It’s fascinating to see how countries all over Europe have been implementing the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (“the Trafficking Convention”). The ten points below will give you a flavour of what is in the 83-page Report. You can check out the details for yourself by reading GRETA’s Annual Report here.
GRETA is the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. It was set up in 2009 to monitor the implementation of the Trafficking Convention. Their annual report, published today, covers the activities of GRETA from 1 January to 31 December 2017.
Below are some of the key findings taken from the Report:
1 – Labour exploitation (or identification of it) is increasing: “All countries indicated an upward trend of labour exploitation over the years” (p. 38). There tend to be more men than women identified as victims of labour exploitation. Men are exploited primarily in agriculture, construction, the hospitality industry, manufacturing, fisheries and cleaning services. Time to get clued up on the signs of human trafficking and be the eyes and ears of our communities.
2 – The importance of raising awareness: “Raising awareness of trafficking for labour exploitation, how to avoid it and where to look for assistance is important as many people still lack information about this phenomenon” (p. 43). Increased awareness about trafficking would help to tackle the lack of successful prosecutions and convictions for trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation identified by GRETA (p. 66). GRETA also recommends assessing the impact of awareness-raising initiatives in order to plan future campaigns effectively.
“In the UK, GRETA was informed that knowledge of human trafficking was uneven amongst judges, leading to judgments where the forced labour irregular migrants were subjected to was weighed against their irregular migration status.” Also in the UK, “victims of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour, including domestic servitude, are frequently turned away from police stations when they report withheld passports or wages because these are seen as civil claims and there is insufficient awareness about the situation of trafficking for forced labour.” One way to tackle a lack of awareness in the criminal justice system is to take a leaf from Belgium’s anti-trafficking book: Belgium has “labour prosecutors specialised in the investigation and prosecution of cases of human trafficking for economic exploitation” which GRETA considers “instrumental” in tackling this form of trafficking.UK/ Belgium case studies (click for details)
3 – Build networks between anti-trafficking agencies, NGOs and trade unions: GRETA recommends multidisciplinary training to allow different agencies to come together and exchange experiences in tackling trafficking for labour exploitation. “The professionals targeted for such training should include labour inspectors, tax and customs authorities, police officers, prosecutors, judges, border guards, migration officials, consular staff, social workers, local/municipal government officials, NGOs, trade unions, private employment agencies and companies” (p.46). GRETA also highlights the capacity of trade unions to promote the prevention of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation (p. 43).
4 – Vulnerable groups: GRETA highlights those groups particularly vulnerable to trafficking for labour exploitation which include migrant workers, domestic and care workers, the fishing industry and children, particularly from the Roma community, who work in street situations (p. 51). GRETA goes into the details for these particular vulnerabilities in the Report, citing for example a lack of status in society and lack of protection against deportation in the case of migrant workers (p. 48) and gaps in labour inspection of private households in the case of domestic and care workers (p. 48). The difficulties in exposing trafficking of domestic workers, often hidden from plain sight in private households, makes it particularly important to raise awareness of trafficking among victims and build trust so that victims feel they can report their situation to others, including the police.
“In Switzerland, employment contracts of domestic workers in diplomatic households must follow a model contract and be signed before the person’s arrival in Switzerland. Contracts are checked by consular officials during an individual interview which must take place to obtain a visa to enter Switzerland. During the interview, domestic workers are informed about their rights and obligations, and standards of working conditions. Once the domestic workers are in Switzerland, they can meet officials from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs during which they are informed that they can contact the authorities in case of difficulties with their employers. During both interviews, officials must make sure in particular that they have fully understood the terms of their work contract. They can turn to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs or the office of the mediator (bureau de l’amiable compositeur) which has been set up in Geneva to resolve conflicts involving persons benefiting from diplomatic privileges and immunities.” (p. 50)Here’s a fascinating example of how Switzerland seeks to prevent trafficking of domestic workers (click here for details).
5 – Labour inspections: GRETA recommends “expanding the capacity and mandate of labour inspectors so that they can be actively engaged in the prevention of trafficking, including in private households, and by ensuring that training and sufficient resources are made available to labour inspectors to fulfil their mandate. With a view to preventing trafficking, the regulatory systems concerning migrants working as domestic and care workers should be reviewed.”
In the UK’s case, “GRETA noted that since 2010, the resources of different inspectorates had been significantly reduced and, as a result, there had been a reduction in the number of proactive labour inspections. The GLAA carries out compliance inspections and holds extensive criminal law powers to ensure effective investigations.”
6 – Use of the Internet in trafficking: “There exists a growing trend of recruitment via the Internet, including on social media, through which a larger number of potential victims can be targeted” (p. 40).
7 – Expanding criminal law: The majority of the 25 Parties to the Trafficking Convention so far evaluated have made laws which criminalise the use of the services of victims of trafficking where the user knows the person is a victim. GRETA says this can increase public awareness of human trafficking issues, in addition to having a punitive function.
8 – Shelters: “In several countries, there are still no shelters or crisis centres providing assistance to male victims of trafficking. GRETA is concerned by this continuing lacuna, which is all the more worrying given the increasing number of male victims” (p. 63).
9 – Corporate liability: “Only five of the 25 countries evaluated so far under the second evaluation round have reported cases in which corporate liability was invoked in human trafficking cases (Belgium, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and the UK)” (p. 69). In the UK, a prosecution in February 2016 saw the first conviction of a company director under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, involving a conspiracy to traffic for forced labour in which the company director of two bed-making factories knew or ought to have known that the workers he employed were victims of human trafficking (R v “R”, “P” & “D” [2015] EWCA Crim 2079).
10 – Compensation information: “There is in general a scarcity of available information on compensation awarded to victims of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation” (p. 63).
Commentary
GRETA’s Report provides an insightful overview of the plethora of measures undertaken by signatory parties in order to implement provisions of the Council of Europe Trafficking Convention. As human trafficking is a global problem, we would do well to learn from the experiences of other countries in tackling this modern scourge on society. There is a general sense from the Report that much still needs to be done to improve awareness of the need to protect trafficking victims, not only from their traffickers but also the criminal justice system. On a happy note, as is clear from pages 18-23 of the Report, progress has been made among many signatory parties in areas where GRETA has previously provided recommendations.
UK Human Trafficking Law Blog 