On the occasion of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) joins the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Human Beings (ICAT) in calling for concerted measures to reduce the vulnerability of children to trafficking, provide specialised assistance to child victims, and end the impunity of traffickers.
Referring to the "Call for accelerated action by 2025 to prevent and end child trafficking", ICAT’s statement stresses that with one in three identified victims of trafficking globally being a child, efforts to prevent and end child trafficking are still insufficient to make a tangible difference. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the prevention of child trafficking and the assistance and protection of child victims are an integral part of child protection systems and, in case of conflicts and crisis situations, are streamlined into humanitarian co-ordination structures and responses, particularly for unaccompanied and separated children.
"A child-sensitive approach is reflected throughout the Council of Europe's Anti-Trafficking Convention, which requires States Parties to take specific measures to protect children and reduce their vulnerability to trafficking, in particular by creating a protective environment for them," said Helga Gayer, President of GRETA. "Children who are victims of trafficking are frequently treated as offenders and punished for crimes they were forced to commit, such as theft or drug-related offences. States must live up to their legal obligations relating to the rights of victims of trafficking. This includes improving the proactive identification of child victims of trafficking, including in the online environment, and strengthening multi-disciplinary co-operation to ensure the respect of the best interests of the child at all stages," stressed GRETA’s President.
GRETA’s monitoring of the Convention has paid particular attention to the development of prevention measures targeting children in the most vulnerable situations, such as children whose births have not been registered, children in street situations, children placed in or leaving institutions, children from disadvantaged communities, unaccompanied and separated children and asylum-seeking children. GRETA has stressed the urgent need for increasing the measures to prevent online recruitment of children, including by co-operating with Internet service providers and raising the awareness of children, parents and education professionals of the risk of recruitment of children through the Internet. Moreover, GRETA’s reports have highlighted gaps in the identification of child victims of trafficking and the provision of assistance to them. An area of particular concern is the absence of long-term support to ensure the reintegration of child victims of trafficking.
GRETA’s stocktaking of the third evaluation round of the Convention, which had a thematic focus on access to justice and effective remedies for victims of trafficking, paid particular attention to child-sensitive procedures for obtaining access to justice and remedies. The issue of addressing vulnerabilities to trafficking in human beings, including those of children, is at the focus of the ongoing fourth evaluation round of monitoring the implementation of the Anti-Trafficking Convention by GRETA.
GRETA calls upon State Parties to the Convention to live up to their legal obligations relating to the rights and treatment of child victims of trafficking, which includes their proactive identification and referral to specialised assistance, the prompt appointment of legal guardians to unaccompanied children, and full respect of the non-punishment provision.
GRETA is responsible for evaluating compliance with the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the States Parties. It is the only independent group of experts to monitor the implementation of binding international legal provisions in this field. The Convention entered into force in 2008 and has been ratified by all 46 member States of the Council of Europe, as well as two non-member States, Belarus and Israel.
The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) is a UN policy forum mandated by the General Assembly resolution 61/180 to improve coordination and cooperation among UN agencies and other relevant international organisations to facilitate a holistic and comprehensive approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons, including protection and support for victims and survivors. Since 2018, the Council of Europe has been a partner of ICAT.
