On 1 February 2008, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings became legally binding. Defend International welcomes the entry into force of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. This is a major step forward in the fight against this modern form of slavery.

 

DI Welcomes European Convention Against Human Trafficking

Oslo-Norway, April 15, 2008 /Defend International/ — Defend International welcomed the entry into force of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

On 1 February 2008, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings became legally binding. Most European countries have taken the first steps to ratify the first European treaty in this field, with the UK having already announced its intention to complete the ratification by the end of 2008.

This is major step forward in the fight against this modern form of slavery. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that some 2.45 million people, most of them women and children are victims of trafficking around the world. Around 43% of the total are trapped in commercial sexual exploitation, while around one-third are exploited in agriculture, sweatshops and private households (1).

“Human trafficking has become a global business and exists right here in our own backyards. Implementing this convention will help ensure that Europe plays its full role in providing support to international efforts aimed at addressing human trafficking. It is the first legally binding European instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons, in particular, the rights of those who have been trafficked or sold,” said Defend International co-founder Dr Widad.

“Non-signatory States have the opportunity of acceding to the Convention at any time. We encourage our members and member organisations to push their governments to ratify this Convention and bring it into force. Human trafficking must be stopped, and traffickers have to be prosecuted. We have to safeguard the rights of children who are sold, trafficked or exploited by means of prostitution, and we have to set out comprehensive measures to make sure that they are treated as victims of these offences,” she added.

 

Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings

The Council of Europe is a pan-European organisation with 47 member states. On 1 February 2008, the ground-breaking Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, entered into force. This is a significant achievement and a major step forward in the fight against this modern form of slavery (2).

 

Ratification of Convention on Action against Human Trafficking

The first 16 states to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against trafficking in Human Beings are: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia,  Latvia, Malta, Moldova,  Norway,  Portugal,  Romania and Slovakia (3).

The Convention has been signed by 22 other Council of Europe member states: Andorra, Armenia, Belgium, Finland,  Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Ukraine and the United Kingdom (3).

On 6 March 2008, Latvia deposited the instrument of ratification thereby bringing to 16 the number of member states to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. For Latvia the Convention will enter into force on 1 July 2008 (3).

 

Monitoring Mechanism

The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings which will monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings will be set up within one year following the entry into force of the Convention on 1 February 2008 (4). The composition and working methods of this independent human rights monitoring mechanism were the subject of a high-level conference involving Council of Europe member states, observer countries, other international organisations and NGOs in Strasbourg on 8-9 November 2007. This Conference was organised by the Gender Equality and Anti-Trafficking Division of the Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs.