 Universal Declaration of Human Rights art. 4, Dec. 10, 1948, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/

UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/D8JD-NYWX. 

4

 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, supra note 1.

5 European Convention on Human Rights art. 4, Nov. 4, 1950, available at

http://www.hri.org/docs/ECHR50.html#Convention, archived at https://perma.cc/ZG2T-2C5Q. 

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• The Geneva Convention on the High Seas of 1958, ratified by Italy on December 17, 1964,

addressing human trafficking by sea.6

• The Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959, adopted by the UN General Assembly on

November 20, 1989, prohibiting certain crimes against children, including trafficking in

any form.

7

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1967, ratified by Italy on

September 15, 1978,8 banning slavery, the slave trade, servitude, and forced or

compulsory labor.

9

• The Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement of June 14, 1985, on the Gradual

Abolition of Checks at the Common Borders, enabling signatory members to impose

penalties on anyone who, for financial gain, assists or tries to assist an alien to enter or reside

within the territory of one of the members in violation of that member’s laws concerning the

entry and residence of foreigners.

10

• The Europol Convention of 1995, which has as one of its objectives “prevent[ing] and

combat[ing] . . . illegal immigrant smuggling [and] trade in human beings” as initial steps in

“preventing and combating . . . serious forms of international crime” that involve “an

organized criminal structure” in the Member States.

11 “Trafficking in human beings” is

defined in light of European Union law12as

6 Convention on the Law of the Sea, Apr. 29, 1958, 450 U.N.T.S. 11,

https://treaties.un.org/pages/ShowMTDSGDetails.aspx?src=UNTSONLINE&tabid=2&mtdsg_no=XXI2&chapter=21&lang=en#Participants, archived at https://perma.cc/2PBX-VF89; TULLIO TREVES, 1958 GENEVA 

CONVENTIONS ON THE LAW OF THE SEA 1–2 (United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law 2008), 

http://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ha/gclos/gclos_e.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/Q6V4-CWDA. 

7 Declaration of the Rights of the Child princ. 9, Nov. 20, 1959, http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/1959-Declarationof-the-Rights-of-the-Child.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/6FZA-N5JV. 

8

 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, supra note 1.

9 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights art. 8, Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, available at

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b3ccpr.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/3VZS-947C. 

10 Schengen Acquis – Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 Between the 

Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French 

Republic on the Gradual Abolition of Checks at Their Common Borders art. 27(1), 2000 OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE 

EUROPEAN UNION (O.J.) (L 239) 19, http://www.imolin.org/doc/amlid/

Belgium_Convention_19_June_1990_Schengen_English.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/UW7U-RUT6. 

11 Council Act of 26 July 1995 Drawing Up the Convention Based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, 

on the Establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention) arts. 2(1) & (2), 1995 O.J. (C 316) 1, 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A31995F1127%2801%29, archived at

https://perma.cc/9CGJ-YZS5. The Europol Convention was amended by Council Decision of 6 April 2009 

Establishing the European Police Office (Europol), 2009 O.J. (L 121) 37 (Council Decision of 2009), available at 

https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/council_decision.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/N34B-CQVX. 

For commentary on the Convention, see TONY BUNYAN, THE EUROPOL CONVENTION (Statewatch 1995), 

http://www.statewatch.org/docbin/europol-pamphlet-1995.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/83GP-C7PH. 

12 Council Joint Action 98/699/JHA of 3 December 1998 on Money Laundering, the Identification, Tracing, 

Freezing, Seizing and Confiscation of the Instrumentalities and the Proceeds from Crime, 1998 O.J. (L 333) 1, 

available at http://db.eurocrim.org/db/en/doc/1200.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/9MAW-T6HY. 

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the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the 

threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of 

the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of 

payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another 

person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, as a minimum, the 

exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, the 

production, sale or distribution of child-pornography material, forced labour or services, 

slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.13

• The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998, which was proposed by Italy

and ratified by it on July 26, 1999,14 and contains a definition of “crime against humanity”

that includes “rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced

sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity.”15

• The Geneva Convention No. 182 of 1999 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child

Labour, ratified by Italy on June 7, 2000,16 which addresses “all forms of slavery or practices

similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children.”17

• The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime,18 and its Protocol

to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,19

both of which were signed by Italy on December 12, 2000.20

• The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 2000, prohibiting slavery or

servitude, forced labor, and trafficking in human beings.21

13 Council Decision of 2009, Annex(c), at 66.

14 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, supra note 1.

15 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court art. 7(1)(g) (Rome Statute), U.N. Doc. A/CONF.183/9* (July 

17, 1998), available at http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/LE4V-GSSK. 

16 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, supra note 1.

17 Convention No. 182 of the International Labour Organization Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action 

for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour art. 3(a), http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/

ilc/ilc87/com-chic.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/DSK3-L7ZW, ratified in Italy by Law No. 148 of May 25, 

2000, GAZZETTA UFFICIALE DELLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA [G.U.] June 12, 2000, No. 135, 

http://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:legge:2000-05-25;148, archived at https://perma.cc/9SZR2MX7. 

18 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, supra note 1.

19 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing 

the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Nov. 15, 2000, 2237 U.N.T.S. 343, 

https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY &mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-a&chapter=18&lang=en (click 

“vol. 2237” under “Text”), archived at https://perma.cc/ W3M3-THJ9. 

20 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, supra note 1.

21 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union art. 5, Dec. 7, 2000, 2000 O.J. (C 364) 1, 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/F9KX-SYBY. 

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B. Domestic Legislation

Italian law lists those persons considered to be in a vulnerable situation for purposes of legal 

protection vis-à-vis human trafficking. This list includes minors; unaccompanied minors; the 

elderly; the disabled; women, especially when pregnant; single parents with minor children; 

people with mental disorders; and persons who have been subjected to torture, rape, or other 

serious forms of psychological, physical, sexual, or gender violence.22 The protective measures 

established in the legislation do not prejudice the responsibility of the state or individuals 

according to international law and international human rights and humanitarian law.23 

The law establishes a procedure for the legal determination of the age of a person who appears to 

be a minor and who has been the victim of human trafficking.24 Unaccompanied minors who are 

victims of human trafficking must be properly informed of their rights, including eventual access 

to a procedure for the determination of international protection.25 

The law establishes the Fund for the Implementation of Anti-human-trafficking Measures under 

the Presidency of the Council of Ministers,26 which finances assistance and social integration 

programs for the benefit of trafficking victims.27 The Fund also covers the compensation of 

persons who have been victims of human trafficking.28 A claim for compensation must be 

submitted to the President of the Council of Ministers within five days from the date of the 

judicial decision that ordered payment to the victim.29

When government agencies providing social services detect that a foreigner has experienced 

violence or serious exploitation and that there is a real danger to the person’s safety, the questore 

(police prefect) may issue a special residence permit to the foreigner.30 Such special residence 

22 Decreto Legislativo 4 marzo 2014, n. 24, Attuazione della direttiva 2011/36/UE, relativa alla prevenzione e alla 

repressione della tratta di esseri umani e alla protezione delle vittime, che sostituisce la decisione quadro 

2002/629/GAI [Legislative Decree [L.D.] No. 24 of March 4, 2014, Implementing Directive 2011/36/UE, Related to 

the Prevention and Repression of Human Trafficking and the Protection of Victims, Which Replaces Framework 

Decision 2002/629/GAI] art. 1(1), G.U. Mar. 13, 2014, 

http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/serie_generale/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=2

014-03-13&atto.codiceRedazionale=14G00035&elenco30giorni=false, archived at https://perma.cc/G6EW-65S6. 

23 L.D. No. 24 of 2014, art. 1(2).

24 Id. art. 4(2).

25 Id. art. 4(1).

26 Legge 11 agosto 2003, n.228, Misure contro la tratta di persone [Law No. 228 of August 11, 2003, Measures 

Against Human Trafficking] art. 12(1), G.U. Aug. 23, 2003, No. 195 http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/03228l.htm, 

archived at https://perma.cc/3TT2-K6JT. 

27 Law No. 228 of 2003, art. 12(2).

28 L.D. No. 24 of 2014, art. 6(1).

29 Id.

30 Decreto Legislativo 25 luglio 1998, n. 286, Testo unico delle disposizioni concernenti la disciplina 

dell’immigrazione e norme sulla condizione dello straniero [Legislative Decree No. 286 of July 25, 1998, 

Consolidated Text of Provisions Related to the Topic of Immigration and on the Condition of Foreigners] art. 18(1), 

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permits are valid for six months and may be renewed for one year, or for a longer period as 

necessary based on reasons of justice.31 The permit is revoked when the assistance program is 

interrupted, when the foreigner engages in conduct incompatible with the goals of the program, 

or when the conditions justifying the issuance of the permit no longer exist.

32

The residence permit allows beneficiaries to access residential services, study, and work in 

Italy.

33 If the foreigner is still working when the residential permit expires, the permit may be 

renewed for the duration of the work relationship.

34 The aforementioned residence permits may 

be converted into “residence permits for reason of study” when the foreigner is registered in a 

regular course of studies.35 

C. Criminal Conduct Related to Human Trafficking 

The Italian Criminal Code defines several offenses related to human trafficking.

36 The Code 

punishes with eight to twenty years of incarceration those who exercise property rights over a 

person or who reduce a person to, or maintain a person in, a state of continuous subjection, 

forcing the person to provide work or sexual services, beg or fulfill illegal activities involving 

exploitation, or undergo the removal of organs.37 The Code provides that the reduction to or 

keeping of a person in a state of subjugation occurs when the conduct involves the use of 

violence; threats; deceit; abuse of authority; exploitation of a situation of vulnerability, physical 

or psychological inferiority, or need; or by promising to give or by giving money or other 

advantages to anyone under his authority.38

The Criminal Code also punishes with incarceration of six to twelve years and a fine those who 

recruit or induce a person younger than eighteen years of age to prostitution.

39 Also punished 

are those who promote, exploit, manage, organize, or control the prostitution of a person younger 

than eighteen years, or who otherwise obtain profits from that person based on her exploitation.

40

G.U. Aug. 18, 1998, No. 191, http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/deleghe/98286dl.htm, archived at

https://perma.cc/8FKD-YN6Q. 

31 Id. art. 18(4).

32 Id.

33 Id. art. 18(5).

34 Id.

35 Id.

36 CODICE PENALE [CRIMINAL CODE, C.C.], available at http://www.altalex.com/documents/news/2014/10/28/deidelitti-contro-la-persona, archived at https://perma.cc/4942-SBSD. 

37 C.C. art. 600.

38 Id.

39 C.C. art. 600-bis ¶ 1.

40 C.C. art. 600 ¶ 2.

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According to the Criminal Code, whoever purchases, transfers, or sells a person who is in a 

situation of vulnerability is subject to imprisonment from eight to twenty years.

41 The penalty is 

increased by a third to a half if the victim is a minor under the age of eighteen or if the acts of 

exploitation are directed to prostitution or in order to subject the victim to the removal 

of organs.42

The penalties also apply when the crimes are committed abroad by Italian citizens, or against an 

Italian citizen, or by a foreigner in conjunction with an Italian citizen.

43 In the latter case, the 

foreigner is punished when the alleged crime is punished with imprisonment of not less than five 

years and when the Ministry of Justice requests the penalty.

44

The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in 1991 that the expression “conditions analogous to 

slavery” contained in article 600 of the Criminal Code refers to article 1 of the Slavery 

Convention of 1926, which states as follows: 

For the purpose of the present Convention, the following definitions are agreed upon: 

(1) Slavery is the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers 

attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.

(2) The slave trade includes all acts involved in the capture, acquisition or disposal of a 

person with intent to reduce him to slavery; all acts involved in the acquisition of a slave 

with a view to selling or exchanging him; all acts of disposal by sale or exchange of a 

slave acquired with a view to being sold or exchanged, and, in general, every act of trade 

or transport in slaves.45

According to the Italian Constitutional Court, the expression “conditions analogous to slavery” 

also include servitude by debt, servitude or serfdom, as well as the practices that authorize (1) the 

sale of an unmarried woman as a wife; (2) the sale of a married woman; and (3) the sale of a 

person younger than eighteen years for the exploitation of his work or his person.46 In 1998, the 

Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) also recognized the application of article 600 of the

Criminal Code to the exploitation of illegal immigrants.47

41 C.C. art. 602 ¶ 1.

42 C.C. art. 602 ¶ 2.

43 C.C. art. 604.

44 Id.

45 Ch. V, Outline of Italian Legislation Concerning Human Trafficking, in PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGENEUROPOL, FINAL REPORT OF FACT-FINDING STUDY, http://www.camera.it/_bicamerali/schengen/indagini/

docconclusivo.htm (in Italian; last visited Feb. 17, 2016) (referring to Constitutional Court Decision No. 96 of 1991, 

which interpreted article 600 of the Italian Criminal Code in light of the Slavery Convention of 1926, supra note 2), 

archived at https://perma.cc/VB6W-5539. 

46 PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGEN-EUROPOL, supra note 45. 

47 Decision of the Italian Supreme Court of December 16, 1998, cited in PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGENEUROPOL, supra note 45. 

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Italian legislation punishes those who facilitate or promote the immigration of persons with the 

purpose of recruiting them for prostitution, for their exploitation, or who facilitate or promote the 

entry into Italian territory of minors to be used in illicit activities for their exploitation.48 The 

same legislation provides that if police or social service providers become aware of situations of 

violence or serious exploitation affecting a foreigner and concrete dangers for his or her safety 

result from attempts to escape from the influence of a criminal organization, the questore (police 

prefect) may issue a special residence permit authorizing the foreigner to avoid the violence or 

exploitation affecting him or her, and to participate in an assistance and social integration 

program.49

The legislation also contains measures for the protection of minors, particularly setting time 

limits on the duration of the investigation for serious crimes related to the sexual exploitation of 

minors, including prostitution, pornography, human trafficking, the slave trade, and 

sexual violence.50 

Finally, the Navigation Code punishes the commander, official, or crewmembers of a national or 

foreign vessel who commit the crimes of human trafficking or the slave trade.51

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing Laws Against

Human Trafficking.

The Italian government has adopted a series of actions aimed at analyzing and detecting the 

appropriate means to tackle the phenomenon of human trafficking, while still seeking to balance 

the activities of law enforcement and the protection of human rights.52 The Department for 

Equal Opportunities, which is located under the Ministry of the Interior, proposes, guides, and 

coordinates actions to fight human trafficking and to provide social integration services to the 

victims.53 The same Department must submit a biannual report to the European Union’s 

Coordinator for Anti-Human Trafficking.

54

48 Decreto Legislativo 25 luglio 1998, n. 286, Testo unico delle disposizioni concernenti la disciplina 

dell’immigrazione e norme sulla condizione dello straniero [Legislative Decree No. 286 of July 25, 1998, 

Consolidated Text on Immigration and the Condition of Foreigners] art. 12, G.U. Aug. 18, 1998, No. 191, 

http://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:1998;286~art38, archived at

https://perma.cc/6JQW-97XN. 

49 Id. art. 18(1).

50 Decreto-Legge 24 novembre 2000, n. 341, Disposizioni urgenti per l’efficacia e l’efficienza dell’Amministrazione 

della giustizia [Decree Law No. 341 of November 24, 2000, Urgent Provisions for the Efectiveness and Efficiency 

of the Administration of Justice], G.U. Nov. 24, 2000, No. 275, http://www.normattiva.it/urires/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto-legge:2000;341, archived at https://perma.cc/FD8W-37BH. 

51 Regio Decreto 30 marzo 1942, n. 327, Approvazione del testo definitivo del Codice della navigazione [Royal 

Decree No. 327 of March 30, 1942, Approving the Final Text of the Navigation Code] arts. 1152 & 1153, G.U. Apr. 

18, 1942, No. 93, http://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:regio.decreto:1942-03-30;327!vig=2014-02-

27, archived at https://perma.cc/3C3U-SY59. 

52 Ch. VII, Government Initiatives, in PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGEN-EUROPOL, supra note 45. 

53 L.D. No. 24 of 2014, art. 7(1)(a).

54 Id. art. 7(1)(c).

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On February 24, 1998, the Italian government created an interministerial commission for the 

coordination of government actions against the trafficking of women and minors for purposes of 

sexual exploitation.

55 Another interministerial commission has been set up to direct, control, and

plan the resources for the implementation of the social integration programs established in 

legislation enacted in 1998. In addition, on July 26, 2000, a telephone number against trafficking 

in women was activated to provide information to such women and help them escape forced 

prostitution.

56 The telephone service connects the victims with volunteers; local health 

institutions; and police, religious, and consular services.57 In addition, the Ministry of the 

Interior has assigned specialized police officers to dozens of Italian consular offices in source 

countries for the main migratory flows into Italy.

58 

The law charges the government with establishing a national plan for the assistance and social 

integration of victims of human trafficking and serious exploitation, whether Italian or foreign.

59 

Government agencies assisting victims of human trafficking and with competence in matters of 

asylum must coordinate their activities.

60

Furthermore, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior conduct permanent monitoring over 

the Italian consular offices located abroad that grant visas to foreigners coming from countries 

suspected of supplying the largest number of trafficked persons in Italy.

61 The government has 

recognized the inherent difficulty of tracking visa permits granted for educational, tourism, 

family, or other grounds to persons who end up engaging in sexual trafficking activities in 

Italy.

62 Special computer monitoring activities are also conducted over Italian citizens who 

invite at least two foreigners within a one-year period.63

The Italian government has signed bilateral treaties with several cooperation countries (including 

Tunisia, Nigeria, and Albania), which seek to improve the conditions of vulnerable local 

populations who have been the frequent target of human trafficking activities.64

III. Training Initiatives

As a European Union member, Italy participates in the programs and activities carried out by the 

European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the 

55 PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGEN-EUROPOL, supra note 45. 

56 Id.

57 Id.

58 Id.

59 L.D. No. 24 of 2014, arts. 8(1) & 9(1).

60 Id. art. 10(1).

61 PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGEN-EUROPOL, supra note 45. 

62 Id.

63 Id.

64 Ch. IX, Conclusions, in PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SCHENGEN-EUROPOL, supra note 45.

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Member States of the European Union (Frontex).65 Concerning training, Frontex’s role is to 

complement “training solutions existing at the national level to create a training system whereby 

the border-control personnel of all the Member States can work together effectively.”66 In 

addition, Frontex provides several training resources that are available to Member States in the 

area of border control and education.67 In particular, Frontex issued the Common Core 

Curriculum (CCC) in 2007, which “represents the first standardised set of skills and knowledge 

criteria for basic-level border-guard training in the EU,”68 and “includes modules representing 

the full range of border-related topics from detection of false documents and stolen cars to 

human rights, international law and leadership.”69 Finally, Frontex offers specialized training in 

several areas that are key to border control, including, among other things, language instruction, 

anti-trafficking in human beings, detection of falsified documents, detection of stolen vehicles, 

flight safety training, and human rights training.

70

65 Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 Establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational 

Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union, Oct. 26, 2004, 2007 O.J. (L 349) 

1, http://frontex.europa.eu/assets/About_Frontex/frontex_regulation_en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/PD2GJXV8. 

66 Principles, FRONTEX, http://frontex.europa.eu/training/principles (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/H27W-RJM3. 

67 Curricula, FRONTEX, http://frontex.europa.eu/training/curricula (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/UQQ5-SNGA. 

68 Id.

69 Id.

70 Specialised Training, FRONTEX, http://frontex.europa.eu/training/specialised-training (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), 

archived at https://perma.cc/565G-LKR4. 

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Japan 

Sayuri Umeda 

Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY While Japan has not adopted the UN Convention and Protocols related to combatting 

human trafficking, all acts that fall within the definitions provided in the UN Trafficking in 

Persons Protocol are criminal offenses under its domestic law. Law enforcement agencies 

in Japan provide classes and courses regarding trafficking in persons for their employees. 

They also regularly cooperate with nongovernmental organizations. 

I. Introduction 

Japan has not ratified the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime or

its Protocols, including the Trafficking in Persons Protocol.1

 However, under domestic 

legislation, all acts that fall within the definitions laid out in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol 

are criminal offenses in Japan.

2

 

Currently, the Council for the Promotion of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons is in 

charge of national human trafficking policies and measures. The Council is chaired by the Chief 

Cabinet Secretary and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministerial Meeting Concerning 

Measures Against Crime. The Ministerial Meeting adopted the 2014 Action Plan to Combat 

Trafficking in Persons on December 16, 2014,

3 which established the following as the Council’s 

goals: 

• An accurate understanding of the human trafficking situation

• The prevention of human trafficking by strict immigration and illegal alien controls

• The promotion of awareness of human trafficking victims

• The eradication of human trafficking by strict law enforcement

• The protection and support of human trafficking victims4

1

 MEASURES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 4 (May 2015), https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/jinsintorihiki/ 

pdf/eigoban.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/H779-53E9. 

2 Id; Amendment to Penal Code (Act No. 66 of 2005).

3

 MINISTERIAL MEETING CONCERNING MEASURES AGAINST CRIME, JAPAN’S 2014 ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (ACTION PLAN) (Dec. 16, 2014), https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/jinsintorihiki/pdf/ 

english-ver.pdf (provisional English translation), archived at https://perma.cc/D8ET-QAE6. 

4 Summary of 2014 Action Plan, PRIME MINISTER AND HIS CABINET’S OFFICE, https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/ 

jinsintorihiki/pdf/gaiyou2.pdf (in Japanese; last visited Feb. 14, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/3UY8-S3KP. 

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II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies to Combat Human

Trafficking

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) makes efforts to prevent foreigners from being 

trafficked into Japan. MOFA conducts a careful examination of visa applications at overseas 

diplomatic missions located in the home countries of trafficking victims, keeping an especially 

close eye on applications for types of visas that are prone to exploitation involving trafficking in 

persons, such as entertainment visas, temporary visitor visas, and visas for the spouses or 

children of Japanese nationals.5 

The Immigration Bureau of Japan controls the entry of people at Japan’s air and sea ports. It 

utilizes various types of information, such as passenger biometric information, ticket reservation 

records, and the International Criminal Police Organization’s (ICPO’s) database on lost and 

stolen passports. The Immigration Bureau of Japan has also installed devices to detect forged or 

altered documents and has trained its officials at air and sea ports to use those devices. 

Immigration control officers carry out organizational patrols in transit areas of airports and ports 

in order to detect suspicious persons and brokers.6

 

The police strictly enforce laws against foreigners staying in the country on a fraudulent basis, 

including on the basis of fake marriages, and also hold accountable the brokers related to such

cases. The Immigration Bureau of Japan also investigates foreigners’ illegal stays in Japan and 

may conduct joint raids with the police.7 

The police and the Immigration Bureau of Japan investigate illegal employment activities. The 

Prefectural Labour Bureaus and the Labour Standard Inspection Offices also participate in joint 

inspections and investigations into cases of suspected human rights infringements by employers 

who have accepted technical intern trainees and other laborers.8 

In June 2014, the Law Enforcement Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons was established. 

The Task Force is comprised of members from the National Police Agency; the Ministry of 

Justice; the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office; the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; and 

the Japan Coast Guard.9

5

 MEASURES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 1, at 12.

6 Id. 

7 Id. at 13.

8 Id. at 13–14.

9 Id. at 18–19.

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III. Training Programs for Law Enforcement

The Council for the Promotion of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons has published 

manuals titled Regarding Dealing with Human Trafficking Cases/ Recognizing Victims10 and 

Regarding Dealing with Human Trafficking Cases/ Protection of Victims.

11

Law enforcement agencies also provide classes or courses for their employees. They invite 

lecturers from the International Organization for Migration and nongovernmental 

organizations (NGOs).12 

The National Police Agency (NPA) provides classes on measures to combat trafficking in 

persons for new employees at the Prefectural Police Academy. The NPA also provides training 

courses at the time of an employee’s promotion at the National Police Academy. Two 

instructors who specialize in trafficking in persons have been designated by the NPA13 and 

conduct lectures at police training courses at every opportunity. The NPA further provides 

courses regarding trafficking in persons with top-level staff across Japan who have jurisdiction 

over adult entertainment-related offenses.

14 

The Immigration Bureau of Japan provides lectures on trafficking in persons during its human 

rights education programs, which are provided at various stages of Bureau employees’ careers. 

In addition, in cooperation with external instructors from the relevant ministries and agencies, 

the International Organization for Migration and NGOs, the Bureau provides training on human 

rights and measures to combat trafficking in persons for mid-level officials who deal directly 

with such trafficking cases.

15 

The Japan Coast Guard provides lectures on the actual situation of trafficking in persons with 

practitioners during annual training programs.

16 

The Courts of Japan provide lectures by university professors and other speakers specializing in 

international human rights during training programs for judges. The lectures cover various 

10 COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION OF MEASURES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AGREEMENT, REGARDING 

DEALING WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES/ IDENTIFYING VICTIMS (June 23, 2010), https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/ 

singi/jinsintorihiki/pdf/ninchi.pdf (in Japanese), archived at https://perma.cc/G2TZ-XUTU. 

11 COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION OF MEASURES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AGREEMENT, REGARDING 

DEALING WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES/ PROTECTION OF VICTIMS (July 1, 2011), https://www.kantei.go. 

jp/jp/singi/jinsintorihiki/pdf/hogo.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/V66Y-4WWN. 

12 ACTION PLAN, supra note 3, at 15.

13 One instructor was on the local news. Human Trafficking Investigation Professional, Captain at Prefecture 

Living Environment Department, Hiroyasu Yokobayashi/ Nagano Prefecture, MAINICHI SHINBUN (Nagano ed., July 

6, 2015), http://mainichi.jp/articles/20150706/ddl/k20/070/024000c (in Japanese), archived at

https://perma.cc/7AXG-ES7M. 

14 MEASURES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 1, at 29.

15 Id. 

16 Id. at 30.

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problems related to the international regulation of human rights issues, including trafficking 

in persons.

17

Law enforcement agencies regularly exchange views and information on human trafficking with 

NGOs and the International Organization for Migration and also hold a meeting, the Contact 

Point Meeting for Trafficking in Persons, that NGOs and others are invited to attend.

18

17 Id.

18 人身取引事犯に係るコンタクトポイント連絡会議 [Contact Point Meeting for Trafficking in Persons], 

NIKKAN KEISATSU [POLICE DAILY] (July 23, 2015), http://www.nikkankeisatsu.co.jp/news/1507/0723/news.html,

archived at https://perma.cc/LKL8-4FHC. 

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Jordan 

Issam M. Saliba 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist 

SUMMARY Jordan has enacted Law No. 9 of 2009 on the Prevention of Human Trafficking. Articles 4, 

5, and 16 allow the Council of Ministers and the National Committee on Preventing 

Human Trafficking to decide on how best to implement the Law. No legislative or 

administrative instruments addressing the roles and responsibilities of the various 

government agencies in this respect were located. However, various officials have 

attended training related to combating human trafficking. 

I. Legal Framework on Human Trafficking 

According to the U.S. Department of State, Jordan is a source, destination, and transit country for 

adults and children subjected to forced labor and to a lesser extent, sex trafficking.1

Jordan has enacted Law No. 9 of 2009 on the Prevention of Human Trafficking (2009 Law).2 

This Law criminalizes all forms of human trafficking and imposes penalties of between 6 months 

and ten years of imprisonment and/or a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 Jordanian dinars .3

 

Article 4 of the 2009 Law provides for the formation of the National Committee on Preventing

Human Trafficking. The Committee is composed of the Minister of Justice as president; the 

Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice as vice-president; the secretaries general of the

Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labor, and the National Human Rights Center; representatives 

of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Trade and 

Industry, and the Ministry of Health; a high level officer of the Public Security Department; and 

the Secretary General of the National Council for Family Affairs.

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing the Law

against Human Trafficking 

The 2009 Law does not specifically address the roles and responsibilities of the government 

agencies regarding the implementation of the Law. However, article 16 provides that the 

Council of Ministers has the authority to issue regulations necessary for the implementation of 

the Law, which could include defining the roles and responsibilities of any government agency 

in this respect. In addition, article 5 allows the National Committee on Preventing Human 

1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: JORDAN, 

http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2015/243464.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/S8HG-ADZY. 

2 Law No. 9 of 2009 on the Prevention of Human Trafficking, Al-Jarida Al-Rasmiya [Official Gazette], No. 4952, p. 

920, available at http://www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Jordan_Anti-TIP-Legislation-2009-

and-TIP-Law-20082.pdf (in Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/797J-K69L. 

3 Id. arts. 8 & 9.

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Trafficking to adopt measures necessary to prevent human trafficking and supervise their 

implementation; to raise awareness of employers and those who import workers about human 

trafficking through conventions, seminars, and workshop training; and to coordinate the efforts 

of public and private organizations concerned with human trafficking. 

On June 4, 2012, the Ministry of Labor and the General Security Administration entered into a 

three-year agreement to create a special unit charged with combatting human trafficking; this 

agreement was renewed for another term in July 2015.4

On April 16, 2012, the Council of Ministers, in accordance with article 7 of the 2009 Law, issued 

Decree No. 30 of 2012 establishing a shelter for the victims of human trafficking and assigning 

its management to a national NGO.5

We note that, pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code, all security forces and other government 

officials, each within their own domain, have a duty, under the supervision of the Prosecutor 

General, to investigate crimes, including human trafficking offenses.6 

III. Training Programs for Law Enforcement and NGOs Involvement

The following information has been located regarded training for law enforcement officers and 

other officials involved in investigating and prosecuting human trafficking offenses: 

• In a filing with the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its 66th session held in May 2014,

the Jordanian government stated that it held numerous conventions and “workshop training”

regarding human trafficking for judges, law enforcement members, and labor inspectors.7

• The International Labour Organization has been involved in the provision of training to

government officials in Jordan for a number of years. For example it provided training on

4 The Ministry of Labor and the General Security Renew the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning AntiHuman Trafficking, AL GHAD (July 23, 2015), http://www.alghad.com/articles/883277--یجددان-العام-والأمن-العمل-وزارة

بالبشر-الاتجار-مكافحة-مذكرة) in Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/7YUC-KGZH. 

5 Decree No. 30 of 2012 on Shelters for the Victims and Those Affected by the Crimes of Human Trafficking, AlJarida Al-Rasmiya [Official Gazette], No. 5153, p. 1624 (Apr. 16, 2012), available on the Council of Ministers,

Department of Legislation and Legal Opinions website, http://www.lob.gov.jo/AR/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx. 

6 Law No. 9 of 1961, available at http://www.pogar.org/publications/ac/compendium/jordan/criminalizationlawenforcement/crimprocedure-61-ar.pdf (in Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/3LXD-A3NF. 

7 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the List of Issues for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of 

the Child “On the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts,” CRC/C/JOR/Q/4–5 (Oct. 30, 2013), 

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC-OP-AC/Shared%20Documents/JOR/CRC_C_OPAC_JOR_Q_1_Add1_17264_A.docx (in Arabic), archived at https://perma.cc/JF4L-JJ5A. 

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forced labor and human trafficking to labor inspectors in 20088 and to police officers, labor 

inspectors, prosecutors, judges, and other officials in 2013.9

• The website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) states that a

number of Jordanian law enforcement officials have attended a three-day anti-human

trafficking workshop organized jointly by the UNODC and the Arab League “to build the

capacities of those law enforcement practitioners to effectively prevent and investigate cases

of human trafficking while assisting and protecting victims of trafficking.”10

• In 2013, a basic human trafficking training course, delivered by a U.S. federal prosecutor,

was provided to Jordanian prosecutors through the Rule of Law Project.11

8 Training of Labour Inspectors on Forced Labour and Human Trafficking, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR

ORGANIZATION (ILO), http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/events/WCMS_143049/lang--en/index.htm

(last visited Feb. 17, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/NQ2S-PLUH. 

9 Press Release, ILO, Jordan Law Enforcement Officials Train to Combat Forced Labour and Human Trafficking 

(Feb. 18, 2013), http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---arabstates/---robeirut/documents/pressrelease/wcms_211197.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/6PZP-6Q5C. 

10 Jordanian and Iraqi Law Enforcement Officials Receive Anti- Human Trafficking Training, UNITED NATIONS

OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME, https://www.unodc.org/middleeastandnorthafrica/en/web-stories/jordanian-and-iraqiofficials-receive-training-to-combat-human-trafficking.html (last visited Feb. 17, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/3LZP-HPE9. 

11 RULE OF LAW PROJECT, HUMAN TRAFFICKING TRAINING: POST ACTION REPORT (Sept. 2013), 

http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00JKSC.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/4LM2-P3DX. 

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Malaysia

Kelly Buchanan 

Chief, Foreign, Comparative, and 

International Law Division I

SUMMARY Malaysia has enacted specific legislation related to trafficking in persons and smuggling of 

migrants, which was most recently amended in 2015. The legislation established a council 

of senior government officials and a new High Level Committee of ministers to make 

decisions on recommendations made by the council. The council formulates policies and 

programs, including in relation to enhancing public awareness of human trafficking in the 

protection of trafficked persons, and is responsible for gathering data and authorizing 

research on human trafficking issues.

The council includes representatives from the five enforcement agencies with powers and

responsibilities related to investigating human trafficking and migrant smuggling: the 

Royal Malaysian Police, Labour Department, Immigration Department, Royal Malaysian 

Customs Department, and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. Both the Police and 

the Labour Department have specialized anti-trafficking units. Enforcement officers 

receive training in investigating and handling human trafficking cases. Special prosecutors 

have also been appointed and have received training in victim-centered approaches to 

trafficking cases. The training programs have included regional programs and cooperative 

efforts with international organizations, particularly the International Organization 

for Migration.

I. Legal Framework 

A. Overview of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 

The Malaysian Constitution prohibits slavery and forced labor.1

 The Anti-Trafficking in Persons 

and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Act 670) (ATIPSOM Act) is the specific legislation 

that addresses human trafficking. It was enacted in July 2007 and came into force in February 

2008.2

 The legislation was most recently amended in November 2015.3 

1 Federal Constitution, amended to 2009, art. 6, http://www.jac.gov.my/images/stories/akta/federalconstitution.pdf, 

archived at https://perma.cc/69KG-FDX7. 

2 Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Act 670) (ATIPSOM Act), as at 1 

November 2014, http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Act%20670.pdf, archived 

at https://perma.cc/8PQ3-EHR9. This version of the statute includes amendments made in 2010 that added 

provisions related to smuggling of migrants and changed the title from the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 to 

the current title, among other amendments.

3 Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Act 2015 (Act A1500) (ATIPSOM 

(Amendment) Act 2015), http://www.federalgazette.agc.gov.my/outputaktap/20151102_1500_BI_WJ 

W005504%20BI.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/K4VD-9QH2. 

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The ATIPSOM Act was enacted pursuant to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 

Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention 

Against Transnational Organized Crime. Malaysia ratified the Convention in 2004 and the 

Protocol in 2009.4 Amendments in 2010 to add provisions related to smuggling of migrants 

were made pursuant to the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, 

which Malaysia has not yet signed.

5

Under the Act, Malaysian courts have jurisdiction to hear prosecutions of any person charged 

with an offense under the Act, whether or not the alleged offense occurred within or outside 

Malaysia and regardless of the nationality of the offender, if Malaysia is a receiving country, 

transit country, or if the trafficking starts in Malaysia.6 The Act also extends jurisdiction to 

extraterritorial offenses committed by Malaysian citizens or permanent residents.7

Part II of the ATIPSOM Act established the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants, commonly referred to as MAPO, which consists of various government 

officials and five representatives from nongovernmental organizations.

8

 The 2015 amendments 

added a new Part IA to the Act, establishing a High Level Committee of certain government 

ministers that is tasked with deliberating on and making decisions regarding recommendations 

made by MAPO.

9

Part III of the ATIPSOM Act sets out a number of offenses related to trafficking in persons,

10

while Part IV relates to smuggling of migrants. The main offense of trafficking in persons for 

4 United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Nov. 15, 2000), Status as at 02-02-2016, 

United Nations Treaty Collection website, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mt 

dsg_no=XVIII-12&chapter=18&lang=en, archived at https://perma.cc/5WC6-LCHS; Protocol to Prevent, Suppress 

and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention 

against Transnational Organized Crime (Nov. 15, 2000), Status as at 02-02-2016, United Nations Treaty Collection 

website, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-a&chapter= 

18&lang=en, archived at https://perma.cc/BN7E-LGBF. 

5 See Difference Between Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS,

http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/en/akta-antipemerdagangan-orang-dan-penyeludupan-migran-2007/sekretariatakta-perbezaan (last updated Jan. 29, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/48BJ-M4UE; Protocol Against the 

Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational 

Organized Crime (Nov. 15, 2000), Status as at 02-02-2016, United Nations Treaty Collection website, 

https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-b&chapter=18&lang=en, 

archived at https://perma.cc/ZVU8-4W4R. 

6 ATIPSOM Act s. 3.

7 Id. s. 4.

8 Id. s. 6.

9 ATIPSOM (Amendment) Act 2015, s. 4, inserting new ss. 5A & 5C.

10 For a list of offenses, see Akta Antipemerdagangan Orang Dan Antipenyeludupan Migran 2007, MINISTRY OF 

HOME AFFAIRS, http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/en/akta-antipemerdagangan-orang-dan-penyeludupan-migran2007/125-maklumat-korporat/maklumat-bahagian/sekretariat-majlis-antipemerdagangan-orang-danantipenyeludupan-migran/akta-antipemerdagangan-orang-dan-antipenyeludupan-migran-2007 (last updated Jan. 29, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/S3SN-9WGY. 

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the purpose of exploitation may be punished with up to fifteen years in prison;11 where threats, 

use of force, abduction, etc. are involved, the punishment is from three to twenty years of 

imprisonment.12 Trafficking in children also attracts a maximum twenty-year term.13 Persons 

convicted of these offenses can also be fined. Other offenses include profiting from the 

exploitation of a trafficked person; making, obtaining, giving, selling, or possessing fraudulent 

travel or identity documents; recruiting others to participate in an act of trafficking in persons; 

providing facilities or services in support of trafficking in persons; and harboring persons 

involved in trafficking in persons.14

A trafficked person is immune from prosecution in relation to illegally entering the receiving or 

transit country, unlawful residence in a country, or his or her procurement or possession of any 

fraudulent travel or identity document.15

Similar types of offenses related to smuggling of migrants are contained in Part IIIA of the Act. 

There is no immunity provision applicable to smuggled migrants in this Part.

Part IV relates to enforcement of the legislation. It provides that the following officers may 

exercise powers of enforcement under the Act:

(a) any police officer; 

(b) any immigration officer;

(c) an Officer of customs;

(d) any officer of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency; and

(e) any Labour Officer.16

Part V of the Act, related to the care and protection of trafficked persons, makes provision for the 

appointment of social welfare officers as Protection Officers.17 There are also provisions 

relating to protection orders, whereby a person is placed at a shelter home,

18 and for the medical 

treatment and hospitalization of trafficked persons.19 A new provision, added by the 2015 

amendment legislation, enables trafficked persons to be given permission by MAPO to move 

freely or to be employed outside of refuges.20

11 ATIPSOM Act s. 12.

12 Id. s. 13.

13 Id. s 14.

14 Id. ss. 15–22. 

15 Id. s. 25.

16 Id., s. 27(1).

17 Id. s. 43.

18 Id. s. 44.

19 Id. s. 45.

20 ATIPSOM (Amendment) Act 2015, s. 11, adding new s. 51A.

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Provisions in Part VI of the ATIPSOM Act prohibit media reporting and publication of certain 

matters and particulars of trafficked persons,

21 and contain rules relating the admissibility in 

court of various documentary and testamentary evidence.22 The 2015 amendment legislation 

added provisions to this Part that enable a court to order a person convicted of an offense under 

the Act to pay compensation to the trafficked person.23 Where there is no conviction, a person 

can still be ordered to pay any wages in arrears to the trafficked person.24

Other legislation that may be invoked to prosecute trafficking or trafficking-related offenses 

include the Penal Code, which criminalizes trafficking for the purposes of prostitution along with 

other prostitution-related offenses, forced labor, and habitual dealing in slaves;25 the 

Employment Act 1955, which contains minimum labor protection standards and provisions 

related to domestic servants;26 the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act, which 

provides for limited employment of children in light work in certain sectors;27 the Private 

Employment Agencies Act 1981, which regulates recruitment agencies and grants the Director 

General of Labour investigatory and inspection powers;28 the Child Act 2001, which prohibits 

exploitative acts, custody transfers for any valuable consideration, and bringing a child into 

Malaysia on false pretenses as well as taking a child out of Malaysia without parental consent;29

the Passports Act 1966, which criminalizes the withholding of passports;30 as well as the 

Immigration Act 1959, Maritime Enforcement Agency Act 2004, Customs Act 1967, Security 

Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012, and the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism 

Financing Act 2001.31

21 ATIPSOM Act s. 58.

22 Id. ss. 59–61. 

23 ATIPSOM (Amendment) Act 2015, s. 16, adding new s. 66A.

24 Id. s. 16, adding new s. 66B.

25 Penal Code (Act 574), http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Penal%20Code%20 

%5BAct%20574%5D2.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/V7AF-ME7L. 

26 Employment Act 1955 (Act 265), http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/ 

Act%20265%20-%20Employment%20Act%201955.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/FBY4-WZHK. 

27 Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966 (Act 350), http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/ 

Publications/LOM/EN/Act%20350%20-%20Children%20and%20Young%20Persons%20%28Employment 

%29%20Act%201966.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/UE7J-LE66. 

28 Private Employment Agencies Act 1981 (Act 246), http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/ 

LOM/EN/Act%20246.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/7BB5-9BSW. 

29 Child Act 2001 (Act 611), http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Act%20611.pdf, 

archived at https://perma.cc/4FA7-B3MS. 

30 Passports Act 1966 (Act 150), http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/ 

Act%20150.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/QE2F-ML47. 

31 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN, MARIA 

GIAMMARINARO 11 (A/HRC/29/38/Add. 1) (June 15, 2015), http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G15/ 

125/73/PDF/G1512573.pdf?OpenElement, archived at https://perma.cc/6TMM-RSHV. 

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B. Documents Related to Policies and Procedures

In 2009, MAPO published the National Action Plan Against Trafficking in Persons (2010–

2015).32 The Plan contains several guiding principles: government ownership of the issue, civil 

society participation, human rights-based treatment of victims, interdisciplinary coordination at 

the governmental level and with international organizations and nongovernmental organizations, 

and systematic evaluation and sustainability.33 The nine program areas in the Plan include 

“strengthening legal mechanisms, joint action of law enforcement agencies, prevention, 

protection and rehabilitation, capacity-building and partnership.”34 It appears that a new plan for 

the period 2015 to 2020 has not yet been finalized or published.

In November 2013, Standing Operating Procedures (SOP) for enforcement agencies with respect 

to human trafficking, and a separate SOP document related to the prosecution of trafficking 

offenses, were issued by MAPO.

35

MAPO also appears to issue other policies as needed, such as a March 2014 policy statement

regarding allowing labor trafficking victims to work in Malaysia.36 This preceded the 2015 

legislative changes related to permission to work.

C. State Department and UN Assessments of Law and Practice 

Malaysia was given a Tier 3 placement in the US State Department’s 2007 and 2009 Trafficking 

in Persons Report. This placement is assigned where a country’s government does not fully 

comply with minimum standards and is not making significant efforts to do so. Subsequently, 

the Malaysian government increased its efforts in the area of human trafficking prevention and 

prosecution in order to move back to and remain at the Tier 2 Watch List level. It was placed in 

this category from 2010 to 2013, but was again downgraded to the Tier 3 level in the 2014

32 COUNCIL FOR ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, NATIONAL ACTION PLAN AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

(2010–2015) (2009), http://www.moha.gov.my/images/maklumat_bahagian/MAPO/NAP_ANTIPEMER 

DAGANGAN_ORANG_2010_2015.pdf (in Malaysian), archived at https://perma.cc/J7GP-8HXV. 

33 Presentation, Secretariat of the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants, 

Coordination Frameworks Theme 2: Building Effective Interagency Coordination at the National Level, slide 5 (Bali 

Ministerial Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, Workshop on 

Victim Protection, Jan. 12–13, 2012), http://www.baliprocess.net/files/Malaysia-national%20coordination 

%20framework.pptx, archived at https://perma.cc/V2R6-2C5X. 

34 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 31, at 11.

35 Id. at 12; SOP for ATIPSOM Launched to Empower Enforcement Agencies, NEW SARAWAK TRIBUNE (Nov. 22, 

2013), http://www.newsarawaktribune.com/news/15720/SOP-for-ATIPSOM-launched-to-empower-enforcementagencies/, archived at https://perma.cc/3LWU-VE4V; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2014 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 

REPORT: MALAYSIA (2014), http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226770.htm, archived at 

https://perma.cc/ZA6G-T62R.

36 Press Release, Chairman of the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants, 

Permission to Work for Labour Trafficking Victims (Mar. 5, 2014), http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/ms/ 

kenyataan-media-akhbar/1470-chairman-of-the-council-for-anti-trafficking-in-persons-and-anti-smuggling-ofmigrant-mapo-cum-secretary-general-of-the-ministry-of-home-affairs-datuk-seri-mohamad-khalid-shariffpermission-to-work-for-labour-trafficking-victims, archived at https://perma.cc/QA25-34F8. 

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report,

37 regarding which placement the Malaysian government expressed disappointment and its 

belief that the information used for the report was flawed.

38 Malaysia was moved back to the 

Tier 2 Watch List in the 2015 report.

39

In early 2015, a United Nations special rapporteur visited Malaysia to “examine the prevalent 

forms of trafficking in persons in the country and to assess the effectiveness of measures 

taken by the Government to combat trafficking in persons and to protect the human rights of 

trafficked persons.”40 One of her observations was that “coordination of work between 

government bodies remains a challenge, partly owing to their varying level of commitment to the 

issue of trafficking and their understanding of trafficking and its impact on/relevance to their 

work.”41 She stated that enforcement officers have inadequate capacity to accurately identify 

trafficked persons,42 and she was also concerned about the “limited information-sharing and 

disjointed coordination between government bodies at the federal and State levels.”43 In 

addition, she commented that the scope of civil society participation should be widened with 

respect to combatting human trafficking.44 

The special rapporteur made a number of recommendations related to improving the legal 

framework, establishing a data collection system, training and capacity-building, support for 

victims of trafficking, cooperation with international and regional organizations, prosecution of 

trafficking cases, and raising public awareness about trafficking in persons.45

II. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Combating Human

Trafficking

A. Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (MAPO)

MAPO is made up of senior officials from a number of government agencies and has a range of 

functions related to preventing and combating trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, 

including: coordinating the implementation of the Act; formulating policies and programs, 

including protective programs for trafficked persons; increasing public awareness; monitoring 

immigration and emigration patterns; advising the government on the issues, including 

37 2014 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: MALAYSIA, supra note 35. 

38 See Press Release, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the US State 

Department Trafficking in Persons Report 2013 (June 22, 2014), https://www.kln.gov.my/archive/content. 

php?t=3&articleId=4214329, archived at https://perma.cc/GC9Z-54Q6. 

39 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: MALAYSIA (2015), 

http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2015/243485.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/HT7F-NXFT. 

40 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 31, at 4. 

41 Id. at 12.

42 Id. at 13.

43 Id. at 12.

44 Id.

45 Id. at 22–23. 

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developments at the international level; coordinating the formulation of policies and monitoring 

their implementation with relevant agencies and nongovernmental organizations; cooperating 

and coordinating with governments and international organizations; collecting and collating data 

and information; and authorizing research.46 

The following members of MAPO are currently specified in the legislation:

(a) the Secretary General of the Ministry responsible for internal security, who shall be 

the Chairman; 

(b) the Secretary General of the Ministry responsible for foreign affairs, or his 

representative;

(c) [deleted] 

(d) the Secretary General of the Ministry responsible for women, family and 

community development, or his representatives; 

(e) the Secretary General of the Ministry responsible for human resources, or his

representative;

(f) the Secretary General of the Ministry responsible for transport, or his representative;

(g) the Secretary General of the Ministry responsible for information, or his 

representative;

(h) the Attorney General of Malaysia, or his representative;

(i) the Inspector General of Police, or his representative;

(j) the Director-General of Immigration, or his representative;

(k) the Director-General of Customs, or his representative;

(l) the Director-General of Malaysian Maritime Enforcement, or his representative;

(la) the Director-General of the Department of Women’s Development, or his 

representative;

(lb) the Director-General of Social Welfare Department, or his representative;

(lc) the Director-General of Labour, Department of Labour of Peninsular Malaysia, or his 

representative;

(ld) Director of Labour, Department of Labour Sabah, or his representative; 

(le) Director of Labour, Department of Labour Sarawak, or his representative;

(m) a representative of the following Ministries:

(i) the Ministry responsible for internal security;

(ii) the Ministry responsible for defence; 

(iii) the Ministry responsible for medical and health service;

(iv) the Ministry responsible for development of youth and sports; 

(v) the Ministry responsible for international trade and industry; 

(vi) the Ministry responsible for plantation industries and commodities;47

. . . 

The membership also includes up to three people from nongovernmental organizations with 

expertise related to trafficking in persons, and up to two people with expertise related to 

smuggling of migrants.48

46 ATIPSOM Act s. 7(1).

47 Id. s. 6(2), as amended by ATIPSOM (Amendment) Act 2015, s. 3.

48 Id. s. 6(2)(n) & (o).

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MAPO has formed several committees on particular issues: a legislation committee (led by the 

Attorney-General’s Chamber), enforcement committee (led by the Royal Malaysian Police), 

protection and rehabilitation committee (led by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community 

Development), a special committee to study the labor trafficking issue (led by the Ministry of 

Human Resources), and a media and publicity committee (led by the Ministry of Information, 

Communication and Heritage).49 

MAPO is supported by a secretariat situated within the Ministry of Home Affairs.50

The new High Level Committee that will make decisions on MAPO’s recommendations is made 

up of the ministers of the ministries represented on MAPO and is chaired by the minister 

responsible for internal security.51

B. Enforcement Agencies

The five types of enforcement officers identified in the ATIPSOM Act, listed above, are from the 

following government agencies: 

• Royal Malaysian Police

• Labour Department (part of the Ministry of Human Resources), as well as the equivalent

departments in Sabah and Sarawak (on the island of Borneo)

• Immigration Department (part of the Ministry of Home Affairs)

• Royal Malaysian Customs Department

• Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency

Under the ATIPSOM Act, enforcement officers are required to “investigate into the 

circumstances of the person’s case for the purpose of determining whether the person is a 

trafficked person.”52 The UN special rapporteur noted that the above entities “have a primary 

responsibility for identifying trafficking in collaboration with each other.”53 They are all 

represented on the enforcement committee of MAPO, whose main functions are to “rescue 

victims of trafficking and detain perpetrators, investigate cases, prevent trafficking, raise 

49 Functions and Powers of the Council, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/en/ 

maklumat-perkhidmatan/2012-08-15-01-17-06/definisi/124-maklumat-korporat/maklumat-bahagian/sekretariatmajlis-antipemerdagangan-orang-dan-antipenyeludupan-migran/majlis-antipemerdagangan-orang-danantipenyeludupan-migran (last updated Jan. 29, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/K8B3-MUNF. See also Council 

for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants: Background, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, 

http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/en/majlis-antipemerdagangan-orang/latar-belakang (last updated Jan. 29, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/SFM2-DUVH. 

50 Introduction, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/en/sekretariat-pengenalan (last 

updated Jan. 29, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/2W9R-Z99A. 

51 ATIPSOM (Amendment) Act 2015, s. 4, adding new s. 5A.

52 ATIPSOM Act s. 51(1)(a).

53 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 31, at 12.

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awareness and build capacity of its members.”54 The enforcement officers from the different 

agencies have the power to “arrest, conduct search and seizure, and examine persons.”55 The 

SOP, referred to above, “guides the methods of accomplishing tasks and establishes general 

performance standards, including in the area of investigation, raid, arrest, rescue and 

networking/coordination among enforcement agencies.”56

The Royal Malaysian Police has a specialized anti-trafficking unit; the 2014 State Department 

human trafficking report stated that an additional 101 officers had been hired for this unit in 

2013.57 The Labour Department also has specialist labor inspectors “empowered to identify and 

investigate cases of trafficking, as well as rescue victims. They also apprehend suspects and 

testify in court.”58

C. Protection Officers

Protection Officers have responsibilities related to the care and protection of trafficked persons at 

places of refuge.59 They have the “power to supervise the trafficked person upon order by the 

Magistrate or direction by the Minister.”60 

Protection Officers are also responsible for inquiring into the backgrounds of such persons61 and

for preparing a report for the consideration of the Magistrate’s Court, which is produced jointly 

with an enforcement officer.62 Based on this report, if the Magistrate is satisfied that a person is 

a trafficked person in need of care and protection, he or she may issue a Protection Order 

requiring the person to by placed in a “place of refuge” for a period of time.63 

D. Special Prosecutors

Under the ATIPSOM Act, prosecutions for human trafficking or migrant smuggling offenses 

cannot be instituted without the written consent of the Public Prosecutor.64 Where criminal 

proceedings are instituted, the Public Prosecutor may apply for a trafficked person to appear 

before a Sessions Court for the purpose of recording his or her evidence under oath.65

54 Id. 

55 Id. at 16.

56 Id. 

57 2014 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: MALAYSIA, supra note 35. 

58 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 31, at 13.

59 ATIPSOM Act s 43(2)(a).

60 Id. s. 43(2)(c). 

61 Id. s 51(1)(a).

62 Id. s. 51(2). 

63 Id. s 51(3)(a).

64 Id. s. 41.

65 Id. s. 52(1).

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The UN special rapporteur noted that, within the Attorney General’s Chambers, twenty-eight 

deputy public prosecutors specializing in trafficking have been appointed.66 

E. Dedicated Courts

According to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia 

Malaysia, SUHAKAM), the Home Minister stated in October 2014 that dedicated courts would 

be established “to hear and expedite cases under ATIPSOM.”67 No further information was 

located regarding the establishment of such courts. 

F. Human Rights Commission 

SUHAKAM receives complaints about human trafficking and acts “as a bridge between 

complainants and enforcement agencies to ensure that immediate and appropriate action is taken 

on every complaint.”68 SUHAKAM states that it

holds the view that human trafficking and smuggling of migrants should be dealt with 

great urgency by the relevant authorities. In supporting the country’s effort to combat 

human trafficking, SUHAKAM has held various dialogues and roundtable discussions 

with relevant Government agencies and other stakeholders, as well as made submissions 

to the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (MAPO) 

in Malaysia. SUHAKAM also conducts periodic visits to shelters for victims of human 

trafficking and continues to promote greater awareness among all levels of the society of 

the danger of human trafficking as well as the importance to ensure the human rights of 

trafficked victims are guaranteed from the moment they are rescued, and during their 

rehabilitation and re-integration into society.69

The UN special rapporteur noted that SUHAKAM “plays an active role” in combatting human 

trafficking, including through receiving and inquiring into complaints relating to trafficking in 

persons and monitoring shelters and detention facilities. It also “proposes and formulates 

policies and standard operating procedures, raises awareness and engages with stakeholders 

at the national, regional and international levels.”70

66 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 31, at 16. See also 2015

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: MALAYSIA, supra note 39 (stating that “[t]he Attorney General’s Chamber had 

29 deputy public prosecutors throughout Malaysia specializing in human trafficking cases”).

67 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF MALAYSIA, ANNUAL REPORT 2014, at 16 (2015), https://docs.google.com/file/d/ 

0B6FQ7SONa3PRUG1nc25yRGV3TlU/preview, archived at https://perma.cc/FAF6-9MQE. 

68 Human Trafficking, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF MALAYSIA, http://www.suhakam.org.my/human-trafficking/

(last updated Jan. 28, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/PWX8-MDZD. 

69 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, supra note 31, at 16.

70 Id. at 12.

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III. Training Programs Provided to Law Enforcement Agencies and Other

Government Agencies

Malaysia’s national news agency, Bernama, has information on its website stating that “MAPO 

conducts year-round training programmes and workshops aimed at increasing awareness in the 

need to eradicate human trafficking and migrant smuggling; strengthening enforcement 

procedures, investigation methods, evidence gathering and victim protection; and enhance interagency cooperation within the Home Affairs Ministry as well with non-government 

organisations (NGOs).”71

The programs listed on the website are only those conducted in 2011 and 2010: 

2011 

• Programme On Cooperation In The Field Of Immigration Between The Government

Of Malaysia And The Government Of Netherlands (Mar 12 – 25, 2011) 

• Coordination Meeting For The Implementation Of The Foreign Nationale [sic]

Management Lab Initiative (MPWA) BIL. 1/2011 (Mar 3, 2011) 

• KDN Meet-the-client Day And KDN With The People Programme (Mar 3 – 5, 2011)

2010 

• Workshop on Trafficking in Persons, Smuggling of Migrants and International

Cooperation in collaboration with The Asian-African Legal Consultative 

Organisation (AALCO) (24-26 Nov, 2010) 

• Human Trafficking Victims Protection Officer Training Workshop (21-23

Nov, 2010) 

• Talk on Undercover and Integrity Testing/Information Management and Standard

Operating Procedure for Anti-Trafficking in Persons (SOP for ATIP) by invited 

speaker from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) (26 Oct, 2010)72

References have also been found to various other training programs, including the following: 

• According to the 2015 US State Department human trafficking report on Malaysia,

[i]n 2014, each of the enforcement agencies continued to conduct anti-trafficking 

trainings, reaching nearly 700 officials. For example, Malaysian officials trained 103 

coast guard officers on trafficking in Sabah, Kuantan, and Sarawak. Several ministries 

coordinated a series of anti-trafficking trainings on investigative interview techniques for

205 frontline officials. The Attorney General’s Chamber hosted and convened a seminar 

for 30 judges and prosecutors throughout Malaysia to discuss victim-centered approaches 

to prosecution. Topics included effective victim interviewing, identifying and meeting 

victims’ needs, and working with interpreters.73

71 Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants, BERNAMA, http://mapo.bernama.com/

(last visited Feb. 2, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/CTY2-PRA2. 

72 Id. 

73 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: MALAYSIA, supra note 39.

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• Training for specialist prosecutors and judges has been delivered by the Warnath Group, a

US advisory firm, which states on its website that a Malaysia Anti-Human Trafficking Case

Skills Training Course was hosted by Malaysia’s Judicial and Legal Training Institute.74 It

further states that the training “was made possible by the U.S. Department of State’s Office

to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), and with the help of the U.S.

Embassy to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.”75

• The 2014 State Department report also noted that MAPO had reported that “248 government

officials from the Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency,

Immigration Department, and Labor Department received specialized anti-trafficking

training in 2013,” and further that “several additional anti-trafficking training sessions” had

been attended by more than 500 law enforcement officials during the year.76

• The Southeast Asia Immigration Course on Fraudulent Document and Anti-Trafficking in

Persons 2015, a regional training program, was organized by the Malaysian Immigration

Academy and delivered by the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme in

August 2015.77

In terms of cooperation with relevant organizations, in 2010 the Home Affairs Minister 

announced that Malaysia and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) would 

“enhance their cooperation to tackle human trafficking cases effectively.”78 He stated that such 

cooperation would include “training investigating officers and prosecutors involved in cases of 

human trafficking and migration.”79 IOM noted that “Malaysian officials also regularly 

participate in a variety of migration management training workshops that IOM organizes in Asia 

and globally.”80 Previously, in 2009, IOM and the Ministry of Home Affairs “launched a threeday introductory training on combating human trafficking for Malaysian civil servants.”81 

Attendees included thirty-one representatives from the ministries of Home Affairs; Women, 

74 Malaysian Specialist Prosecutors, Judges Complete Warnath Group Human Trafficking Case Skills Training, 

WARNATH GROUP, http://www.warnathgroup.com/malaysian-specialist-prosecutors-judges-complete-warnathgroup-human-trafficking-case-skills-training/ (last visited Jan. 15, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/3DGT-N9L4. 

75 Id.

76 2014 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: MALAYSIA, supra note 35. 

77 Malaysia Technical Cooperation Program, Southeast Asia Immigration Course on Fraudulent Document & AntiTrafficking in Persons 2015, https://mtcpcoms.kln.gov.my/mtcpcoms/upload/AIM00001bro.pdf (last visited Feb. 2, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/NF6D-9S84. 

78 Malaysia, IOM Form Strategic Cooperation to Combat Human Trafficking, BERNAMA (Mar. 10, 2010), available 

at http://www.ssig.gov.my/blog/2010/03/10/malaysia-iom-form-strategic-cooperation-to-combat-humantrafficking/, archived at https://perma.cc/9TD8-XVGF. 

79 Id.

80 Press Release, International Organization for Migration, Malaysian Home Affairs Minister and IOM Director 

General Discuss Future Collaborations (May 6, 2010), http://www.iom.int/news/malaysian-home-affairs-ministerand-iom-director-general-discuss-future-collaborations, archived at https://perma.cc/9539-EBVP. 

81 Press Release, International Organization for Migration, IOM and Malaysian Home Affairs Ministry Train Civil 

Servants in Counter Trafficking (Dec. 14, 2009), http://www.iom.int/news/iom-and-malaysian-home-affairsministry-train-civil-servants-counter-trafficking, archived at https://perma.cc/8WNS-G6DE. 

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Family and Community Development; Human Resources; and Information, Communication

and Culture.

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Mexico

Gustavo Guerra 

Senior Foreign Law Specialist

Mexico’s General Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Crimes of Human Trafficking is the 

main statute on this topic, as it provides guidelines on the powers of authorities at the federal, 

state, and local level in charge of combatting human trafficking.1

 

This Law also provides for the existence of the national Commission to Prevent, Punish and 

Eradicate Crimes of Human Trafficking, which has broad powers to define, implement, and 

oversee public policies to address this issue and to design relevant training programs for federal 

and state authorities.

2

 The Commission is formed by the heads of a number of departments and 

executive agencies, each of which has certain duties, including but not limited to the following: 

• Department of Governance: Coordinates the work of the Commission and serves as the point

of contact with the heads of the federal and state executive, legislative and judicial branches

on matters relating to the implementation of relevant public policies.

• Department of Justice: Plans and executes programs aimed at preventing and prosecuting

human trafficking cases.

• National Institute of Penal Sciences: Designs and executes training programs on preventing

and punishing human trafficking for prosecutors and law enforcement agents.

• Department of Labor: Conducts labor inspections at work places aimed at preventing and

detecting human trafficking.

• Department of Health: Manages physical and psychological treatment for victims of

human trafficking.

• National Institute of Migration: Provides assistance in Mexico to foreigners who are victims

of human trafficking until they return to their countries of origin.

• Department of Tourism: Designs and implements policies aimed at discouraging sexual

tourism and human trafficking in the context of tourism activities.

• Department of Foreign Relations: Creates programs of protection and assistance for victims

of human trafficking, which are carried out by consular offices abroad.

3

1 Ley General para Prevenir, Sancionar y Erradicar los Delitos en Materia de Trata de Personas y para la Protección 

y Asistencia a las Víctimas de estos Delitos [General Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Crimes on Human 

Trafficking and for the Protection and Assistance to the Victims of these Crimes] arts. 2, 5, DIARIO OFICIAL DE LA 

FEDERACIÓN, June 14, 2012, available as amended through 2014 on the website of Mexico’s House of 

Representatives, at http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LGPSEDMTP.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/N68J-NNYL. 

2 Id. arts. 84, 92-X. 

3 Id. arts. 85, 89.

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Training on human trafficking may be taught in person (through workshops, certificates, 

conventions, forums, and courses) or online (through videoconferences and other e-learning

options).4 The Commission recently reported that in 2014, a total of 12,823 civil servants 

received some type of relevant training.5 For example, Mexico’s Department of Justice provided 

relevant specialized courses, including “Basic Concepts on Human Trafficking,” “Crimes 

Committed through Electronic Media,” and “Fostering the Denunciation of Human 

Trafficking.”6

 The National Institute of Penal Sciences provided a number of relevant courses as 

well, including “Types of Human Trafficking,” “Social Causes of Human Trafficking,” 

“Trafficking of Children and Adolescents,” and “International and National Issues related to 

Protecting and Assisting Victims of Human Trafficking.”7

In addition, Mexico has received anti-human-trafficking training from the United States

government, according to a June 2014 press release from US Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement. The press release described a training session for Mexican government officials 

as follows: 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations 

(HSI); the Department of Justice’s Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and 

Training (OPDAT); and the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and 

Law Enforcement (INL) hosted a human trafficking training conference for federal and 

state prosecutors, investigators and immigration officials June 3 through 5 in Cancun. 

More than 90 officials from the Attorney General of Mexico (PGR), state attorney 

general offices (PGJ), the Mexican Federal Police (CNS) and the National Immigration 

Institute (INM) participated. The participants explored how to identify potential human 

traffickers and victims of human trafficking and related crimes.8

4 Programa Nacional para Prevenir, Sancionar y Erradicar los Delitos en Materia de Trata de Personas y para la 

Protección y Asistencia a las Víctimas de estos Delitos 2014-2018 [National Program to Prevent, Punish and 

Eradicate Crimes on Human Trafficking and for the Protection and Assistance to the Victims of these Crimes 2014–

2018] 23, DIARIO OFICIAL DE LA FEDERACIÓN, Apr. 30, 2014, http://www.gobernacion.gob.mx/work/models/ 

SEGOB/swbtrata_Accion/10/PROGRAMA_NACIONAL_2014_2018.PDF, archived at https://perma.cc/S44S8XQN. 

5

 COMISIÓN INTERSECRETARIAL PARA PREVENIR, SANCIONAR Y ERRADICAR LOS DELITOS EN MATERIA DE TRATA DE

PERSONAS Y PARA LA PROTECCIÓN Y ASISTENCIA A LAS VÍCTIMAS DE ESTOS DELITOS, INFORME ANUAL 2014, 

[COMMISSION TO PREVENT, PUNISH AND ERADICATION OF CRIMES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND FOR THE 

PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO THE VICTIMS OF THESE CRIMES, ANNUAL REPORT 2014] 9, http://www.gob.mx/ 

cms/uploads/attachment/file/37490/INFORME_2014_COMISION_INTERSECRETARIAL.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/6P7K-8M57. 

6 Id., at 50.

7 Id., at 51.

8 Press Release, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, HSI Participates in Human Trafficking Awareness 

Seminar for Mexican Officials (June 9, 2014), https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hsi-participates-humantrafficking-awareness-seminar-mexican-officials, archived at https://perma.cc/LUF5-XG29. 

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Netherlands

Wendy Zeldin*

Senior Legal Research Analyst

SUMMARY A number of Dutch laws address the issue of human trafficking, including the Penal Code, 

the Alien’s Statute, and the Child and Adolescent Statute. The Netherlands must also abide 

by the relevant European Union and Council of Europe directives on combatting human 

trafficking and is a party to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized 

Crime and its Protocols. In conformity with the 2003 Action Plan of the Organization for 

Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Netherlands set up a National Referral Mechanism 

in 2013 to coordinate assistance to trafficking victims. The Criminal Code, the major law 

against human trafficking, has an extensive list of trafficking-related crimes, and in 2013 the 

punishments for these offenses were increased, with penalties ranging from twelve years in 

prison for an individual perpetrator if no bodily harm is inflicted and the victim is not a 

minor, to life imprisonment or up to thirty years’ imprisonment if a death occurs. 

The Minister of Justice has overall responsibility for coordinating anti-trafficking policies. 

Other agencies involved, aside from law enforcement, include the Dutch Immigration and 

Naturalization Service; the Repatriation and Departure Service under the Ministry of Justice; 

the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence Against 

Children; the Task Force on Human Trafficking, an inspectorate under the Ministry of Social 

Affairs and Employment; the Royal Dutch Constabulary; a network of Regional Information 

and Expertise Centres; and CoMensha, which maintains a national register of 

trafficked persons.

Police officers take an anti-trafficking course as part of their standard training, and officers 

specializing in the field must pass an examination following the course and sign a code of 

conduct. The Netherlands has established four specialized courts for handling trafficking 

cases, and both judges and prosecutors have been given specialized training in applying antihuman-trafficking laws and in handling traumatized victims. The Netherlands has also 

funded special projects to enhance the fight against human trafficking in several 

other countries. 

I. Introduction 

The 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report published by the US Department of State describes the

Netherlands, which is categorized as a “Tier 1” country, as “a source, destination, and transit 

country for men, women, and children from the Netherlands, Eastern Europe—including 

Roma—Africa, and South and East Asia subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in 

shipping, offshore oil exploration, agriculture, horticulture, catering, food processing, cleaning, 

* At present there are no Law Library of Congress research staff members versed in Dutch. This report has been

prepared by the author’s reliance on practiced legal research methods and on the basis of relevant legal resources, 

chiefly in English, currently available in the Law Library and online.

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Training Related to Combating Human Trafficking: Netherlands 

and forced criminal activity.”1 The report goes on to state that among the most vulnerable 

persons are “Dutch girls enticed by young male traffickers, unaccompanied children seeking 

asylum, women with dependent residency status obtained through fraudulent or forced 

marriages, domestic workers of foreign diplomats, and women and men recruited in Eastern 

Europe, Africa, and Asia,” and that participation by Dutch citizens in child sex tourism abroad

has been reported.2

II. National Policy to Combat Human Trafficking

A. Action Plan 2011–2014 

For the period 2011–2014, the Dutch government instituted the “Government-Wide Approach to 

the Loverboy Problem: Action Plan 2011–2014.”3 “Loverboy victims” is a term used to refer to 

Dutch underage female victims of human trafficking, although social workers have interpreted 

the term in various ways.4 According to the Action Plan report, 

[c]onsiderable efforts have been made in the areas of prevention, investigation and 

prosecution in the last few years [in connection with the loverboy problem]. Various 

prevention projects have been started, curricula have been developed for primary and 

secondary schools, films have been produced and social media have been used for 

prevention campaigns. . . . Progress has also been made in relation to the investigation 

and prosecution of offenders. For example, in a two-year pilot project in Rotterdam, the 

police are developing innovative methods for establishing contact with victims and 

offenders, such as taking part in online chat sessions to investigate who is initiating 

contacts with underage girls and how they are doing it.5

 

1 Netherlands: Tier 1, in U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, 

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 258 (July 2015) (2015 TIPS REPORT), http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/ (click 

on “2015 Report” then on “Country Narratives N-S”), archived at https://perma.cc/76X9-D5YL. Tier 1 countries 

are those “whose governments fully comply with the [U.S.] Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum 

standards.” Tier Placements, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2015/243366.htm

(last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/5MRG-4FJR. 

2 Id. 

3

 BUREAU OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: NINTH REPORT OF THE DUTCH 

NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR 200 (The Hague, 2013) (citing Parliamentary Documents II, 2011/12, 31839/28638, no. 

166, http://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/Images/national-rapporteur-on-trafficking-in-human-beings-and-sexualviolence-against-children.ninth-report-of-the-dutch-national-rapporteur.2014_tcm64-564024.pdf (copy link to 

browser), archived at https://perma.cc/E48E-ZKSR. 

4 Combating Human Trafficking: More Attention Needed for Minors, the Prostitution Sector and New Forms of 

Exploitation, NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR REPORTS ON TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE

AGAINST CHILDREN IN THE NETHERLANDS (Sept. 17, 2014), http://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/current/news/archief/ 

combating-human-trafficking-more-attention-needed-for-minors-the-prostitution-sector-and-new-forms-ofexploitation.aspx, archived at https://perma.cc/N8ZE-L3ZQ. 

5

 TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: NINTH REPORT OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, supra note 3, at 201.

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B. National Referral Mechanism

The 2003 Action Plan of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) 

makes reference to the appointment of national coordinators as an element of national referral 

mechanisms for giving help and protection to victims of trafficking; under the Action Plan, the 

mechanism “should create a framework that both enables the member state to meet its 

obligations towards victims and provide a mechanism in which civil-society organisations and 

the relevant government institutions can cooperate.”6

The Dutch National Referral Mechanism was launched in October 2013 as a joint project of 

three ministries: the Ministry of Security and Justice; the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport; 

and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.7 The National Referral Mechanism aims to

improve help and support, and access, for all victims of human trafficking, by mapping the 

regulations and rights for victims of trafficking and any potential bottlenecks; identify and 

protect victims; and investigate and prosecute perpetrators. The National Referral Mechanism 

focuses on all forms of exploitation: sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, exploitation through 

forced begging or stealing, and exploitation by forced confinement, as well as trafficking for the 

purpose of organ removal.8

 

III. Legal Framework

A. Constitution 

The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands provides the general right of inviolability of 

the person.9 

B. Criminal Code

The major law on trafficking in the Netherlands is the Criminal Code. Article 273f prohibits all 

forms of human trafficking, including trafficking in organs, trafficking to exploit minors, 

trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation, trafficking for the performance of work or 

services, and trafficking for intentional profit from exploitation of other persons.10 In 2013, the 

6

 BUREAU OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: TEN YEARS OF INDEPENDENT 

MONITORING 13 (2010), http://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/Images/8e%20rapportage%20NRM-ENG-web_tcm64-

310472.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/N5CU-B9BC. This is the Eighth Report of the National Rapporteur.

7 Algemene informatie [General Information], WEGWIJZER MENSENHANDEL, http://www.wegwijzermensenhandel. 

nl/algemeneinformatie/ (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/ZNB4-H222. 

8 Id. 

9

 GRONDWET VOOR HET KONINKRIJK DER NEDERLANDEN VAN 24 AUGUSTUS 1815 [CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM

OF THE NETHERLANDS OF 24 AUGUST 1815] (as amended effective July 15, 2008), art. 11, http://wetten.overheid.nl/ 

BWBR0001840/geldigheidsdatum_04-02-2016, archived at https://perma.cc/6CBL-B7YT; CONSTITUTION OF THE

KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS 2008, https://www.government.nl/binaries/government/documents/regulations/ 

2012/10/18/the-constitution-of-the-kingdom-of-the-netherlands-2008/the-constitution-of-the-kingdom-of-thenetherlands-2008.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/8249-L8RG. 

10 WETBOEK VAN STRAFRECHT [CRIMINAL CODE] (Mar. 3, 1881, as last amended effective Jan. 1, 2016), art. 

273f(1)(1)–(9), http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0001854/TweedeBoek/TitelXVIII/Artikel273f/geldigheidsdatum_ 

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punishments for human trafficking were made more stringent; a single offense of trafficking

involving any of the abovementioned types of acts will now incur upon conviction a maximum 

sentence of twelve years’ imprisonment or a fine of the fifth category.

11 For offenses committed 

by two or more persons in concert against a person under the age of eighteen or any other person 

who is abused while in a vulnerable position, or if violence is used in the commission of the 

abovementioned offenses, the punishment will be up to fifteen years of imprisonment or a fine of 

the fifth category;12 if the offense results in grievous bodily harm or is likely to endanger another 

person’s life, the prison term will be up to eighteen years or a fifth-category fine;13 if any of the 

offenses result in death, the penalty is life imprisonment or imprisonment for up to thirty years or 

a fine of the fifth category.14 In the view of the US State Department, “[t]hese penalties are 

sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such 

as rape.”15 

The Criminal Code defines exploitation to include, at a minimum, “exploitation of another 

person in prostitution, other forms of sexual exploitation, forced or compulsory labour or 

services,” forced begging, slavery or practices similar to it, servitude, and forced criminality.16 

Under a new provision adopted in 2013, the Code defines “vulnerable position” (kwetsbare 

positie) as including a situation in which a person has no real or acceptable alternative but to 

submit to the abuse.17

Article 251 of the Code, which provides for disqualification from certain rights held by, e.g., 

persons holding certain offices or practicing certain professions because of the commission of 

09-02-2016 , archived at https://perma.cc/5TN2-DEJD; CRIMINAL CODE (valid as of Oct. 1, 2012), available at

http://www.ejtn.eu/PageFiles/6533/2014%20seminars/Omsenie/WetboekvanStrafrecht_ENG_PV.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/2JKU-69DA. 

11 CRIMINAL CODE art. 273f(1).

12 Id. art. 273f(3).

13 Id. art. 273f(4).

14 Id. art. 273f(5). Regarding a fine of the fifth category, see Wet van 28 februari 2013 inzake partiële wijziging van 

het Wetboek van Strafrecht en enkele andere wetten in verband met de aanpassing van het materieel strafrecht aan 

recente ontwikkelingen (in force on Apr. 1, 2013), STAATSBLAD No. 84, art. I(D) (amending art. 23(4) of the 

Criminal Code) (Mar. 7, 2013), https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stb-2013-84.html, archived at

https://perma.cc/K2H5-YYVY. As of January 1, 2016, a fine of the fifth category was €82,000 (about US$91,537).

15 Netherlands: Tier 1, 2015 TIPS REPORT, supra note 1.

16 CRIMINAL CODE art. 273f(2). See also Dien Korvinus, Dagmar Koster, & Heleen de Jonge van Ellemeet, 

Mensenhandel: het begrip uitbuiting in art. 273a Sr, 7 TREMA 286–90 (Sept. 2006), translated as Trafficking in 

Human Beings: The Concept of Exploitation in the Dutch Trafficking Provision (Jan. 18 2007), available at 

http://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/4992/file/Article_-exploitation-in-the-dutchtrafficking-provision_2006_en.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/ZT3C-P9TP. 

17 CRIMINAL CODE art. 273f(6), inserted in the Code in November 2013. See also Wet van 6 november 2013 tot 

implementatie van de richtlijn 2011/36/EU van het Europees Parlement en de Raad inzake voorkoming en 

bestrijding van mensenhandel, de bescherming van slachtoffers ervan, en ter vervanging van kaderbesluit 

2002/629/JBZ van de Raad (PbEU L 101) (Nov. 12, 2013, effective Nov. 15, 2013), 

https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stb-2013-444.html, archived at https://perma.cc/H9AP-AHSA. 

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certain criminal offenses, and also for disqualification from the practice of a profession if such 

offenses are committed in the practice of the profession, also applies to the trafficking offenses.18

C. Code of Criminal Procedure

Certain provisions of the Code of Criminal procedure, in particular those on threatened 

witnesses, may also apply in the case of human trafficking crimes.19

D. Alien’s Act

The Aliens Act states that an alien who is a victim or a witness reporting human trafficking will 

not have his or her application for a residence permit for a fixed period turned down due to the 

lack of a valid temporary residence permit.20 Thus, illegal foreign nationals who report human 

trafficking to the Dutch authorities as either a victim or a witness will be able to stay in the 

Netherlands temporarily, but legally, during the investigation and prosecution of the human 

trafficker.21 This regulation also applies to human trafficking victims “who are cooperative in 

the criminal investigation or prosecution other than by reporting it to the police.”22 Formerly, 

the regulation was called the B9 regulation, based on the relevant chapter of the Aliens Act 

Implementation Guidelines 2000. These Guidelines have been renumbered, however, and the 

regulation, now called the Residency Regulation Human Trafficking but not changed in content, 

is now found in chapter B8(3) of the Aliens Act Implementation Guidelines.23

E. European Union Directives

The Netherlands is obliged as a member of the European Union to implement Directive 

2011/36/EU on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings,

24 the EU Directive on 

18 CRIMINAL CODE art. 273f(7).

19 CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (as Amended in 1994) (Relevant Provisions + Excerpts from a Decision of the 

ECHR with Regard to These Provisions), available at http://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/ 

popup/id/4681, archived at https://perma.cc/3RW9-9PV6.

20 Vreemdelingenwet 2000 [Aliens Act 2000] (Nov. 23, 2000, as amended effective July 20, 2015), art. 17(d), 

http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0011823/Hoofdstuk3/Afdeling3/Paragraaf1/Artikel17/geldigheidsdatum_09-02-

2016, archived at https://perma.cc/YT6H-28YK. 

21 Residency Regulation Human Trafficking, IMMIGRATION AND NATURALISATION SERVICE, https://ind.nl/EN/ 

organisation/themes/human-trafficking/residency-regulation-human-trafficking (last visited Feb. 16, 2016), archived 

at https://perma.cc/6NX9-PDDF.

22 Id.

23 Id. B8/3 only sets forth the policy guidelines; for a description of the procedures, “in which different cooperating 

organisations such as IND, police, Public Prosecution Service and reception institutions and in which also the 

responsibilities of those cooperating organisations are described,” see id., Annex to B8/3 Vc (in Dutch), 

https://ind.nl/EN/Documents/bijlage%20bij%20B8.3%20Vc.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/QXS6-WF5B. For a 

summary description in Dutch, see, e.g., Opinie / B8/3-Regeling: Geen aangifte, wel een verblijfsvergunning?, CKM 

(Nov. 27, 2013), http://www.ckm-fier.nl/B83-regeling-geen-aangifte-wel-een-verblijfsvergunning-1.ashx, archived 

at https://perma.cc/54QB-TGLE. 

24 Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on Preventing and 

Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting Its Victims, and Replacing Council Framework Decision 

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Combating the Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography,25 and 

the Directive on residence permits for victims of human trafficking.

26

F. Council of Europe

The Netherlands is a party to the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human 

Beings (European Trafficking Convention, 2005)27 and the Convention for the Protection of 

Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention, 2007).28 

G. United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 

The Netherlands is a party to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized 

Crime (also known as the Palermo Convention) and its protocols,29 including the 2000 Protocol 

to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.30 

2002/629/JHA, 2011 O.J. (L 101) 1 (EU), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX: 

32011L0036&from=EN, archived at https://perma.cc/ZU8T-3ZYJ. 

25 Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on Combating the 

Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography, and Replacing Council Framework 

Decision 2004/68/JHA, 2011 O.J. (L 335) 1 (EU), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri= 

CELEX:32011L0093&from=EN, archived at https://perma.cc/2EMW-JTHV. Item (7) of the Directive calls for it 

to be fully complementary with Directive 2011/36/EU.

26 Council Directive 2004/81/EC of 29 April 2004 on the Residence Permit Issued to Third-Country Nationals Who 

Are Victims of Trafficking In Human Beings or Who Have Been the Subject of an Action to Facilitate Illegal 

Immigration, Who Cooperate with the Competent Authorities, 2003 O.J. (L 261) 19 (EU), http://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32004L0081, archived at https://perma.cc/N3D5-VAH8. 

27 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, May 16, 2005, CETS No. 197, 

https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/Docs/Convntn/CETS197_en.asp, archived at

https://perma.cc/G7VK-C5SJ. 

28 COUNCIL OF EUROPE, COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONVENTION: PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AGAINST SEXUAL

EXPLOITATION AND SEXUAL ABUSE (Oct. 2012), http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/children/1in5/Source/Lanzarote%20 

Convention_EN.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/3AEW-ZX4M. 

29 United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto, United Nations 

Office on Drugs and Crime, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/treaties/CTOC/#Fulltext, archived at

https://perma.cc/ZXM9-R9M7. The Convention was adopted on Nov. 15, 2000, and entered into force on Sept. 29, 

2003. The Netherlands signed the Convention on Dec. 12, 2000, and ratified it on May 26, 2004. United Nations 

Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Status as at : 09-02-2016 05:02:18 EDT, UNTC, 

https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12&chapter=18&lang=en, 

archived at https://perma.cc/V5TS-N2DM. 

30 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing 

the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Status as of Dec. 24, 2015, UNODC, 

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CTOC/countrylist-traffickingprotocol.html, archived at

https://perma.cc/DH8D-JK3G. The Netherlands signed the Protocol on December 12, 2000, and accepted it on July 

27, 2005. The Protocol was extended to Aruba on January 18, 2007, and effective October 10, 2010, it applied to 

the Caribbean part of the Netherlands, i.e., Bonaire, Sint Estatius, and Saba. 

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H. Bills in Parliament

A legislative proposal was put forward in the Staten-Generaal (the Dutch Parliament) in late 

2014 to criminalize sexual acts performed with a prostitute (or someone prostituted) when the 

person knows or must reasonably suspect that the prostitute is a victim of human trafficking. As 

of October 2015, the proposal appeared to still be under deliberation.

31 The punishment 

proposed for the offense is up to four years’ imprisonment and a fourth category fine (€20,250, 

about US$22,256). The initiative would amend the Criminal Code with the insertion of a new 

article 273g.

32

IV. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing Laws 

Against Human Trafficking

The Netherlands has a range of government agencies and other key units, referred to as chain 

partners, that are involved in combatting human trafficking.33 Some of them are 

described below.

A. Minister of Justice Central Co-Ordination of Anti-Trafficking Actions 

The Minister of Justice is charged with the “overall responsibility for coordinating antitrafficking policies and is responsible for the areas of law enforcement, crime prevention and 

immigration,” while the Ministry of the Interior has the responsibility for local policy matters.

34

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Labour; and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and 

Sport also have competency to deal with human trafficking issues; each ministry has appointed a 

coordinator for human trafficking. The responsible officials meet regularly in interdepartmental 

meetings and all the ministries meet twice a year with relevant nongovernmental organizations

and the National Rapporteur.

35

31 34.091: Initiatiefvoorstel-Segers, Volp en Kooiman Wet strafbaarstelling misbruik prostitué(e)s die slachtoffer 

zijn van mensenhandel, EERSTE KAMER [UPPER HOUSE], https://www.eerstekamer.nl/wetsvoorstel/34091_ 

initiatiefvoorstel_segers (last visited Nov. 4, 2015), archived at https://perma.cc/7THZ-3U8Q (this is a webpage that 

tracks the progress of the legislation).

32 Voorstel van wet van de leden Segers, Rebel en Kooiman tot wijziging van het Wetboek van Strafrecht en het 

Wetboek van Strafrecht BES, houdende de invoering van de strafbaarstelling van misbruik van prostitué(e)s die 

slachtoffer van mensenhandel zijn (Wet strafbaarstelling misbruik prostitué(e)s die slachtoffer zijn van 

mensenhandel, Tweede Kamer [Lower House], Session 2014-2015, 34.091, no. 2 (introduced Nov. 25, 2014) 

https://www.eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j9vvhwtbnzpbzzc/vjp8an6h9nsr/f=y.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/R7UM-3QYN. The draft law would also insert a new article 286g in the Criminal Code of Bonaire, 

Sint Eustatius, and Saba, Caribbean islands that are special municipalities of the Netherlands.

33 Ketenpartners [Chain Partners], CCV, http://www.hetccv.nl/dossiers/Mensenhandel/menuketenpartners/index

(last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/6YHQ-BU2G. See also Chain Partner Organizations in 

Human Trafficking and Their Functions (Chart), in Majorie Kaandorp & Mirjam Blaak, CHILD TRAFFICKING IN THE 

NETHERLANDS 40 (May 2013; trans. May 2014), https://www.defenceforchildren.nl/images/13/3517.pdf, archived 

at https://perma.cc/57VC-N72E. 

34 Netherlands, TOGETHER TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS (2012), https://ec.europa.eu/antitrafficking/content/nip/netherlands_en, archived at https://perma.cc/BR94-KSH9. 

35 Id.

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B. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)

The IND plays a role in the prompt identification and passing on of indications of human

trafficking to the investigative authorities, is responsible for making residence arrangements for 

human trafficking victims and witnesses, and is in charge of the Human Trafficking Residence 

Scheme mentioned above. The IND is characterized as having “a unique position as the 

administrative authority and the Netherlands’ sole admission organization,” enabling it “to 

deploy preventative administrative instruments and to create obstacles to counter human 

trafficking” and to “refuse and withdraw residence permits if the applicant does not or no longer 

meets the requirements of a purpose of stay.”36 The IND also “actively takes part at various 

levels in the various consultations on countering human trafficking, such as the International 

Human Trafficking Platform and the Human Trafficking Task Force”; has a close partnership 

with several other anti-trafficking forces, “such as special investigative services, the Human 

Trafficking and Human Smuggling Centre and the Public Prosecution Service”; and participates

in national and international anti-human trafficking projects.37 

C. National Rapporteur 

The National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings was first appointed in the Netherlands 

in 2000. An independent agency, the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and 

Sexual Violence Against Children, exercises the National Rapporteur’s function, with one of its 

main tasks being “to analyse trends in the field of human trafficking and reflect on Dutch efforts 

to address them.”38 The National Rapporteur has the responsibility to gather “statistical data 

from various stakeholders on human trafficking and disseminates the information in periodic 

reports submitted to the government. Reports contain concrete recommendations and are made 

available to the public. The government sends its reaction to the recommendations 

to Parliament.”39 

D. Task Force on Human Trafficking 

The high-level Task Force on Human Trafficking, established in 2008, was headed by the chief 

public prosecutor of Amsterdam. The unit “was created to identify bottlenecks in the methods of 

tackling human trafficking and to come up with solutions,” prioritizes efforts to fight human 

trafficking, and “encourages innovative methods.”40 It brought together “representatives of the 

ministries involved (Justice, Interior and Kingdom Affairs, Social Affairs and Employment, 

Health, Welfare and Sports, Education, Culture and Science and Foreign Affairs), the police, the 

Royal Constabulary (KMar),” as well as a few mayoral officials, the judiciary, and the National 

36 Human Trafficking, IND, https://ind.nl/EN/organisation/themes/human-trafficking (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), 

archived at https://perma.cc/JSS5-QAFP. 

37 Id. 

38 Netherlands, TOGETHER TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, supra note 34. 

39 Id. 

40 Id. 

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Rapporteur” and reported every year to the Minister of Justice.41 Its mandate was extended in 

early 2011 for another three years, until 2014, and then again in 2014 until 2017.42 

E. Inspectorate SZW 

Among its other supervisory and investigative tasks related to compliance with regulations on 

safe working conditions and illegal employment, the Inspectorate SZW (Inspectorate of the

Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 

or SZW) has the duty to detect “fraud, exploitation and organised crime within the chain of work 

and income (labour exploitation, human trafficking and large scale fraud in the area of social 

security).”43 It carries out this function under the direction of the Public Prosecution Service.44

F. Repatriation and Departure Service (Dienst Terugkeer en Vertrek, DT&V)

The Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V), under the Ministry of Security and Justice,

arranges for the departure, voluntary or forced, of aliens from the Netherlands, and once an alien 

must leave the Netherlands, the agency conducts a personal interview with him or her to draw up 

a departure plan, during the course of which “it sometimes encounters signs of human 

trafficking.”45 If the DT&V finds signs of human trafficking, the “D9 procedure” is instituted,

“the effect of which is to suspend the return procedure until a decision has been made on whether 

to grant the possible trafficking victim a residence permit.”46 The DT&V invested in training its 

staff to recognize signs of human trafficking and is said to have subsequently attained some

success in increasing the number of victims identified during the alien repatriation process. “The 

effect has been to enable the DT&V to make a significant contribution to protecting 

these victims.”47

G. Law Enforcement

The more “traditional” partners that have been engaged in fighting human trafficking for some

time include, in addition to the Inspectorate SZW, the Public Prosecution Service and the 

police.48 There is a National Public Prosecutor for Human Trafficking appointed by the PPS and 

41 Id. 

42 Id. See also Marieke van Doorninck, The Netherlands, E-NOTES (Jan. 25, 2011), http://www.e-notesobservatory.org/phenomenon/netherlands/, archived at https://perma.cc/KX56-7J57. e-Notes is published by the 

European NGOs Observatory on Trafficking, Exploitation and Slavery. Task Force Mensenhandel verlengd met 

derde termijn [Human Trafficking Task Force Extended for Third Term] (Apr. 28, 2014), MENSENHANDELWEB, 

http://www.mensenhandelweb.nl/nieuws/task-force-mensenhandel-verlengd-met-derde-termijn, archived at 

https://perma.cc/26PD-ZZEH. 

43 Netherlands, TOGETHER TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, supra note 34.

44 Id. 

45 TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: NINTH REPORT OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, supra note 3, at 146.

46 Id. 

47 Id. at 13; see also Repatriation and Departure Service, DT&V, https://english.dienstterugkeerenvertrek.nl/ (last 

visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/S7T2-NBDS. 

48 TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: NINTH REPORT OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, supra note 3, at 248.

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there are also specialized prosecutors, called portfolio holders, who have been appointed to deal 

with human trafficking issues “in each district office and in the Office for Serious Fraud and 

Environmental Crime.”49

The approach against human trafficking adopted by the National Police is set forth in the 

National Reference Framework for Human Trafficking, which “concisely sets out the framework 

for the force’s tasks, responsibilities and powers and for cooperation (including information 

exchange) with chain partners.”50 The chain partners include “municipalities, the RIECs and the 

LIEC, the Royal Dutch Marechaussee, the Inspectorate SZW, the Tax and Customs 

Administration, chambers of commerce, the hotel sector, CoMensha [Coordination Centre 

Human Trafficking, an independent anti-trafficking organization] and others.”51 The police have 

established special teams on prostitution and human trafficking comprised of certified 

investigators who monitor and control prostitution venues, control the prostitution sector in 

regard to such matters as permit conditions, assist trafficking victims during legal proceedings,

and directly intervene in cases of high suspicion of human trafficking.

52

H. Royal Dutch Marechaussee 

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (RNM), or Royal Dutch Constabulary, is a gendarmerie 

corps (a police force with military status) responsible for state security at home and abroad.53 It 

was reported in 2014 that the RNM was drafting its own reference framework for dealing with 

human trafficking. “One factor perceived as a problem by the Royal Dutch Marechaussee is that 

combating human trafficking is not one of the force’s statutory duties . . . . It therefore passes on 

relevant information about a possible human trafficking situation to the police.”54 In 2013, 

however, a proposal was made “to review whether the force’s tasks could be expanded to include 

carrying out its own investigations of human trafficking in relation to cross-border 

movements.”55 Although recommendations were also made in the report for the RNM to adopt 

innovative methods to conduct anti-human trafficking related investigations and informationgathering, it had already taken the innovative measure of establishing “a Profiling, Targeting and 

Tasking Centre (PTTC) to centralize the collection of relevant strategic and operational 

information to help in the fight against human trafficking.”56 

49 Id. 

50 Id. at 250.

51 Id. 

52 Mensenhandel, POLITIE, https://www.politie.nl/themas/mensenhandel.html, archived at https://perma.cc/6BUTR594 (last visited Feb. 8, 2016). 

53 ROYAL NETHERLANDS MARECHAUSSEE: MAKING THE DIFFERENCE 3–4 (Aug. 2012), 

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/brochures/2011/03/10/the-royal-netherlandsmarechaussee/corporate-brochure-kmar-eng.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/U2ER-F89B.

54 TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: NINTH REPORT OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, supra note 3, at 251.

55 Id.

56 Id.

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I. CoMensha

The Coordination Centre for Human Trafficking (CoMensha), while remaining an independent 

organization, is incorporated in the Dutch Shelters Federation and headed by the Federation’s 

national coordinator. CoMensha serves as a national reporting and registration point for 

trafficked persons; it maintains a national register of (presumed) trafficked persons.

57 

J. Regional Network 

The Netherlands has ten Regional Information and Expertise Centres (RIECs), “established to 

enhance coperation between the criminal law enforcement agencies . . . and administrative 

bodies – primarily municipalities,” that are both information hubs and sources of expertise to 

help local authorities use their administrative powers effectively.

58 One of the principal crimes 

RIECs focus on is human trafficking.

59

V. Training Programs for Law Enforcement 

A. Police Officers

According to the US State Department, Dutch police officers, “as part of their standard training,”

took part in an anti-trafficking course in 2014 that included working with victims. Moreover, 

“[a]nti-trafficking police officers were required to pass examinations in a training course focused 

on policing the sex industry” and “also had to sign a code of conduct before working in this 

sector.”60 The course to which the State Department refers may be the Certification Training in 

Trafficking (Opleiding Certificering Mensenhandel).61 The stated purpose of the course is to 

teach the officers how, as human trafficking investigators, they can contribute to the fight against 

human trafficking, with the target group being police officers at MBO level 4 who work or are 

going to work in tackling migration crime.62 The structure of the program is to teach the relevant 

laws and regulations on human trafficking; the means of preparing, executing, and handling

administrative control in connection with trafficking; aspects of victim and perpetrator behavior; 

57 The Netherlands, EUROPEAN NETWORK AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, http://lastradainternational. 

org/ls-offices/netherlands (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/2J5Y-GULD; van Doorninck, 

supra note 42. 

58 TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: NINTH REPORT OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL RAPPORTEUR, supra note 3, at 245.

59 Id. 

60 Netherlands: Tier 1, 2015 TIPS REPORT, supra note 1.

61 Opleiding Certificering Mensenhandel [Certification Training Human Trafficking], Dutch Police website 

https://www.politieacademie.nl/onderwijs/onderwijsaanbod/Pages/opleiding.aspx?code=4302768 (last visited Feb. 

8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/2UCN-ANTT. 

62 Id. MBO (middelbaar beroepsonderwijs) refers to Dutch secondary vocational education, which can be up to four 

years, “depending on the level of training.” Level 4 is middle-management training. Secondary vocational 

education (MBO), GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS, https://www.government.nl/topics/secondary-vocationaleducation-mbo-and-higher-education/contents/secondary-vocational-education-mbo (last visited Feb. 9, 2016), 

archived at https://perma.cc/G8K4-2R2M. 

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communication and conversation skills and how an officer’s own attitudes and behavior play an 

important role; and how to handle trafficking victims’ declaration/witness testimony and the

legal requirements to which they must conform.

In addition, in 2015 the Dutch police invited the Specialist Policing Consultancy Ltd. (SPC) of 

the United Kingdom to deliver a program on training and awareness to mayors of Dutch 

municipalities who face challenges of child trafficking within Roma communities. Aside from 

the mayors, members of the Dutch police and their partners and persons of authority involved in 

dealing with human trafficking cases were in attendance.63 According to the SPC,

[t]hose present are facing huge criminal and social challenges with emerging migrant 

communities. Like other EU member states their systems are set up for dealing primarily 

with their domestic population and structures. The Dutch police have developed an 

excellent forward thinking engagement programme that is victim focused, however the 

audience was shocked to discover how organised the networks are and the involvement 

or organised criminal gangs.64

B. Judges and Prosecutors

In January 2013, the Netherlands established four specialized courts “to address cases involving 

multiple victims and links to organized crime.”65 In 2014, the specialized judges handled all 

trafficking cases; while the labor and sex trafficking cases were not disaggregated, “roughly 20 

percent of all victims identified in 2014 were forced labor victims.”66 Judges and prosecutors 

were given specialized training in applying the country’s anti-trafficking provisions and in 

dealing with traumatized victims.

67

VI. Training Programs for Other Countries

As of July 2011, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs was funding, or had in the previous few 

years funded, various international projects to combat human trafficking. For example, the 

Netherlands implemented a technical assistance program to Bulgaria in 2009 and 2010 “in 

connection with the trafficking of young Bulgarian women to the Netherlands and other WestEuropean countries,” which focused on “training Bulgarian law enforcement authorities, notably 

the anti-trafficking unit of the Ministry of Interior. Most of the training was provided by experts 

63 SPC Deliver Training on Human Trafficking to Dutch Mayors Forum, SPECIALIST POLICING CONSULTANCY LTD

(Oct. 20, 2015), http://www.specialist-policing.co.uk/content/spc-deliver-training-human-trafficking-dutch-mayorsforum, archived at https://perma.cc/BPP5-GPEZ. 

64 Id.

65 Netherlands (Tier 1), in U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN 

PERSONS, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 290 (June 2014), http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/ 

2014/226786.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/M6S3-48YA. 

66 Netherlands: Tier 1, 2015 TIPS REPORT, supra note 1, at 259.

67 Id.

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from Dutch law enforcement authorities, but Dutch NGOs were also involved.”68 Training on 

running shelters and launching information campaigns at secondary schools were part of the 

project, and a documentary film on a Bulgarian victim was made as an awareness-raising tool. 

While the project ended in 2010, in early 2011 three joint investigation teams were established 

with Bulgaria to investigate specific cases.69

Some of the other projects included building a national referral mechanism for Bulgaria (2008–

2010) by La Strada International and CoMensha (the Dutch member of La Strada) together with 

the Animus Association (the Bulgarian La Strada member) and assisting Nigeria in fighting 

human trafficking by offering a series of trainings, given by a variety of experts from Dutch law 

enforcement agencies, to a number of personnel from Nigerian agencies involved in dealing with 

human trafficking issues (July 2009 to the end of June 2010).70 

TeamWork!, a joint project of the Netherlands with Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Malta, was set 

up in January of 2016 to strengthen multidisciplinary cooperation against trafficking for labor 

exploitation. To that end, a manual was prepared that is “aimed at experts and intended to help 

inspire and strengthen the policy and practice to address trafficking in human beings (THB) for 

labour exploitation of all organisations that could come across it.”71 

68 MINISTRY OF SECURITY AND JUSTICE, DUTCH ANTI-TRAFFICKING POLICY, at 6, http://www.defenceforchildren.nl/ 

images/13/1900.pdf (last visited Feb. 8, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/62D3-YA8S. 

69 Id. 

70 Id. 

71 Manual for Experts on Multidisciplinary Cooperation Against Trafficking in Human Beings for Labour 

Exploitation, MENSENHANDELWEB (Jan. 18, 2016), http://www.mensenhandelweb.nl/en/system/files/documents/ 

18%20jan%202016/teamwork-manual-for-experts-on-multidisciplinary-cooperation-against-thb-for-labourexploitation.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/TJ57-JTF3. 

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South Africa

Hanibal Goitom 

Foreign Law Specialist

SUMMARY South Africa enacted a comprehensive legal framework to prevent and combat human 

trafficking in 2013 and began implementing it in late 2015. Prior to that, the country relied 

on existing criminal laws not directly relevant to trafficking matters and provisional laws 

enacted to address certain aspects of human trafficking crimes. The new legal framework

includes a broad definition of trafficking and sets out various trafficking-related offenses 

that are subject to harsh penalties. It also gives victims access to a number of services and 

programs. In addition, it encourages witnesses to trafficking offenses to cooperate with 

law enforcement by according them certain protections. 

South Africa has in place institutions and programs whose functions include providing 

training to government officials that deal with human trafficking issues. In 2003, South 

Africa established the Human Trafficking Desk within the Organized Crime Unit (OCU) 

of the South African Police Service (SAPS). One of functions of the Desk is training 

members of the OCU that investigate trafficking offenses. In 2009, South Africa 

established an anti-human-trafficking initiative known as the Tsireledzani Programme with 

a capacity-building component aimed at devising training programs for social workers and 

health, law enforcement, immigration, labor, and justice officials. 

The recently-issued human trafficking legal framework envisages the involvement of 

various institutions in implementing its provisions. Regulatory powers are delegated to a 

number of institutions, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional 

Development, the Department of Social Development, the Department of Home Affairs, 

and the South African Police Service (SAPS). The legislation also mandates the 

development of training programs for officials from various government agencies that deal 

with trafficking issues and the formulation of awareness programs for the general public. 

It appears that such programs have not yet been established. 

I. Introduction 

Human trafficking is said to be a significant problem in South Africa. Although accurate 

statistical information on the prevalence of the problem is largely not available, there are 

consistent reports regarding South Africa’s status as a major source, transit, and destination 

country for human trafficking in southern Africa.

1

 In its 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 

1 South Africa: Still Waiting for an Anti-Human Trafficking Law, IRIN NEWS (June 30, 2011), http://www.irinnews. 

org/report/93104/south-africa-still-waiting-for-an-anti-human-trafficking-law, archived at https://perma.cc/C822-

6GRB; Troy Martens & Vivian Attwood, Women and Children Trafficked at SA Border, INDEPENDENT ONLINE

(Sept. 18, 2007), http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/women-and-children-trafficked-at-sa-border-1.371169, 

archived at https://perma.cc/S9ZW-XK4J; Rebecca Wynn, SA Hotbed of Human Trafficking, MAIL AND GUARDIAN

(June 5, 2007), http://mg.co.za/article/2007-06-05-sa-hotbed-of-human-trafficking, archived at

https://perma.cc/7XGP-JWV4; Laura Brooks Najemy, South Africa’s Approach to the Global Human Trafficking 

Crisis: An Analysis of the Proposed Legislation and the Prospects of Implementation, 9(1) WASH. U. GLOB. STUD.

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Report, the US Department of State gave South Africa a Tier 2 designation, a level reserved for 

countries “whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s [Trafficking Victims 

Protection Act of 2000] standards for the elimination of trafficking, but are making significant 

efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.”2 South Africa has had this 

rating since the Department of State started issuing the annual TIP reports in 2001.3

South Africa recently put in place a comprehensive legal framework to prevent and combat 

human trafficking. South Africa is party to various international and regional instruments 

dealing with human trafficking.4 All of these instruments require the country to put in place a 

L. REV. 171, 176–77 (Jan. 2010), http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=law 

_globalstudies, archived at https://perma.cc/A9HZ-D2HA. 

2 Tier Placements, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2015/243366.htm (last visited 

Feb. 1, 2015), archived at https://perma.cc/C76K-HJRU; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 

REPORT 2015, at 308 (July 2015), http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/KWU9-8GUU. 

3 All of the TIPS reports are available on the US Department of State website, at http://www.state.gov/j/tip/ 

rls/tiprpt/index.htm (last visited Feb. 4, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/7C39-KNPZ. 

4 These include: (1) the 2000 United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which South 

Africa signed in December 2000 and Ratified in February 2004 (United Nations Convention Against Transnational 

Crime (Status), UNITED NATIONS TREATY COLLECTION (UNTC), https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx? 

src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12&chapter=18&lang=en (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/Y724-NVS6); (2) the 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, 

Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 

Crime (commonly known as the Palermo Protocol), which South Africa signed and ratified at the same time

(Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing 

the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Status), United Nations Treaty Collection, 

https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-a&chapter=18&lang=en (last 

visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/TT9R-AXVZ); (3) the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the 

Child, which South Africa signed in January 1993 and ratified in June 1995 (Convention on the Rights of the Child 

(Status), UNTC, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.a spx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&lang=en

(last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/TT5M-UXNZ); (4) the 2000 Optional Protocol to the 

Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, which 

South Africa acceded to in June 2003 (Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of 

Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (Status), UNTC, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails. 

aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-11-c&chapter=4&lang=en (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/U8AJ-AW6W); (5) the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination 

Against Women, which South Africa signed in January 1993 and ratified in December 1995 (Convention on the 

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Status), UNTC, https://treaties.un.org/ 

Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en (last visited Feb. 1, 2016); (6) the 

1998 Rome Statute of International Criminal Court, which South Africa signed in July 1998 and ratified in 

November 2000 (Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Status), UNTC, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ 

ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-10&chapter=18&lang=en (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived 

at https://perma.cc/ZW5Z-PDLA; (7) the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which South Africa 

signed and ratified in July 1996 (Ratification Table: African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, AFRICAN

COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE’S RIGHTS (ACHPR), http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr/ratification/

(last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/8MJZ-4GHE); (8) the 1990 African Charter on the Rights 

and Welfare of the Child, which South Africa signed in October 1997 and ratified in January 2000 (Ratification 

Table: African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, ACHPR, http://www.achpr.org/instruments/ 

child/ratification/ (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/VFS2-E4HY); and (9) the 2003 Protocol to 

the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (also known as the Maputo 

Protocol), which South Africa signed in March 2004 and ratified in December of the same year (Ratification Table: 

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legal and policy framework that meet the standards set by their provisions.5 Under the 1996 

Constitution, national laws enacted by its Parliament are required for the implementation of the 

country’s obligations under international law.

6

 While it had implemented some of these 

international instruments on an ad hoc basis (for instance, the 2005 Children’s Act included a 

chapter on trafficking in children), South Africa did not have comprehensive legislation on the 

matter until the enactment in 2013 of the Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Persons

Act.

7

 However, this legislation did not take effect until August 20158 and its accompanying 

regulations were not enacted until October of the same year.9

 

Prior to 2015, South African anti-human-trafficking laws were said to have been fragmented and 

limited in scope. During this period, human trafficking cases were dealt with in two ways: First, 

through the utilization of existing laws—laws that did not criminalize human trafficking per se 

but were used to prosecute human trafficking actors for crimes they committed in the process. 

These included both statutory offenses (including under the Intimidation Act of 1982 and the 

Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 1998) and common law offenses (such as kidnapping, 

slavery, and assault).10 The second method was through the enactment of provisional laws to 

address specific aspects of human trafficking. In this category are the Children’s Act of 2005 

and the Trafficking in Children and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) 

Amendment Act of 2007.11 

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, ACHPR, 

http://www.achpr.org/instruments/women-protocol/ratification/ (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/S9WQ-DEDH). 

5

 SOUTH AFRICA LAW REFORM COMMISSION, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT (Project 131) at 3 (2008), available 

on the South African Department Justice and Constitutional Development website, at http://www.justice.gov.za/ 

salrc/reports/r_pr131_trafficking_2008.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/MEX3-V6BM. 

6

 CONST. OF S. AFR., 1996, § 231(1), available on the South African government website, at http://www.gov.za/ 

sites/www.gov.za/files/images/a108-96.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/UTK8-NQF4; Najemy, supra note 1, at 

180. 

7 Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2003 (July 29, 2013), available on the Pretoria 

University website, at http://www.lawsofsouthafrica.up.ac.za/index.php/browse/criminal-law-and-criminalprocedure/prevention-and-combating-of-trafficking-in-persons-act-7-of-2013/act/7-of-2013-prevention-andcombating-of-trafficking-act-8-jan-2016-to-date-pdf/download, archived at https://perma.cc/5UYQ-NHUJ. 

8 Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act: Commencement, GOVERNMENT GAZETTE No. 39078 

(Aug. 7, 2015), available on the South African government portal, at http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/ 

files/39078_proc32.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/RF46-5GYZ. 

9 Regulations Under Section 43(3) of the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act (Act. No. 7 of 

2013) (Oct. 23, 2015), http://www.lawsofsouthafrica.up.ac.za/index.php/browse/criminal-law-and-criminalprocedure/prevention-and-combating-of-trafficking-in-persons-act-7-of-2013/regulations-and-notices/7-of-2013-

prevention-and-combating-of-trafficking-act-regs-gnr-1006-23-oct-2015-to-date-pdf/download, archived at

https://perma.cc/Q7Z2-3FFA. 

10 CHARLENE MAY & MANDIVAVARIRA MUDARIKWA, LEGAL RESOURCES CENTRE, TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS: A

SOUTH AFRICAN LEGISLATIVE PERSPECTIVE 6–18 (Oct. 2011), available on the Probono.org website, at

http://www.probono.org.za/Manuals/Refugee-Manual/2011_12_14_LRC_HumanTrafficking.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/D4WM-NV7E; SOUTH AFRICA LAW REFORM COMMISSION, supra note 5, at 10–17. 

11 MAY & MUDARIKWA, supra note 10, at 6–12; SOUTH AFRICA LAW REFORM COMMISSION, supra note 5, at 10–11. 

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This presented a number of challenges. For instance, it was difficult to prosecute individuals 

other than those directly linked to the trafficking offenses, and whenever prosecutors were able 

to secure convictions, the sentences were often seen as inadequate.12 In addition, even the 

statutes with sections dealing specifically with human trafficking matters were reportedly limited 

in scope, both in terms of the types of cases they could be used to prosecute (for instance the 

Children’s Act only applied to children) and in their overall contribution to reducing human 

trafficking, in that they did not provide for awareness training and preventative measures.13

The recently enacted comprehensive legislation seeks to ensure South Africa’s compliance with 

all its obligations under international law and ameliorate the above-noted deficiencies in

prosecuting human trafficking offenses.

14 This report briefly discusses key parts of the 

legislation. It includes a discussion of the recently introduced anti-human-trafficking legal 

framework as well as existing and recently established or recently mandated government 

institutions and programs to prevent and combat human trafficking in South Africa, including 

training of government officials. 

II. Anti-Human Trafficking Legal Framework

The Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act (PCTP Act) adopts a broad 

definition of what constitutes trafficking. This includes 

• delivery, recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, sale, exchange, leasing or receiving

of any person, for the purpose of exploitation in or outside of South Africa, through various 

means including threat of harm, fraud, abduction, or abuse of power aimed at the victim or 

anyone related to that person; or 

• adoption of a child or conclusion of forced marriage for the purpose of exploitation in or 

outside of South Africa.

15

Exploitation includes all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, sexual exploitation, 

servitude, forced labor, child labor, removal of body parts, or impregnating female persons for 

the purpose of selling their children.

16 

12 Human Trafficking Strategy: South Africa’s Response to Trafficking in Persons, SOUTH AFRICA GOVERNMENT 

INFORMATION 1–2 (Sept. 2, 2010), available on the Stop Trafficking of People website, at https://stoptrafficking 

ofpeople.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/south-african-government-human-trafficking-strategy.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/EPB5-SN7X. 

13 Louise du Preez & Antoinette Marais, A Legal Approach to Human Trafficking in South Africa, in GLOBAL 

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION, FULFILLING THE WORLDWIDE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE:

STRATEGIES, INNOVATIONS, AND PERSPECTIVES FOR FORWARD MOVEMENT IN TURBULENT TIMES 780, 784–5 

(Nejdet Delener et al. eds., 2011), available on the Research Gate website, at 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tshediso_ Sekhampu/publication/255997111_Participation 

_In_Physical_Activity_Perceptions_of_Individuals_Living_ 

In_A_Low_Income_Neighborhood/links/004635215ec548312a000000.pdf#page=799, archived at

https://perma.cc/Q269-QGL9.

14 Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2013, Preamble. 

15 Id. § 4. 

16 Id. § 1. 

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The PCTP Act criminalizes various acts that constitute or relate to trafficking in persons and 

imposes harsh penalties for violators. The following are among the offenses enumerated in the 

legislation:

• Trafficking in persons: punishable by a fine not exceeding South African Rand ZAR100

million (about US$6.15 million) and/or a custodial sentence of up to life in prison.17

• Intentionally engaging in conduct that causes another person to enter into debt bondage:

punishable by up to fifteen years in prison and/or a fine.18

• Using the services of victims of trafficking: punishable by up to fifteen years in prison and/or

a fine.19

• Facilitation of trafficking in persons, including through the leasing of rooms or publishing of

advertisements: punishable by up to ten years in prison and/or fine.20

• Attempt of any of the above-listed offenses: punishable by the same penalty imposed for the

commission of the actual offense.21

In determining sentences for offenses under the PCTP Act, South African courts are required to 

consider various aggravating factors.22 These include previous conviction(s), whether the 

perpetrator caused the victim to develop substance dependency, the age of the victim, the length 

of and conditions under which the victim was kept, and whether the offense was committed as 

part of organized crime.23

In addition to the applicable criminal penalties, the PCTP Act also provides for compensation of 

victims of trafficking. It empowers a South African court before which a trafficking offense is

prosecuted on its own motion or at the request of the victims, to order a convicted defendant to

pay his victim(s) for damage to or loss of property, physical or mental suffering, causing the 

contraction of a life-threatening disease or diseases, or loss of income or support.24 If the 

payment awarded by the court is insufficient, the victim reserves the right to institute a civil 

action against the perpetrator.25

The PCTP Act accords South African courts extraterritorial jurisdiction in certain circumstances. 

South African courts may assume jurisdiction over certain cases involving acts committed 

17 Id. § 13

18 Id. §§ 5 & 13. 

19 Id. §§ 7 & 13.

20 Id. §§ 8 & 13.

21 Id. § 10. 

22 Id. § 14.

23 Id. 

24 Id. § 29.

25 Id. 

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outside of South Africa if such acts constitute an offense under the relevant provisions of the 

PCTP Act and one of the following factors is present: 

• The victim or the alleged perpetrator is a resident or citizen of South Africa

• The alleged perpetrator is present in South African territory (including on a vessel or an offshore installation registered or required to be registered in South Africa)

• The perpetrator is a juridical person registered under South African law26

Whether the act in question constitutes an offense in the jurisdiction where it was committed 

is immaterial.27 

The PCTP Act seeks to encourage witness cooperation with law enforcement. It requires that 

anyone (except legal practitioners in certain circumstance) who knows or suspects the 

commission of a trafficking offense to report it to the police.28 The Act accords immunity to 

individuals who report suspected trafficking offenses in good faith from any civil or disciplinary 

actions.29 In addition, such persons are also entitled to have their identity kept confidential to 

ensure their safety “unless the interests of justice require otherwise.”30 

Under the PCTP Act, various services are available to trafficking victims. For instance, adult 

victims of trafficking are entitled to access various programs offered by accredited organizations, 

including counseling programs and programs aimed at reintegration of victims to their families 

and communities.31 Foreigners who are victims of trafficking are entitled to healthcare 

services.32 

III. Government Institutions and Programs

A. Institutions and Directives Under the PCTP Act

The PCTP Act envisages the participation of a number of institutions in the implementation of its 

provisions. For instance, under this Act, accredited institutions, which may be government or 

private institutions, will provide various services to victims of the trafficking.33 These 

institutions are regulated by the Minister of Social Development, who is authorized to issue 

procedures for their accreditation and requirements for their eligibility for program grants.34 The 

26 Id. § 12. 

27 Id. 

28 Id. §§ 18 & 19. 

29 Id. 

30 Id. 

31 Id. §§ 1, 26 & 27. 

32 Id. § 21. 

33 Id. § 26. 

34 Id. §§ 1 & 24. 

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Minister will also be issuing norms and minimum standards for accredited organizations 

including on the safety of victims of trafficking and access to and provision of adequate health 

services to victims.35 The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, in consultation 

with various other state organs, is charged with approving a national policy framework, 

developed by his/her Director General in consultation with various other government institutions, 

including for the purpose of guiding the implementation and administration of the Act and 

enhancing the delivery of services envisaged in the Act.36 

In addition, different Departments are tasked with regulating different aspects of the efforts for 

the prevention and combating of human trafficking. For instance, the Minister of Justice and 

Constitutional Development is authorized to issue regulations with regard to the manner in which 

public prosecutors may order the assessment of alleged victims of trafficking.37 The Minister of 

Home Affairs is tasked with issuing regulations on how foreigners associated with trafficking 

cases (victims and witnesses) would be able to stay in South Africa.38 The Minister of Social 

Development is charged with enacting regulations, including on “the assessment of a person to 

determine whether he/she is a victim of trafficking.”39 

Further, the PCTP Act mandates the enactment of national directives and instructions. The 

Director General of the Department of Justice and Development, in consultation with various 

government organs, is required to issue directives “with which all police officials, members of 

the prosecuting authority and officials of the Departments of Home Affairs, Labour and Social 

Development must comply with in the execution of their functions.”40 The directives would 

cover issues such as how to report human trafficking cases and the actions required to ensure the 

safety of victims of trafficking and witnesses.41 Similarly, the National Commissioner of SAPS, 

in consultation with various other institutions, must issue national instructions that all police 

officials must comply with, including on which police units can investigate trafficking cases, the 

manner in which such cases are investigated, and the collection and analysis of information on 

trafficking cases.42 

35 Id. § 25. 

36 Id. §§ 40 & 41. 

37 Id. § 43. 

38 Id. 

39 Id. 

40 Id. § 44. 

41 Id. 

42 Id. 

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B. Training and Capacity-Building Programs 

1. Human Trafficking Desk

Established in 2003, the Human Trafficking Desk is part of the Organized Crime Unit of the 

South African Police Service (SAPS).

43 One of the functions of the Desk is providing training to 

members of the Organized Crime Unit that investigate human trafficking crimes.44 The Desk 

also coordinates human trafficking matters around the country, advises the chief of the 

Organized Crime Unit on human-trafficking issues, and monitors the effectiveness of the 

Organized Crime Unit in dealing with human-trafficking crimes.45 

2. Tsireledzani Programme

The Tsireledzani Programme, headed by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), is an antihuman trafficking initiative established in 2009 that involves various government, international, 

and national organizations.46 The objectives of the initiative include ensuring South Africa’s 

compliance with the 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, 

Especially Women and Children (one of the Palermo Protocols) “through research, training and 

awareness-raising.”47 The NPA website indicates that the International Organization of 

Migration (IOM) is in the process of “implementing the capacity-building and development 

component of Tsireledzani.”48 According to the NPA, 

[t]his component will build the capacity of government officials, NGOs and media to 

prevent trafficking from South Africa, identify trafficked persons, improve the standard 

of physical protection and direct assistance offered to victims of trafficking in the 

country, and increase the number of trafficking cases investigated and prosecuted by law 

enforcement and justice officials.

Workshops have been designed to ensure that the identified, five government 

departments develop the capacity to train social workers, health, law enforcement, 

immigration, labour and justice officials on the prevention & combatting of human 

trafficking, as well as the protection and assistance of victims. The training content 

imparts basic awareness and an intermediate level of competency for NGO workers, to 

identify, protect and directly assist trafficked persons. At the end of the capacity 

development process a comprehensive and inter-sectoral National Curriculum on Human 

43 du Preez & Marais, supra note 13, at 784. 

44 SOUTH AFRICA LAW REFORM COMMISSION, supra note 5, at 4. 

45 Id. 

46 About Tsireledzani, THE NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH AFRICA (NPASA), https://www.npa.gov. 

za/node/56 (last visited Feb. 3, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/Z9KQ-KAL9. 

47 CAROL ALLAIAS ET AL., NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY, TSIRELEDZANI: UNDERSTANDING THE DIMENSIONS 

OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 11 (Mar. 2010), available on the International Labour Organization 

(ILO) website, at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@declaration/documents/publication/ 

wcms_142882.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/L8R8-7LDC. 

48 Capacity Building, NPASA, https://www.npa.gov.za/node/58 (last visited Feb. 3, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/4495-8DGU. 

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Trafficking consisting of 5 curricular modules (one for each department), and one 

additional curricular module on expected comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation will 

have been published.49

The page from which this information was obtained is not dated and, therefore, the timeline of 

the capacity-building program is unclear. A 2010 survey involving 101 prosecutors found that 

only nineteen had received human-trafficking-related training.50

3. Mandated Training under the PCTP Act

The PCTP Act states that the Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional 

Development, the National Commissioner of SAPS, the National Director of Public 

Prosecutions, and the Directors General of Home Affairs, Labour and Social Development “must 

each develop training courses . . . to ensure that all police officials, prosecutors and other 

functionaries are able to deal with matters relating to trafficking in persons in an appropriate, 

efficient and sensitive manner.”51 The Act requires that the courses include “training, also 

incorporating social context training, on the national instructions or directives[52] . . . and . . . 

provide for and promote the use of uniform norms, standards and procedures. . . .”53 

No specific training programs or courses developed in compliance with the provisions of the 

PCTP Act were located. 

4. Public Awareness Programs

Under the PCTP Act, the Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional 

Development (in consultation with various other organs of the government) is tasked with 

“establishing public awareness programmes or other measures for the prevention and combating 

of trafficking in persons.”54 The type, purpose and design of the programs would vary 

depending on the target audience. For instance, programs designed for the general public and 

those who are vulnerable to trafficking would include information on

common recruitment techniques used by traffickers . . . , practices used to keep victims of 

trafficking in exploitative situations . . . , the forms of abuse to which victims of 

trafficking may be subjected . . . , and organizations, institutions or law enforcement 

agencies that may be approached for assistance or information. . . .55

49 Id. 

50 ALLAIAS ET AL., supra note 47, at 53. 

51 Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, § 44.

52 For more information on “national instructions and directives,” see id. § 44 (1), (2) & (10), which mandates their 

issuance, the purpose for which they are to be issued, and the information/procedures that such directives and 

instructions must contain.

53 Id. § 44. 

54 Id. § 41. 

55 Id. 

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Programs designed for victims of trafficking would include information on “their rights as 

victims . . . , legal or other measures in place to ensure their safety, recovery, return and 

repatriation, and . . . organisations, institutions or law enforcement agencies that may be 

approached for assistance of [sic] information.”56

No specific public awareness programs developed in compliance with the provisions of the 

PCTP Act were located.

56 Id. 

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Sweden

Elin Hofverberg

Foreign Law Research Consultant

SUMMARY Swedish law criminalizes human trafficking as well as preparation for or attempted human 

trafficking. Aliens who are victims of human trafficking in Sweden receive temporary 

residence permits for reflection and/or stabilization periods. The County Administrative 

Board for Stockholm is responsible for the national coordination of efforts against human 

trafficking. Tailored courses in human trafficking for police personnel are provided by 

both universities and private corporations. 

I. Legal Framework 

Sweden criminalizes human trafficking in its Criminal Code and is bound by European Union 

(EU) law on the subject.1

 Human trafficking is defined in the Criminal Code as follows: 

He or she who, [in cases other than kidnapping] through illegal coercion, exploitation of 

someone’s situation, or through other improper means, recruits, transports, transfers, 

houses, or receives a person with the purpose that he or she should be exploited for 

sexual purposes, harvesting of organs, war service, forced labor, or other activity in a 

situation that creates an emergency for the victim, is convicted of human trafficking and 

receives a prison term of at least two but no more than ten years. A person who commits 

[such an act] against a person who is not yet eighteen years old is convicted of human 

trafficking regardless whether an improper means [prescribed above] has been employed. 

For lesser crimes of [human trafficking] a person is sentenced to a maximum of four 

years in prison.2

The Code also criminalizes attempt, preparation, and conspiracy to commit human trafficking as 

well as a failure to report such a crime.3

 

1 Council Directive 2004/81/EC of 29 April 2004 on the Residence Permit Issued to Third-Country Nationals Who 

are Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings or Who Have Been the Subject of an Action to Facilitate Illegal 

Immigration, Who Cooperate With the Competent Authorities, 2004 O.J. (L 261) 19, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ 

LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004L0081:EN:HTML, archived at https://perma.cc/BQS8-UFJV; 

Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on Preventing and Combating 

Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims, and Replacing Council Framework Decision 

2002/629/JHA, 2011 O.J. (L 101) 1, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32011L0036, 

archived at https://perma.cc/722H-8ZFW. 

2 4 ch. 1a § BROTTSBALKEN [BRB] [CRIMINAL CODE] (SVENSK FÖRFATTNINGSSAMLING [SFS] 1962:700),

https://lagen.nu/1962:700, archived at https://perma.cc/SMG4-TYDR (all translations by author); see also RH 

2010:34 [Svea Appellate Court Case on Human Trafficking], https://lagen.nu/dom/rh/2010:34, archived at

https://perma.cc/6CN6-AZK4. 

3 4 ch. 10 § BRB and 23 ch. 6 § BRB. 

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Crimes that are carried out by children while they are victims of human trafficking are “statute 

barred crimes” and thus not prosecuted.4 

Victims of human trafficking receive temporary visas for a thirty-day reflection period or sixmonth stabilization period.

5

 In rare cases, longer residence permits can be issued for victims of 

human trafficking on humanitarian grounds.6

II. Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Enforcing Laws Against Human

Trafficking

A. Stockholm County Administrative Board 

The Swedish Government has delegated the coordination responsibility for combating and 

preventing human trafficking crimes to the Stockholm County Administrative Board in 

Stockholm.7 Its role was defined in a 2014 government task order and included “coordinating 

the proliferation of knowledge and methods to provide support and protection for children 

against human trafficking and exploitation to municipalities, county councils, county 

administrative boards and agencies [such as the police] in their work.”8

 The Stockholm County 

Administrative Board also reports on its work in the periodic Human Trafficking of 

Children Report.

9

B. Border Control Agencies & the Police 

Swedish border control is carried out by several government agencies. These include the 

Customs Police, Coast Guard, Migration Authority, and Central Border Management Division 

4 See LÄNSSTYRELSEN I STOCKHOLM [STOCKHOLM COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD], KAN DET VARA 

MÄNNISKOHANDEL? [MIGHT IT BE TRAFFICKING?] 17 (Nov. 18, 2015), http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/ 

stockholm/SiteCollectionDocuments/Sv/publikationer/2015/kan-det-vara-manniskohandel-2015-reviderad-sid26.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/J34V-EGX6.

5 5 ch. 15 § UTLÄNNINGSLAGEN [UTL] [ALIENS ACT] (SFS 2005:716), https://lagen.nu/2005:716 (including 

comments), archived at https://perma.cc/GYU4-RQG5.

6 Id. 5 ch. 3a § 3 mom. including comments). 

7 Press Release, Regeringskansliet, Länsstyrelsen i Stockholms län får ansvar för arbete mot människohandel (Apr. 

30, 2015; updated May 18, 2105), http://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2015/04/lansstyrelsen-i-stockholmslan-far-ansvar-for-arbete-mot-manniskohandel/, archived at https://perma.cc/F78G-6MMQ. 

8 Uppdrag att samordna arbetet mot människohandel och exploatering av barn [Mission to Coordinate Efforts 

Against Human Trafficking of Children] (Regeringsbeslut II:5 [Government Decision II:5]) (Feb. 20, 2014), 

http://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/4ec2ebd1d3bc4032a534584d8acc0313/uppdrag-att-samordna-arbetet-motmanniskohandel-och-exploatering-av-barn-s20141695fst, archived at https://perma.cc/4RMJ-PRVG.

9 For the most recent report, see LÄNSSTYRELSEN STOCKHOLMS LÄN, MÄNNISKOHANDEL MED BARN – NATIONELL 

KARTLÄGGNING 2012–2015 [TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN – NATIONAL SURVEY 2012–2015], Rapport 2015:30 (2015), 

(http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/stockholm/SiteCollectionDocuments/Sv/publikationer/2015/R2015-30-

manniskohandel-med-barn-WEBB.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/A7TV-BVUY. 

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within the National Bureau of Investigation.

10 The National Operational Unit (NOA) of the 

Swedish Police bears the overall responsibility for the Swedish borders.11 As part of the NOA, 

the Border Police (Gränspolisen) carries out the actual control of the border in conjunction with 

the relevant agency. Thus, for example, the Border Police and the Coast Guard cooperate in 

relation to border controls and violations of Swedish waters. The Border Police also conduct the 

investigative work surrounding human trafficking.12 

The main responsibility to prevent human trafficking lies with the police, who should identify 

and investigate this offense. Human trafficking cases are within the jurisdiction of the public 

prosecutor; there is no special prosecutor for such cases. In its border protection work 

(including human trafficking work) the Swedish Police cooperates with Frontex and the 

European Border Guard Teams.

13 

C. Migration Authority 

The Migration Authority has responsibility to detect and report suspected instances of human 

trafficking.14 In addition, the Migration Authority must report to the police all measures it uses 

to identify children who are victims of human trafficking.15 Starting in December 2015, the 

Migration Authority has adopted a new routine of personal interviews intended to better detect 

victims of human trafficking in the labor market.16 

III. Training Programs for Law Enforcement Agencies

Swedish Police have previously been described by representatives of the Stockholm County 

Administrative Board (responsible for coordination of human trafficking prevention and 

enforcement efforts) as possessing little knowledge on human trafficking.17 Following this

10 Swedish Border Control, RIKSPOLISSTYRELSEN, https://polisen.se/Global/www%20och%20Intrapolis/ 

Informationsmaterial/01%20Polisen%20nationellt/Engelskt%20informationsmaterial/swedish_border_control13050

8.pdf (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/5QLV-CFND.

11 POLISEN, DEN NYA POLISMYNDIGHETEN 6 (2015), https://polisen.se/PageFiles/581379/Faktablad_ 

Polismyndigheten.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/7K97-9ECP. 

12 See Så fungerar gränspolisen i region Syd, POLISEN (Nov. 24, 2015), https://polisen.se/Blekinge/Aktuellt/ 

Nyheter/Skane/okt-dec/Sa-fungerar-granspolisen-i-region-Syd/, archived at https://perma.cc/AM9M-ENWS. 

13 RIKSPOLISSTYRELSEN, supra note 10. 

14 MIGRATIONSVERKET, ÅRSREDOVISNING 2015 [ANNUAL REPORT 2014] at 97, http://www.migrationsverket. 

se/download/18.39a9cd9514a346077212ead/1424702424160/%C3%85rsredovisning+2014.pdf (last visited Jan. 28, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/UM5B-U6QJ. 

15 POLISEN, MÄNNISKOHANDEL FÖR SEXUELLA OCH ANDRA ÄNDAMÅL: LÄGESRAPPORT 16, at 27 (2015), 

https://polisen.se/Global/www%20och%20Intrapolis/Rapporter-utredningar/01%20Polisen%20 

nationellt/M%C3%A4nniskohandel/Lagesrapport_16_Manniskohandel_webb.pdf, (police report covering the year 

2014), archived at https://perma.cc/BL29-FECS. 

16 Muntliga utredningar ska motverka människohandel, MIGRATIONSVERKET (Jan. 11, 2016), 

http://www.migrationsverket.se/Om-Migrationsverket/Nyhetsarkiv/Nyhetsarkiv-2016/2016-01-11-Muntligautredningar-ska-motverka-manniskohandel.html, archived at https://perma.cc/RTV7-GEYM. 

17 Utbildning ska minska människohandel, SVERIGESRADIO (Feb. 7, 2011), http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx? 

programid=103&artikel=4336583, archived at https://perma.cc/93BW-5CHG. 

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criticism it has created a number of educational programs. Still, in 2014, ECPAT Sweden 

(national affiliation of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children 

for Sexual Purposes) reported that more needed to be done to educate law enforcement personnel

on human trafficking issues.

18

As mentioned in Part II, above, the Stockholm County Administrative Board is responsible for 

the coordination of efforts to fight human trafficking. An informational report on children as 

victims of human trafficking from the Stockholm County Administrative Board meant to educate 

persons, including law enforcement officers, who come into contact with children who are 

victims of human trafficking can be found on the Board’s website.

19 In additional to background 

and general advice this report includes a checklist for how to deal with such victims.

20 In its 

report for 2015 the Administrative Board found that further training of police, especially outside 

of the larger cities, was needed.21

A. Interactive Course for Police Personnel

The Police train all of its personnel on issues of human trafficking through a special intranetbased course with an accompanying test. The test was first initiated in 2010 by the National 

Police.

22 The creation of this intranet-based test was outsourced to a private company, SamSari

AB.23 The police still offer the interactive course for all of its employees. During the period of 

2012–2014 human trafficking was a priority area for the police.24

18 Vi kan inte vänta - Sverige måste genomföra Europarådets rekommendationer för att stoppa människohandeln nu, 

ECPAT BLOG (June 11, 2014), http://www.ecpat.se/kategorier/barnsexhandel/trafficking-maenniskohandel,

archived at https://perma.cc/TY9C-5EWL.

19 LÄNSSTYRELSEN I STOCKHOLM, supra note 4, at 31. 

20 Id. at 31. 

21 LÄNSSTYRELSEN STOCKHOLMS LÄN, MÄNNISKOHANDEL MED BARN – NATIONELL KARTLÄGGNING 2012–2015,

supra note 9, at 53.

22 Kurs ska öka kunskap om människohandel, SVENSK POLIS (Sept. 10, 2010), http://www.svenskpolis.se/ 

Artikelarkiv/Artiklar-2010/augusti-2010/Kurs-ska-oka-kunskap-om-manniskohandel/, archived at

https://perma.cc/66MS-7DSE. 

23 Tilldelningsbeslut DiarieNr PVS-754-4884/09 [Procurement Decision 2009 No. PVS-754-4884], 

Rikspolisstyrelsen [National Board of Police] (Feb. 9, 2010), https://www.polisen.se/PageFiles/213283/ 

Publicering_20100211_Tilldelning_807_Interaktiv_utbildning.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/ATG7-4E2A; Press 

Release, SamSari AB, Rikspolisstyrelsen och SamSari utbildar poliser om människohandel [National Board of 

Police and SamSari Trains Police on Human Trafficking] (July 2, 2010), http://www.mynewsdesk.com/ 

se/pressreleases/rikspolisstyrelsen-och-samsari-utbildar-poliser-om-maenniskohandel-433844, archived at

https://perma.cc/P6DG-KTV5. 

24 RIKSPOLISSTYRELSEN, TILLSYNSRAPPORT 2013:7, INSPEKTION AV POLISMYNDIGHETERNAS FÖRMÅGA ATT UTREDA 

ÄRENDEN OM MÄNNISKOHANDEL FÖR SEXUELLAÄNDAMÅL OCH KÖP AV SEXUELL TJÄNST 11, https://www.polisen.se/ 

Global/www%20och%20Intrapolis/Rapporter-utredningar/01%20Polisen%20nationellt/Ovriga%20rapporterutredningar/Inspektioner-tillsyns%20rapporter/2013/Tillsynsrapport_7_2013_Manniskohandel%20indd.pdf (last 

visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/Y8D7-PRX2.

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B. Targeted Education of Police Officers

Training on human trafficking is incorporated into police training. Courses on interacting with

victims of human trafficking are part of the general police education.25 There are also special 

educational programs on human trafficking targeted to active police personnel offered through 

universities, such as Uppsala University.26 

In addition to institutionalized education and training there are also other initiatives to train 

police personnel. For example, the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority 

(Brottsoffermyndigheten) has held educational programs for law enforcement at the request of

the government.27 

Moreover, the government has given the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) 

responsibility for creating educational materials intended for, among others, law enforcement 

personnel who work with children who are victims of human trafficking.28 

Other examples of law enforcement targeted training include full-day seminars, often in 

cooperation with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).29 

C. Cooperation Between Agencies and NGO involvement 

There are several Swedish NGOs that work to end human trafficking or to support its victims.

Both the police and the National Board of Health and Welfare have cooperated with NGOs in its 

human trafficking training. 

1. Nationellt Metodstödsteam mot prostitution och människohandel

The Stockholm County Administrative Board leads a task force on prostitution and human 

trafficking, known as the Nationellt Metodstödsteam mot prostitution och människohandel 

(National Method Support Team Against Prostitution and Human Trafficking, NMT), which 

25 POLISEN, MÄNNISKOHANDEL FÖR SEXUELLA OCH ANDRA ÄNDAMÅL: LÄGESRAPPORT 16, supra note 15, at 15, 37. 

26 Kursplan för Människohandel – kurs för poliser (uppdragsutbildning) [Human Trafficking – Course for the 

Swedish Police (Contract Education)], UPPSALA UNIVERSITET, http://www.uu.se/utbildning/utbildningar 

/selma/kursplan/?kpid=30029&type=1 (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/9HK9-FFY4. The 

course is described in more detail at NCK ger universitetskurs för poliser om människohandel, NCK NATIONELLT 

CENTRUM FÖR KVINNOFRID, http://www.nck.uu.se/NCK_press/Reportage/reportage-2013/nck-ger-universitetskursfor-poliser-om-manniskohandel-/ (last updated Jan. 26, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/B7ZE-DTYN. 

27 BROTTSOFFERMYNDIGHETEN, PROSTITUTION OCH MÄNNISKOHANDEL FOR SEXUELLA ÄNDAMÅL,

UTBILDNINGSPROGRAM FOR ÖKAD KUNSKAP OCH BÄTTRE BEMÖTANDE, REDOVISNING AV ETT REGERINGSUPPDRAG,

No. Ju2008/7290/KRIM (2011), http://www.brottsoffermyndigheten.se/Filer/B%C3%B6cker/Prostitution%20 

och%20m%C3%A4nniskohandel%20f%C3%B6r%20sexuella%20%C3%A4ndam%C3%A5l.pdf, archived at

https://perma.cc/L7F5-VYP7. 

28 Id. at 27. Educational material, including both written and video material, is available at Sex mot ersättning, 

SOCIALSTYRELSEN, http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/valds-ochbrottsrelateradefragor/sexmotersattning (last visited Feb. 

1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/56J4-G8ZE. 

29 BROTTSOFFERMYNDIGHETEN, supra note 27, at 27. 

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coordinates efforts between country administrative boards, public prosecutors, the NOA division 

of the police, the Migration Authority, and health care providers.

30 This group cooperates with 

the Council of the Baltic Sea States, Plattformen Civila Sverige mot människohandel (Platform 

Civilian Sweden Against Human Trafficking),

31 and Insamlingsstiftelsen mot Trafficking

(Fundraising Foundation Against Trafficking, IMTR).32 These organizations educate Swedish 

law enforcement in conjunction with the NMT and on their own initiative.33 

The National Board of Health Care and Welfare has also held training sessions together with the 

NMT to educate government personnel on issues of human trafficking.34 

2. Stiftelsen Allmänna Barnhuset

The NGO Stiftelsen Allmänna Barnhuset (Public Children’s House Foundation)35 has received 

funding directly from the Police to limit the risk of children becoming victims of human 

trafficking by tailoring information campaigns toward that goal.

36 It also cooperates with the 

Stockholm County Administrative Board to fight human trafficking.37 

30 Samverkande myndigheter, NTM, http://projektwebbar.lansstyrelsen.se/nmtsverige/Sv/omnmt/Pages/samarbetspartners.aspx (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/X28C-L3RB. 

31 PLATTFORMEN CIVILA SVERIGE MOT MÄNNISKOHANDEL [PLATFORM CIVILIAN SWEDEN AGAINST HUMAN 

TRAFFICKING], http://www.manniskohandel.se (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/K3WCSDGQ. 

32 Andra samarbetspartners, NTM, http://projektwebbar.lansstyrelsen.se/nmtsverige/Sv/om-nmt/Pages/andrasamarbetspartners.aspx (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/5CSU-WMWP. 

33 See Det här gör vi, IMT, http://www.imtr.se/det-har-gor-vi/ (last visited Feb. 1, 2016), archived at 

https://perma.cc/XC6H-X7YM. 

34 See, e.g., an invitation to training at Prostitution och människohandel – basutbildning, LÄNSSTYRELSEN 

STOCKHOLM, http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/stockholm/Sv/kalender/2012/Pages/prostitution-och-manniskohandelbasutbildning-.aspx?keyword=m%c3%a4nniskohandel (last visited Jan. 28, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/ALQ2-GA9B. 

35 STIFTELSEN ALLMÄNNA BARNHUSET, http://www.allmannabarnhuset.se/ (last visisted Feb. 1, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/46HV-FD3G. 

36 POLISEN, MÄNNISKOHANDEL FÖR SEXUELLA OCH ANDRA ÄNDAMÅL: LÄGESRAPPORT 16, supra note 15, at 27. 

37 STIFTELSEN ALLMÄNNA BARNHUSET, ÅRSREDOVISNING OCH VERKSAMHETSBERÄTTELSE 2014 [ANNUAL REPORT 

2014], at 38 http://www.allmannabarnhuset.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Verksamhetsberättelse-ochÅrsredovisning-2014.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/QP9J-FN8Y. 

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Ukraine

Peter Roudik 

Director of Legal Research

and 

Olena Yatsunska 

Foreign Law Consultant 

SUMMARY Ukraine is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children 

subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, and human trafficking remains an acute 

problem in the country. The problem is addressed in numerous laws and implementing 

regulations. The Ministry of Social Policy is the government agency that coordinates the 

activities of national and regional (local) government bodies working to combat human 

trafficking. The Ministry of Social Policy reviews all human trafficking cases, decides 

whether to grant an individual the status of a human trafficking victim, and runs

rehabilitation facilities for the victims. Human trafficking is a crime prosecuted under the 

Criminal Code, and the National Police together with the State Border Guard Service are 

the two major law enforcement agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting this 

crime. Periodic professional training for public employees, educators, social workers, 

investigators, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers who work with victims of human 

trafficking is required by law and is conducted by government institutions through the 

existing system of continuing professional education. National and international 

nongovernmental organizations assist government institutions in training law enforcement 

personnel. A number of textbooks, guidelines, and case studies have been published and 

distributed among those who are working to fight human trafficking. 

I. Introduction 

Human trafficking is a significant issue for Ukraine. According to a recent US Department of 

State report, it is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children 

subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.1

 Since 1991, when Ukraine became an 

independent state, over 160,000 of its citizens became victims of human trafficking,

2

 making 

Ukraine one of the largest “suppliers” of slave labor in Europe.3

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Ukraine has reported that in 

2010 there were 1,085 identified victims of human trafficking, 814 in 2011, 945 in 2012, 929 in 

1 US DEPARTMENT OF STATE, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT (July 2015), http://www.state.gov/documents/ 

organization/245365.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/LD65-Z93N. 

2 Combating Human Trafficking, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) MISSION IN UKRAINE, 

http://www.iom.org.ua/en/combating-human-trafficking (last visited Jan. 15, 2016), archived at

https://perma.cc/R3EW-KJ52. 

3 Id.

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2013, and 903 in 2014.4 Citizens of Ukraine are usually trafficked to the Russian Federation 

(46%), Poland (13%), Turkey (11%), and other European Union countries (14%).5 From 2003 to 

June 2015, victims of human trafficking within Ukraine came from Moldova (65%), Central 

Asian countries (20%), the Russian Federation (5%), Vietnam (5%), and other countries (5%).6

According to IOM statistics, human trafficking for sexual exploitation has decreased from 34% 

in 2010 to 6% in 2014.7 However, human trafficking for labor exploitation saw a significant 

increase from 56% in 2010 to 91% by 2014.

8 In 2010 and 2011, the majority of the identified 

victims were women (64% in 2010 and 58% in 2011), but in 2012–2014 the number of male 

victims prevailed (56% in 2012, 52% in 2012, and 58% in 2014).9

Regarding other forms of exploitation, the Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in 

Human Beings (GRETA) reported that ten Ukrainians in 2010 and four in 2012 were trafficked 

for the purpose of organ removal.10 Experts also pointed to cases of internal trafficking within 

Ukraine, with 114 identified victims in 2010, 79 in 2011, and 139 in 2012.11

Because of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, over 1.3 million people have been 

displaced since March 1, 2014.12 According to experts, these people are especially vulnerable to 

exploitation.13 There have been reports of kidnappings from conflict-affected areas for the 

purpose of sex and labor trafficking, as well as employing minors as soldiers and informants or 

using them as human shields.

14

Ukraine declares its adherence to international standards for combating human trafficking. In 

addition to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings,

15

4 IOM MISSION IN UKRAINE, STATISTICS ON COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS IN UKRAINE (June 2015), 

http://www.iom.org.ua/sites/default/files/iom_vot_statistics_eng_dec2015.doc (last visited Jan. 15, 2016), archived

at https://perma.cc/7KDB-HAUS.

5 Id.

6 Id.

7 Id.

8 Id.

9 Id.

10 GRETA, REPORT CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONVENTION ON ACTION 

AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS BY UKRAINE 20 (2014), http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/ 

Docs/Reports/GRETA_2014_20_FGR_UKR_w_cmnts_en.pdf, , archived at https://perma.cc/32J3-L9CQ.

11 Id.

12 Press Release, President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin Submitted an Address to the Federation 

Council (Mar. 1, 2014), http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/20353, archived at http://perma.cc/6Y3V-MSJS.

13 TIP REPORT, supra note 1.

14 Id.

15 Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, May 16, 2005, CETS No. 197, 

https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/Docs/Convntn/CETS197_en.asp, archived at 

https://perma.cc/4JBP-ZPKG.

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Ukraine ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime

(2004)16 and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially 

Women and Children,

17 the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1991)18 and the Optional 

Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2003),19 the 

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)20 and its 

Optional Protocol (2003),21 and the following conventions elaborated under the International 

Labor Organization (ILO), relevant to combating human trafficking: the Convention Concerning 

Forced or Compulsory Labor (No. 29),22 the Convention Concerning the Abolition of Forced 

Labor (No. 105),

23 and the Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the 

Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (No. 182).24

II. Legislation on Human Trafficking

A. Legal Framework

Over the past decade, Ukraine has taken a number of significant steps to develop a legal and 

institutional framework for combating human trafficking. This framework has evolved over the 

years in light of the country’s international commitments, and now includes laws on the 

following topics:

16 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME, UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL 

ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE PROTOCOLS THERETO 5 (New York, 2004), https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/ 

UNTOC/Publications/TOC%20Convention/TOCebook-e.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/GR53-L49M.

17 Id. at 41.

18 United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3, 

http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx, archived at https://perma.cc/3TZC-K73C.

19 Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, May 25, 2000, TIAS 13095, 

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPSCCRC.aspx, archived at https://perma.cc/LA9E-YFUG.

20 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Dec. 18, 1979,1249 U.N.T.S. 13, 

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/PY4V-7BFD.

21 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Oct. 6, 

1999, 2131 U.N.T.S. 83, http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/774/73/PDF/N9977473.pdf? 

OpenElement, archived at https://perma.cc/VKT8-LXUT.

22 ILO Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, June 28, 1930, https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/ 

en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312174, archived at https://perma.cc/96VUCLWX.

23 ILO Convention Concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, June 25, 1957, http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/ 

en/f?p=1000:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C105, archived at https://perma.cc/HP6V-RUVL?type=image.

24 ILO Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of 

Child Labour, June 17, 1999, http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO:12100:P12100 

_ILO_CODE:C182, archived at https://perma.cc/LMD8-8W44.

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• Combating Trafficking in Human Beings25

• Immigration26

• Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons27

• Protection of Individuals Involved in Criminal Proceedings28

• Operative-Investigative Activity29

• Social Services30

• Social Work with Families, Children and Youth31

• Employment of the Population32

• Securing Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men33

• Protection of Childhood34

25 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, with the Latest 

Amendments of Nov. 10, 2015, http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3739-17 (in Ukrainian), archived at

https://perma.cc/25R2-3ESV.

26 Law No. 2491-III of June 7, 2001, on Immigration, with the Latest Amendments of Oct. 6, 2015, 

http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2491-14 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/797V-6LXE.

27 Law No. 3773-VI of September 22, 2011, on Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, with the Latest 

Amendments of Nov. 10, 2015, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3773-17 (in Ukrainian), archived at

https://perma.cc/NQD9-82DX; https://perma.cc/GKR9-W6PC.

28 Law No. 3782-XII of December 23, 1993, on Protection of Individuals Involved in Criminal Proceedings, with the 

Latest Amendments of July 2, 2015, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3782-12 (in Ukrainian), archived at

https://perma.cc/YD2S-NDAH.

29 Law No. 2135-XII of February 18, 1992, on Operative-Investigative Activity, with the Latest Amendments of 

July 2, 2015, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2135-12/page (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/F6KVD5QS; https://perma.cc/N4DE-TPTK.

30 Law No. 966-IV of June 19, 2003, on Social Services, with the Latest Amendments of Sept. 18, 2012, 

http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/966-15 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/N58H-Y5NW.

31 Law No. 2558-III of June 21, 2001, on Social Work with Families, Children and Youth, with the Latest 

Amendments of Nov. 6, 2012, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2558-14 (in Ukrainian), archived at

https://perma.cc/Z5Z9-QHLC.

32 Law No. 5067-VI of July 5, 2012, on Employment of the Population, with the Latest Amendments of June 17, 

2015, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5067-17 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/UV87-ZJMT; 

https://perma.cc/KB6C-FV9Y; https://perma.cc/6QVH-7M94; https://perma.cc/5JCR-SZ3K.

33 Law No. 2866-IV of September 8, 2005, on Securing Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men, with 

the Latest Amendments of May 13, 2014, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2866-15 (in Ukrainian), archived at 

https://perma.cc/3XKZ-DC36.

34 Law No 2402-III of April 26, 2001, on the Protection of Childhood, with the Latest Amendments of Dec. 24, 

2015, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2402-14/page (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/5WJZ-ZG3K; 

https://perma.cc/3LWY-9CEX.

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• Bodies and Services for Children’s Affairs and Special Institutions for Children35

• Nationwide Program “National Action Plan to Implement the UN Convention on the Rights 

of the Child” for the Period Until 201636

Procedural issues are resolved by a set of government regulations, resolutions, and orders issued 

by the Cabinet of Ministers and individual executive agencies responsible for law enforcement 

and implementation of social policies. These documents establish guidelines on the provision of 

services to victims of human trafficking,

37 the standards for services offered to such persons38

including social and psychological rehabilitation,39 especially for children,40 and the benefits 

they are entitled to receive in Ukraine;

41 define government institutions tasked with fighting 

against trafficking in human beings and regulate their activities and legal status;

42 provide for 

coordination among government agencies in the field of fighting human trafficking43 and 

approve procedures for their interaction;

44 and stipulate procedures for identifying a person as a 

35 Law No 20/95-ВР of January 24, 1995, on Bodies and Services for Children’s Affairs and Special Institutions for 

Children, with the Latest Amendments of Oct. 14, 2014, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/20/95-

%D0%B2%D1%80 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/G6S8-HPPB; https://perma.cc/QS75-GFVZ.

36 Law No 1065-VI of March 5, 2009, on the Nationwide Program ‘National Action Plan to Implement the UN 

Convention on the Rights of the Child’ for the Period Until 2016, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1065-17 (in 

Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/GJN8-658Z.

37 Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine Order No. 432 of August 19, 2013, on Approval of the Guidelines for the 

Provision of Social Services to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, http://www.mlsp.gov.ua/labour/ 

control/uk/publish/article?art_id=153435&cat_id=150191 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/Y2L5-

XFVW.

38 Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine Order No. 458 of July 30, 2013, on Approval of the Standards for the 

Provision of Social Services to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/ 

show/z1327-13 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/8NNF-NEYT.

39 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 608 of May 12, 2004, on Approval of a Model Regulation of a 

Centre for Social-Psychological Assistance, http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/608-2004-%D0%BF (in 

Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/T8WW-ZBBV.

40 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 87 of January 28, 2004, on Approval of a Model Regulation of a 

Centre for Social-Psychological Rehabilitation of Children, http://zakon5.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/87-2004-%D0%BF

(in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/U22Y-ZGHJ.

41 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 660 of July 25, 2012, on Approval of the Procedure for Payment 

of a One-Time Benefit to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/660-2012-

%D0%BF (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/792H-BYEH.

42 Ministry of the Internal Affairs Order No. 1074 of October 14, 2014, on Approval of Department for Combating 

Crimes Related to Human Trafficking, http://document.ua/pro-zatverdzhennja-polozhennja-pro-departamentborotbi-zi-zl-doc237905.html (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/2Q29-9LT8.

43 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 29 of January 18, 2012, on the National Coordinator on 

Combating Human Trafficking, http://zakon5.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/29-2012-%D0%BF (in Ukrainian), archived at 

https://perma.cc/4KQK-GH7J.

44 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 783 of August 22, 2012, on Approval of the Procedure for 

Interaction of Agents for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, http://zakon5.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/783-2012-

%D0%BF (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/9ESA-2NCD.

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trafficking victim.

45 Since 2012, a national registry of human-trafficking-related crimes has been 

maintained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (police).46

In October 2015, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the State Social Program for Combating 

Trafficking in Human Beings for the Period Until 2020.47 The Program is aimed at preventing 

human trafficking, improving the efficiency of identifying individuals who commit such crimes 

or contribute to their occurrence, and protecting the rights of victims of trafficking (especially 

children) and providing assistance to them.48

B. Definition of “Human Trafficking” and “Victim of Human Trafficking”

The definition of “human trafficking” is provided in article 1 of the Law on Combating 

Trafficking in Human Beings as the 

[s]ettlement of an illegal agreement, the object of which is a human being, as well as 

recruitment, transportation, harboring, transfer or receipt of a human being for the 

purpose of his/her exploitation, including sexual [exploitation], by means of deception, 

fraud, blackmail, abuse of a person’s position of vulnerability or by use of force or threat 

of the use of force, with abuse of power or economic or other dependence of the victim 

on another person.

49

Human Trafficking is a separate offense under the Criminal Code of Ukraine.50 Article 149 of 

the Code prohibits all forms of trafficking in human beings and prescribes penalties in the form 

of imprisonment for a period of three to eight years.51 However, depending on the 

circumstances, the term of imprisonment may be increased. Thus, trafficking in children, 

trafficking committed by two or more persons or by a group of persons with a prior conspiracy, 

and trafficking committed by an official through abuse of his/her authority are all punishable for 

a term of five to twelve years’ imprisonment.52 Trafficking committed in combination with 

violence endangering the life or health of the victim or his/her close relatives, or in combination 

45 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 417 of May 23, 2012, on Approval of the Procedure for the 

Declaration of the Status of a Victim of Trafficking in Human Beings, http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/417-

2012-%D0%BF (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/N7P3-LWVG.

46 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 303 of April 18, 2012, on Approval of the Establishment and 

Operations of the Unified State Registry of Crimes in Trafficking in Human Beings, http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/ 

laws/show/303-2012-%D0%BF/paran9#n9 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/BJ96-8U5Z.

47 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 1053-p of October 7, 2015, on Approval of the State Social 

Program for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings for the Period Until 2020, http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/ 

laws/show/1053-2015-%D1%80 (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/5XLA-33VV.

48 Id.

49 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 1, supra note 25

(translation by authors). 

50 Criminal Code of Ukraine, Law No. 2341-III of April 5, 2001, with the Latest Amendments of Nov. 26, 2015, art.

149, http://zakon5.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2341-14/page (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/T55L-DZAF.

51 Id.

52 Id. art. 149.2.

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with threats of such violence; trafficking committed by an organized group; and trafficking 

causing grave consequences are punishable by imprisonment for a term of eight to fifteen

years.53 When any of these aggravating circumstances are present, the court may also order the 

forfeiture of property as a supplementary sanction.

54

Ukrainian legislation defines “victim of human trafficking” as “[a]ny natural person who has 

been subjected to trafficking in human beings and who has been declared a victim thereof.”55 To 

obtain the status of a victim of human trafficking, the applicant needs to have a mandatory 

interview with the local state administration in the territory where the trafficking victim was 

identified and complete a special questionnaire. After these steps, the Ministry of Social Policy 

considers the case and decides whether to grant the status of human trafficking victim.56 The 

person who receives such status has a right to receive payment of a one-time benefit in the

amount of a subsistence minimum amount, which is today UAH1,330 (approximately US$55).57

The status of victim of human trafficking is granted for two years. It can be renewed once for no

more than one year.58

Persons recognized as victims of human trafficking are entitled to receive

• information about their rights and responsibilities in their native language;

• medical, psychological, social, and legal assistance;

• access to housing in the centers of temporary accommodation for up to three months, which

can be extended; 

• compensation for moral and material damages from the perpetrator;

• payment of a one-time benefit in the amount of a subsistence minimum payment; and

• vocational training and job placement assistance.59

53 Id. art. 149.3.

54 Id. arts. 149.2., 149.3.

55 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 1, supra note 25.

56 Id. art. 15; Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 417 of May 23, 2012, on Approval of the Procedure 

for the Declaration of the Status of a Victim of Trafficking in Human Beings, supra note 45.

57 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 660 of July 25, 2012, on Approval of the Procedure for Payment 

of a One-Time Benefit to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, supra note 41.

58 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 15.5, supra note 25.

59 Id. art. 16.1.

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In addition to these rights, foreigners and stateless persons who receive the status of a human 

trafficking victim in Ukraine also receive the right to

• free translation service;

• temporary stay in Ukraine for up to three months, which can be extended if necessary, in 

particular in connection with their participation as victims or witnesses in criminal 

proceedings; and

• permanent residence in the territory of Ukraine in the manner prescribed by law.60

Assistance to those affected by human trafficking does not depend on their request for law 

enforcement involvement, their participation in criminal proceedings, or their ability to provide 

identification documents.61

III. Roles and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Fighting

Human Trafficking

According to Ukrainian legislation, the following government entities and officials are 

responsible for combating trafficking in human beings:

• President of Ukraine

• Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

• National executive agencies

• Local state administrations

• Diplomatic institutions of Ukraine abroad

• Institutions providing assistance to victims of trafficking62

Interaction between all of these agencies is governed by the Law on Combating Trafficking in 

Human Beings63 and the Regulation No. 783 on Approval of the Procedure for Interaction of 

Agents for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.64 The main principles of these interactions 

are based on the mutual exchange of information, on the basis of confidentiality, concerning the 

crimes of trafficking in human beings, the premises and causes of such trafficking, methods used 

by the traffickers, and assistance required for victims of trafficking; the exchange of best 

practices in combating trafficking in human beings; the joint development of programs and plans 

60 Id. art. 16.2.

61 Id. art. 16.6.

62 Id. art. 5.

63 Id. art. 16.1.

64 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 783 of August 22, 2012, on Approval of the Procedure for 

Interaction of Agents for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, supra note 44.

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for combating trafficking in human beings; and the joint implementation of measures aimed at 

combating trafficking in human beings.65

The Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine performs the role of national coordinator of actions

aimed at fighting human trafficking.

66 The Ministry’s Department for Family, Gender Policy, 

and Combating Human Trafficking67 is responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking activities on 

a daily basis.68 The Ministry of Social Policy, as mentioned in Part I, is also responsible for the 

formal recognition of victims of human trafficking, including granting the status of a victim. 

As of July 7, 2015, ninety-four people, including eighty-eight Ukrainian nationals and six 

foreigners (citizens of Pakistan, Moldova, and the Russian Federation) possessed the status of

human trafficking victims.69

The National Police of Ukraine is the main law enforcement agency involved in discovering

crimes of human trafficking, identifying victims of trafficking and traffickers, and prosecuting

the latter. For this purpose, the police conduct investigations and searches; perform 

administrative, procedural, informational, and other activities; and carry out research.

70

Since 2012, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has maintained the Unified State Registry of Crimes 

in Trafficking in Human Beings.71 This Registry consists of a database that includes the 

personal data of the victims of human trafficking and their perpetrators in Ukraine.72 Statistical 

information contained in the Registry is publicly available on the official website of the Ministry

of Internal Affairs.

73

In May 2000 the Ministry of Internal Affairs created departments to combat crimes related to the 

sale of people abroad for sexual and labor exploitation, pornography, prostitution, and 

65 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 13.4, supra note 25.

66 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 29 of January 18, 2012, on the National Coordinator on 

Combating Human Trafficking, supra note 43. 

67 Structure of the Central Office of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, MINISTRY OF SOCIAL POLICY OF 

UKRAINE, http://www.mlsp.gov.ua/labour/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=160863&cat_id=160862 (in Ukrainian; 

last visited Jan. 17, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/CCL6-XU4T.

68 Combating Trafficking in Human Beings: Reports and Statistics, MINISTRY OF SOCIAL POLICY OF UKRAINE, 

http://www.mlsp.gov.ua/labour/control/uk/publish/category?cat_id=160722 (in Ukrainian; last visited Jan. 17, 

2016), archived at https://perma.cc/S4A5-ZTNW.

69 Status of Implementation of the State Policy for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, MINISTRY OF SOCIAL 

POLICY OF UKRAINE (July 30, 2015), http://www.mlsp.gov.ua/labour/control/uk/publish/article;jsessionid=63641F 

9EA0BF2550CC9911A536CB0DE6.app1?art_id=180048&cat_id=160722 (in Ukrainian), archived at 

https://perma.cc/RQA2-89AH.

70 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011 on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 11, supra note 25.

71 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Regulation No. 303 of April 18, 2012 on Approval of the Establishment and 

Operations of the Unified State Registry of Crimes in Trafficking in Human Beings, supra note 46.

72 Id. art. 2,3,4.

73 Id. art. 8.

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panhandling.74 Several departmental reorganizations have occurred during the past fourteen 

years. In 2014, according to Order No. 1074 of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, the 

Department for Combating Crimes Related to Human Trafficking was created.75 This 

Department is the structural unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and belongs to the 

Criminal Police.76

According to statistic of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from January to June 2015, eighty 

criminal offenses under article 149 (human trafficking) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine were 

registered. Eighty-six victims of trafficking in human beings (fifty-six women, twenty-six men, 

and four minors) were found.77

Another law enforcement agency involved in the investigation of facts surrounding human 

trafficking is the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. This Service monitors transportation 

means used by commercial shipping agents, controls passports and other documents that grant 

entry into and exit from the country, and prepares documents granting the right of stay in or 

return to Ukraine. The State Border Guard Service repatriates foreigners and stateless persons

who became victims of trafficking in human beings and forcibly deports from Ukraine foreigners 

and stateless persons guilty of violations of the laws, including laws on trafficking in

human beings.78

During the first six months of 2015, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine suppressed the 

activity of twenty-three “channels of illegal migration” and prosecuted illegal activities of sixtyeight people. Six Ukrainian nationals and two citizens of Poland were arrested for organizing 

five channels of human trafficking in four regions of the country.

79

Local state administrations have a coordinating role in implementing anti-trafficking activities. 

According to the Law on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, victims of human trafficking 

should submit an application to the local state administration, which is responsible for providing 

assistance and protection and referring the application to the Ministry of Social Policy. In 

addition, local state administrations are tasked with collecting statistical information concerning 

victims of human trafficking and transmitting this information to the Ministry of Social Policy.

80

74 Department Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE, http://www.npu.gov.ua/ 

uk/publish/article/956734 (in Ukrainian; last visited Jan. 18, 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/8PGW-3WSP.

75 Ministry of the Internal Affairs Order No. 1074 of October 14, 2014, on Approval of Department for Combating 

Crimes Related to Human Trafficking, supra note 42.

76 Id.

77 Status of Implementation of the State Policy for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, MINISTRY OF SOCIAL 

POLICY OF UKRAINE, supra note 69.

78 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 7.1.10, supra note 25.

79 Operational Divisions Border Agency Suspended the Activity of 28 Channels of Illegal Migration and Human 

Trafficking, STATE BORDER GUARD SERVICE OF UKRAINE (May 28, 2015), http://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/about/ 

news/news_7268.htm (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/35KY-HT5X.

80 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011, on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 8, supra note 25.

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The Ukrainian Government plans to spend UAH 1,844,000 (approximately US$75,000) from the 

state budget to fund this program. Expenditures from local budgets will be UAH 219,226 

(approximately US$9,000) per year.81

IV. Government-Supported Training Programs for Law Enforcement Personnel

The State Social Program for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings requires periodic 

professional training for public employees, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers who

work with victims of human trafficking.82

GRETA has reported that since 2009, the Ministry of Social Policy, with the support of the 

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) office in Ukraine, has carried out 

600 seminars, 234 training sessions, and 170 special courses (lectures and practice sessions) on 

combating human trafficking in different parts of the country.83

The Institute for Continuing Education of Civil Servants organizes trainings four times a year to 

improve the professional level of specialists working in centers of social services for families, 

children, and youth. These programs are devoted to human trafficking and assistance for its 

victims. In 2013, according to GRETA, 3,568 government employees who provide assistance, 

rehabilitation, and social reintegration services to victims of human trafficking received training. 

Topics included representation of the interests of victims, assistance in obtaining legal aid, 

maintenance of the standards for providing social services, and securing the confidentiality of

personal data.84 In 2014 some 10,000 employees of state agencies, local government bodies, 

state enterprises, and institutions and organizations that work in the field of combating 

trafficking in human beings attended classes at regional centers for professional retraining and 

advanced training.85

In 2014, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine—in cooperation with the IOM; the Ministry of 

Education and Science of Ukraine; and the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and 

Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine—organized the regional informational campaign 

“Your Safe Way to the Dream.” The goal of this initiative was to increase public awareness of 

the risks of falling into a situation of trafficking in human beings and to prevent the various 

forms of trafficking in human beings. This campaign was aimed at young people, women and 

men aged sixteen to thirty-five, unemployed persons, and potential migrants who are searching

for a better life or work abroad and often become the victims of trafficking in human beings.86

81 Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 1053-p of October 7, 2015, supra note 47.

82 Id. 

83 GRETA, supra note 10, at 20.

84 Id.

85 Status of Implementation of the State Policy for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, MINISTRY OF SOCIAL 

POLICY OF UKRAINE, supra note 69.

86 European Commission, Fifth Progress Report on Ukraine’s Implementation of the Action Plan on Visa 

Liberalization, COM (2015) 200 final (May, 8, 2015), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri= 

CELEX%3A52015SC0104, archived at https://perma.cc/XC5J-H4WW.

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In April 2012 the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted training on human trafficking for twelve

participants at the National Academy of Internal Affairs and in 2013 for twenty-six participants 

in the National Academy’s Institute for Postgraduate Education and thirty participants in the 

Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. In addition, sixty employees of the territorial 

police units participated in a series of workshops entitled “Capacity Building of Law 

Enforcement Agencies in Identifying and Investigating Human Trafficking Cases” in Odessa and 

Ivano-Frankivsk in 2013.87

With the support of the IOM Mission in Ukraine a number of handbooks and guidelines on

human trafficking have been published. Among them are practical materials for the Border 

Guard Service, law enforcement personnel, and judges;88 recommendations on the security of 

participants in criminal proceedings for human trafficking;89 a textbook for judges on the 

proceedings in criminal cases of human trafficking;90 and a guide for employees of the State 

Migration Service of Ukraine on identifying, documenting, and legally detaining foreigners and 

stateless persons who are victims of trafficking.

91

V. Training Conducted by Nongovernmental Organizations

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) are also involved in implementing measures aimed at 

combating trafficking in human beings in Ukraine.

92

The All-Ukrainian Coalition of NGOs for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings consists of 

twenty-eight NGOs from different parts of the country. They perform awareness-raising 

activities for the general public and target groups such as school children, students, people in 

economically depressed areas, migrant workers, etc. They also provide training on human 

trafficking to different groups of professionals.93

87 GRETA, supra note 10, at 20.

88 M. VASILEVA ET AL., UKRAINE AS A COUNTRY OF DESTINATION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING: MATERIALS FOR 

PRACTICAL USE FOR BORDER GUARD SERVICE, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND JUDGES (2012), http://iom.org. 

ua/sites/default/files/krayina_pryzn4_layout_1.pdf (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/J4S7-2773.

89 V. KASKO & A. ORLEAN, THE SECURITY OF PARTICIPANTS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING

(2012), http://www.iom.org.ua/sites/default/files/121017_mom_ensuring_safety_brochure_a5.pdf (in Ukrainian), 

archived at https://perma.cc/GML5-BJVP.

90 A. ORLEAN ET AL., A MANUAL FOR JUDGES ON THE PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

FOR THE PURPOSE OF LABOR EXPLOITATION (2014), http://www.iom.org.ua/sites/default/files/posibnik_ 

dlya_suddiv.pdf (in Ukrainian), archived at https://perma.cc/9PGE-5ER7.

91 S. GUBSKY ET AL., GUIDE FOR EMPLOYEES OF STATE MIGRATION SERVICE OF UKRAINE ON FEATURES 

IDENTIFYING, DOCUMENTING AND PROVIDING LEGAL STAY OF FOREIGNERS AND STATELESS PERSONS – VICTIMS OF 

TRAFFICKING (2013), http://www.iom.org.ua/sites/default/files/posibnik_dlya_dms_mom.pdf (in Ukrainian), 

archived at https://perma.cc/2RF6-G64R.

92 Law No. 3739-VI of September 20, 2011 on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings art. 5.2, supra note 25.

93 European Commission, Sixth Progress Report on Ukraine’s Implementation of the Action Plan on Visa 

Liberalization, COM (2015) 905 final (Dec, 18, 2015), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/? 

uri=CELEX%3A52015SC0705, archived at https://perma.cc/J795-DE9J.

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One of the most active NGOs in the anti-trafficking field in Ukraine is the International 

Women’s Rights Center La Strada Ukraine. The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine officially 

registered this organization in 1998.94 La Strada Ukraine conducts research, carries out 

preventive activities, provides assistance to victims, prepares reports on implementing the 

national anti-trafficking program, and issues recommendations for improving anti-trafficking 

policy. This NGO operates a toll-free telephone hotline for victims and potential victims of 

trafficking.95 La Strada Ukraine also provides training to law enforcement officers, social 

workers, labor inspectors, and other specialists working in the anti-trafficking area. In

cooperation with partners from Georgia and Armenia, La Strada Ukraine has conducted a 

training for law enforcement officers and social workers that involved a distance-learning course 

on the prevention of human trafficking and illegal migration and a training course for social 

workers in the anti-trafficking and irregular migration areas. This training focused on social 

work with adult and child victims of human trafficking, including behavior models and the 

occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorders among such victims, as well as management 

techniques for dealing with such cases.96 During the period 2010–2012, La Strada Ukraine, in 

cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Network Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of 

Children, conducted ten training sessions for social workers and police officers specializing in

children’s issues. They were trained how to interview child victims of trafficking and sexual 

offenses and provide victims with assistance. Overall, La Strada Ukraine has provided training 

through its national trainer’s network in thirteen provinces of Ukraine to more than 90,000 

educational and social professionals and more than 220,000 school children.97

94 LA STRADA UKRAINE, http://www.la-strada.org.ua/, in Ukrainian, Russian and English; last visited Jan. 20, 2016), 

archived at https://perma.cc/22E7-JF8Z.

95 Id.

96 GRETA, supra note 10, at 20.

97 Id.

The Law Library of Congress 145

 
Bibliography

Constance A. Johnson

Senior Legal Research Analyst

SUMMARY This bibliography contains selected English-language materials published in the last 

decade that discuss legal aspects of human trafficking from either a comparative or an 

international perspective.

ALLAIN, JEAN. SLAVERY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: OF HUMAN EXPLOITATION AND TRAFFICKING. 

428 pp. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2013. KZ7155.A43 2013

ASKOLA, HELI. LEGAL RESPONSES TO TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN 

THE EUROPEAN UNION. 218 pp. Portland, Or.: Hart, 2007. KJE8781.H86A85 2007

Buscaglia, Edgardo. Containing Human Trafficking Through State and Non-State Actors in THE 

TRANSNATIONAL GOVERNANCE OF VIOLENCE AND CRIME: NON-STATE ACTORS IN 

SECURITY. pp. 149–71. Anja P. Jakobi & Klaus Dieter Wolf, eds. New York, NY: 

Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. HV7431.T73 2013

CEPEDA, ISBEL PÉREZ & DEMELSA BENITO SÁNCHEZ. TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: A

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL DOCUMENTS. 103 pp. Groningen: 

Europa Law Publishing, 2014. K5297.P47 2014

COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. 121 pp. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and 

Crime, 2009. K5295.C66 2009

David, Pauline, Legal advisor. ASEAN HANDBOOK ON INTERNATIONAL LEGAL COOPERATION IN 

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS CASES. 1 CD-ROM. Jakarta, Indonesia: ASEAN Secretariat, 

2012. KNC982.H86D385 2012

ELLIOTT, JESSICA. THE ROLE OF CONSENT IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 268 pp. New York, NY:

Routledge, 2015. K5297.E43 2015

FORCED LABOUR AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 2 v. Geneva: Special Action Programme to 

Combat Forced Labour, International Labour Office, 2008. HD4875.Z33

Gallagher, Anne T. Human Trafficking: A Brief Introduction to Issues of Responsibility and 

Accountability, in DUE DILIGENCE AND ITS APPLICATION TO PROTECT WOMEN FROM 

VIOLENCE. pp. 193–202. Carin Benninger-Budel, ed. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff 

Publishers, 2008. K3243.D84 2008

GALLAGHER, ANNE T. THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 535 pp. New York: 

Cambridge University Press, 2010. KZ7155.G35 2010

The Law Library of Congress 146
Training Related to Combatting Human Trafficking: Bibliography

GALLAGHER, ANNE T & FIONA DAVID. THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF MIGRANT SMUGGLING. 783 

pp. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. KZ7155.G357 2014

Guild, Elspeth & Paul Minderhoud, eds. IMMIGRATION AND CRIMINAL LAW IN THE EUROPEAN 

UNION: THE LEGAL MEASURES AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CRIMINAL LAW IN 

MEMBER STATES ON TRAFFICKING AND SMUGGLING IN HUMAN BEINGS. 424 pp. Boston: 

Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006. KJC8855.G85 2006

Jonsson, Anna, ed. HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND HUMAN SECURITY. 175 pp. New York: 

Routledge, 2009. HQ281.H865 2009

KINNU, GUNJAN. FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL 

REGIME ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 137 pp. New Delhi: National Human Rights 

Commission, 2006. K5295.K56 2006

KNEEBONE, SUSAN & JULIE DEBELJAK. TRANSNATIONAL CRIME AND HUMAN RIGHTS:

RESPONSES TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE GREATER MEKONG SUBREGION. 276 pp. 

New York, NY: Routledge, 2012. KNC982.H86K58 2012

MAṬAR, MUḤAMMAD YAḤYÁ. COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL APPROACHES TO COMBATING 

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: AN INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. 58 pp. 

Washington D.C.: John Hopkins University. Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced 

International Studies. Protection Project, 2006. K5295 .M383 2006

REGIONAL STUDY FOR THE HARMONIZATION OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN 

INDIA, BANGLADESH, AND NEPAL WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS: DEVELOPING 

RIGHTS BASED APPROACH FOR ANTI-TRAFFICKING ACTIONS IN SOUTH ASIA. 299 pp. 

Kathmandu: Kathmandu School of Law in cooperation with TDH Consortium, SALS 

Forum, 2007. KNC982.H86R45 2007

Roth, Venla, ed. DEFINING HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND IDENTIFYING ITS VICTIMS: A STUDY ON 

THE IMPACT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND FINNISH 

LEGAL RESPONSES TO PROSTITUTION-RELATED TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS. 370 pp. 

Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012. K5297.R68 2012

SCARPA, SILVIA. TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS: MODERN SLAVERY. 230 pp. New York, NY: 

Oxford University Press, 2008. HQ281.S28 2008

Scott, Charles R. & Alexander D. Chase, eds. HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN EUROPE AND EURASIA:

PREVENTION, PROTECTION, AND VICTIM ASSISTANCE. 181 pp. New York, NY: Nova 

Science Publishers, 2011. HQ281.H8686 2011

Segrave, Marie, ed. HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 565 pp. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate 

Publishing Limited, 2013. K5297.H859 2013

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Training Related to Combatting Human Trafficking: Bibliography

Taylor, S. Caroline, Daniel Joseph Torpy, & Dilip K. Das, eds. POLICING GLOBAL MOVEMENT:

TOURISM, MIGRATION, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, AND TERRORISM. 260 pp. Boca Raton, FL: 

CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. G155.A1P645 2013

TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS AND PEACE-SUPPORT OPERATIONS: PRE-DEPLOYMENT/INSERVICE TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW-ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL:

TRAINING MANUAL. 1 CD-ROM. 2nd ed. New York, NY: United Nations Interregional 

Crime and Justice Research Institute, UNICRI, 2006.

See reference staff in Library of Congress, Jefferson Main RR

Winterdyk, John, Philip Reichel, & Benjamin Perrin, eds. HUMAN TRAFFICKING: EXPLORING 

THE INTERNATIONAL NATURE, CONCERNS, AND COMPLEXITIES. 306 pp. Boca Raton, FL: 

CRC Press, 2012. K5297.H86 2012

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