UN: First Annual Report from the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking

OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - On 12 March 2009 the United Nations Human Rights Council heard the first annual report report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (A/HRC/10/16), which provides a global perspective of the trafficking phenomenon and its trends, forms and manifestations.

The report highlights the need for a victims-centered approach to address trafficking in persons. It states:

"Trafficking in persons results in cumulative breaches of human rights, and this correlation needs to be recognized in any intervention effort. As far as the mandate of the Special Rapporteur is concerned, the real challenge is not just in adopting strategies that will effectively lead to catching the perpetrators and punishing them. Rather, it is preferable to put in place strategies that will focus equally on the victim by recognizing and redressing the violations suffered, empowering the victim to speak out without being doubly victimized, jeopardized or stigmatized, while at the same time targeting the root causes of human trafficking. The strategies must be people-centred, bearing in mind that human trafficking is about persons whose basic right to live free particularly from fear and want is under constant threat. We must recognize the dignity of the victims and their right to survival and development. Thus, restorative justice is central to combating human trafficking." ...

READ THE FULL REPORT AT OHCHR.org