On October 8th, 2014, Dr. Myria Vassiliadou, EU Anti-Trafficking Co-Ordinator, was invited by the Department of Justice, Northern Ireland, and the Law Centre to give an over view of human trafficking based on her experiences in Brussels. I will summarise the main points of her excellent presentation.

Human trafficking is basically about buying and selling people and their services, hence people are seen as commodities for trading.  How and why does it happen?   It happens because there is a demand and traffickers make a profit; the root cause therefore is profit and demand, not necessarily poverty, vulnerability etc. although there may be a connection.  People go where there is a demand. It is a human rights violation and Article 5 of the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights specifically mentions the responsibility on all to act against human trafficking.

The EU Directive against Trafficking (2011/36/EU) covers prevention, protection and prosecution.  The role of the EU Anti – Trafficking Co-Ordinator is to co-ordinate  the efforts of member states, to collate data and monitor  the implementation by the  member states of the new and integrated, “EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings (2012 – 2016)”, as well as to provide overall strategic policy orientation for the EU states.  From 2008 – 2010 two thirds of the identified victims were EU citizens and most of the traffickers were EU citizens. There were few prosecutions or convictions. The EU report, 2010 – 2012, published in October 2014, shows a slight improvement.

Three of the five priorities identified in the EU Strategy were:

1. Identifying, protecting and assisting victims of trafficking
2. Stepping up the prevention of trafficking in human beings
3. Increased prosecution of traffickers

The trafficker’s annual profits amounts to 32 billion dollars – it is the 2nd biggest source of illicit profits for criminals after the drugs trade. While the EU Directive against Trafficking (2011/36/EU) has been adopted by all member states its implementation is slow.

There is a structural element in trafficking, namely a gender issue, in that 80 per cent of the identified victims involved in trafficking are women and girls (there are many victims who are not identified).   Hence it is violence against women.  According to the EU research the majority of identified women had previously been exploited in the prostitution industry – working in all sectors.

There are also male victims of human trafficking being exploited in the labour market and there are few resources in place to help them i.e. no shelters, little support and little recognition. The EU strategy puts equal emphasis on all forms of exploitation.  Children are the worst victims and need to come under child protection systems e.g.  guardianship etc.

‘To discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking, each member state/Party shall adopt or strengthen legislative, administrative, educational, social, cultural or other measures.’ Art. 5.

The issue of demand needs to come to the forefront; behind every victim there is not only a perpetrator but also a user- clients, customers, users etc.  So the challenge is to take actions to reduce demand. Anyone who knowingly uses the services of those trafficked is to be criminalised (2009). If someone knowingly employs the services of someone trafficked it is criminal behaviour. A lot takes place on the internet – big advertising and recruitment campaigns where victims looking for better lives, work, partners etc. are deceived. There is a difference between illegal immigration, people smuggling and human trafficking, although there can be overlap at times.

While there has been an increase in creating awareness of human trafficking, the key question is what type of awareness is effective in changing attitudes and behaviour.

For further information see the site entitled ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking on the internet.

Helena Daly rsm
Northern Province