Maria Grazia Giammarinaro: Scotland's Move to Protect Victims of Modern Slave Trade Is Model for the World

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/maria-grazia-giammarinaro/scotlands-move-to-protect_b_3284739.html

Source: Huffington Post UK

16/05/2013 11:30

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro

Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Last month, Scotland's police made a radical policy shift, announcing they would no longer seek to prosecute people brought to the UK to work against their will. This shift is crucial: a "victim focused" approach is needed, if we want to achieve better results in the fight against human trafficking, which is nothing more than a modern-day version of slavery.

Scotland's move towards "non-punishment" of victims is a major milestone in the ongoing effort to combat human trafficking, a grave violation of human rights and a growing social injustice. It is a move that I applaud. As Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world's largest regional security organisation, I see this as a model that needs to be widely followed.

People who are being trafficked to work without a salary in inhuman conditions in agriculture or construction or domestic work, or to be sexually exploited, or to commit crimes such as pickpocketing or drug trafficking are victims. They are compelled to commit crimes such as the use of false documents or the violation of immigration laws. Trafficked people - already the victims of cruel injustice on the part of criminals - are being twice punished for crimes they have not committed voluntarily.

This new approach to protecting the victims is key to guaranteeing the human rights of trafficked people, who have committed crimes only because they have been compelled to do so. It is also an essential step to reducing victims' reluctance to appear in court and helping law enforcement bodies to increase prosecutions.

To understand the injustice of the present situation, you need only look at typical case: a young Vietnamese girl is trafficked to the UK and imprisoned in a guarded cannabis factory where she is made to work long hours without receiving a salary. During a raid, the girl is arrested and prosecuted for drug cultivation, ultimately receiving a 20 month sentence.

First, a court convicts a trafficked girl of a crime she was forced to commit. Second, in treating the victim as a criminal facing deportation upon release, the court eliminated almost any possibility that she will testify against those who trafficked her.

Statistics show that misunderstanding the victim's situation has had a paradoxical effect, jailing people for relatively minor crimes while allowing human traffickers to go free. Last year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that there are 20.9 million people in situations of trafficking and forced labour globally, with around 880,000 in the EU. Separate data compiled by the US Department of State showed that globally there were 7,909 prosecutions for trafficking in 2011, and 3,969 convictions, with 42,291 victims identified. This shows that there are almost no legal consequences for traffickers in the vast majority of cases, and no access to justice for the millions ensnared.

The principle of non-punishment is spelled out in the national legislation of a number of countries and in the Council of Europe's Anti-Trafficking Convention. Now, it is essential that law enforcement bodies and the judiciary uphold this key principle.

Recently, I have led the way by issuing a series of policy and legislative recommendations drafted by a group of leading trafficking experts to help ensure that the principle of non-punishment is applied to trafficking victims. Among our 29 recommendations are several key points:

--The obligation not to punish victims of trafficking, grounded in international law, must be effectively implemented by governments in their criminal justice systems and practices.

--The non-punishment principle includes not only the prohibition to apply criminal sanctions but also the prohibition to detain and prosecute victims, and to apply administrative sanctions. This shield needs to be used to avoid trafficked people being unjustly detained or deported and to ensure that they do not end up with a criminal record, or negative consequences such as restrictions to residency or labour rights.

--Child victims of trafficking are particularly vulnerable. They must be rapidly identified as trafficked children and their best interests considered paramount at all times. Child victims of trafficking shall be provided with appropriate assistance and protection.

-- States should consider adopting an open-ended list of offences typically related to trafficking in human beings.

These recommendations need to be followed, and it is also crucial that judges and law enforcement officials are able to distinguish between a common criminal and a trafficking victim. As I travel around the OSCE region, I make sure to meet judges and law makers to raise their awareness and promote a victim-centred approach to trafficking action that respects the dignity and human rights of the trafficked.

If we do not act to change both legislation and attitudes, it will be impossible to ensure the rights of victims to receive compensation, and to significantly increase the number of convictions in trafficking cases. It is time to act to bring justice to these victims of modern slavery.

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro is the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and a judge at the Criminal Court of Rome.

 

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Interview with OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings

Interview with OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings:


OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Maria Grazia Giammarinaro was interviewed recently ahead of the OSCE seminar on the prevention of trafficking in human beings in the Mediterranean region.

OSCE Special Representative, at Alliance conference in Vienna, says discrimination cause of trafficking

OSCE Special Representative, at Alliance conference in Vienna, says discrimination cause of trafficking

( OSCE) -  The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, at an OSCE-hosted conference, outlined today how discrimination serves as an underlying cause of human trafficking and called for new strategies to fight these injustices.

"Discrimination on any grounds makes people vulnerable to trafficking and offers easy justification for exploitation," Giammarinaro said. "We witness every day the production of xenophobic stereotypes about migrant workers, hampering the perception that they could be victims of a serious crime. Social inclusion is the ultimate goal of our struggle, both in countries of origin and destination."

She said she hoped the Conference would contribute to a vision of anti-trafficking action as part of the human rights discourse with new advocacy strategies that would include lessons from the historical abolitionist movement.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier underlined the link between human rights and trafficking in the OSCE context.

"We cannot afford to underestimate the gravity of discrimination and exploitation as cross-cutting components of trafficking, seriously undermining the core values of the OSCE," he said. "Together we will find better ways to address modern-day slavery through empowerment, non-discrimination and human rights protection, through vigorous implementation of the OSCE commitments."

The OSCE-initiated 12th Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Conference brings together more than 300 senior government officials, national anti-trafficking co-ordinators and rapporteurs, representatives from international and non-governmental organizations, law enforcement agencies and trade unions, as well as employers' organizations and migrants' rights groups. Special guests include Kenneth Morris, president of the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation and UN.GIFT Special Advisor and child trafficking survivor Rani Hong. The director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Janez Lenarčič, the High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, as well as European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Director Morten Kjaerum are also among the high-level speakers at the conference.

Awareness Of Human Trafficking Is Increasing, But 'So Is The Problem'

http://www.rferl.org/content/interview-giammarinaro-osce-human-trafficking/24709444.html#hash=relatedInfoContainer

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the OSCE special representative and coordinator for combating trafficking in human beings, presenting her annual report to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna in December.September 15, 2012

Every day, men, women, and children around the world are stripped of their basic rights and trafficked as sex workers, forced laborers, involuntary servants, or for their organs. The International Labor Organization estimates that human trafficking -- fed by poverty and corruption and facilitated by organized crime -- victimizes more than 20 million people globally.

On the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Economic and Environmental Forum in Prague, RFE/RL correspondent Richard Solash spoke with Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the OSCE special representative for combating trafficking in human beings, on the latest trends in the battle against the epidemic.

RFE/RL: Give us a sense of the overall trajectory of this problem in the OSCE region. Is it getting better? Is it getting worse? Why?

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro: On one hand, I must say that the political will [to fight human trafficking] and the awareness [of it] has increased a lot over the past years, so from this point of view, there is an improvement -- a clear improvement. Countries have legislation, action plans, and schemes for victim assistance. On the other hand, the phenomenon -- the criminal phenomenon -- is really rampant and there's no indication of a decrease. On the contrary, the last estimates issued by [the International Labor Organization] indicate that the phenomenon is increasing, and of course, the response is still not commensurate with the magnitude of the phenomenon.

The phenomenon is not any longer an emergency, as we could think in the 1990s or early 2000s, [when] the idea was that it was an emergency linked mainly with sexual exploitation. Now we are confronted with the fact that there is major labor exploitation, other forms of trafficking, for example organized begging, trafficking for the removal of organs, or to force people to commit crimes. Some women have been used as mules to carry drugs, for example. There are multiple forms now. There is also a continuous demand for cheap labor and a continuous supply of people desperate for money, and this whole situation has been exacerbated from the economic crisis, of course. From this point of view, I would say that the situation is much worse now than a few years ago.

RFE/RL: Do you see a strong enough realization on the part of countries that they not only need to tackle human trafficking, but that they need to tackle what it is a symptom of -- that is, the underlying social issues?

Giammarinaro: Not yet; or not completely. Of course there is awareness that there are root causes contributing to trafficking. Of course, poverty is the first root cause, but I have to say that not always are the poorest of the poor the people targeted by traffickers. For example, young people have dreams and aspirations and [if] they don't find opportunities to pursue their aspirations at home, they are sometimes ready to leave, even in unsafe conditions. There are also other problems -- lack of job opportunities for women; discrimination; marginalization of communities such as the Roma community. There is a very complex array of factors.

What I am trying to promote in [the entire] region, as a special representative of the OSCE, is awareness that if you want to tackle trafficking, you have to tackle all the related policy areas and to deal with the underlying factors, which are, as you said, social issues, mainly.

RFE/RL: What are the notable improvements that have been made by OSCE countries in recent years in the fight against human trafficking? What are the most pressing impediments?

Giammarinaro: As I said, all OSCE countries have in place something like a toolbox. The toolbox now is there. We couldn't say this even five years ago. But now the real challenge is to make full use of these tools and make them work on a large scale, because the massive scale of trafficking is what is new and what we have to deal with now. Impediments -- of course there are many. One of these impediments is that organized crime running the trafficking schemes has become more and more, I would say, sophisticated. These are transnational networks, but composed of small groups that are loosely connected and very specialized. So if there is a successful operation, you catch some of the nodes of the chain, but you don't dismantle the whole chain. Another impediment is definitely corruption. Trafficking couldn't take place on such a scale if there were not corrupt officials and practices at every stage of the trafficking process -- not only at the borders for example, but even in countries of destination.

RFE/RL: How difficult is it for the OSCE to work on this issue in countries with generally closed societies, such as Belarus, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan?

Giammarinaro: We work in all the OSCE countries. We work with governments and the civil society. This is an important, essential part of our work. There's no possibility to work effectively on trafficking without the cooperation of civil society. If civil society is not vibrant or there are restrictions, of course antitrafficking action lacks one of the crucial actors.

RFE/RL: You visited Moldova earlier this week. What is the human trafficking trend there, in Europe's poorest country?

Giammarinaro: In this country, in which anti-trafficking action started, I could say, 10 years ago, now there is a sort of -- and I'm trying to promote it -- a sort of second wave of anti-trafficking action. At a certain moment it seemed that the attention was going down. Sexual exploitation was not the emergency it was in the past -- although it is still there -- but it was not such an emergency as in the 90s. Now there is a new wave, based on the awareness that trafficking is such a systemic phenomenon. A component, unfortunately, of certain migration flows, the labor market, and certain sectors of the economy [in Moldova]. We have a huge -- unfortunately, a huge -- phenomenon of children left behind by parents migrating abroad and the vast majority of them end up in orphanages or residential schools. Of course, when they are close to adulthood, they don't have sufficient life skills and they are under economic pressure, so they are easy targets. But now Moldova has established new and effective administrative positions in order to make antitrafficking action more effective. This is a very interesting development.

RFE/RL: One area that has long been known as a trafficking hotspot is the Balkans. How has the trafficking situation changed since the wars of the 1990s and is it still as acute?

Giammarinaro: In the Balkans we observe a shift from the perception of trafficking as something linked with the post-war situation -- and, of course, in the Balkans there was the big problem of trafficking somehow fostered by the presence of internationals. That's something that has been tackled at the UN level. Now, step by step, there is more awareness that the phenomenon is actually different. There are now people recruited in the countries of the Balkan region and going abroad to work and severely exploited, so it is a completely different picture. We know -- of course it is from anecdotal evidence [because] nobody has precise figures -- but we know that the recruitment of workers ready to migrate abroad is really flourishing.

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The FINANCIAL - OSCE Representative to UK, calls for monitoring human rights impact of anti-trafficking

http://finchannel.com/news_flash/World/110190_OSCE_Representative_to_UK,_calls_for_monitoring_human_rights_impact_of_anti-trafficking/

Source: The FINANCIAL 

05/06/2012  The FINANCIAL -- The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, emphasized the protection of human rights of trafficked persons at an event on 28 May 2012 in London jointly organized with the UK Home Office, and with the participation of Damian Green, UK Minister of State for Immigration. According to OSCE, the conference, which follows on her report and recommendations resulting from her visit to the UK in 2011, brings together the main actors in the fight against human trafficking, including senior public officials, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, academia and international organizations. "The UK has been committed to the eradication of modern-day slavery, and is today a major player at the European level in this struggle. The results of anti-trafficking action are visible in this country. However, we need to further enhance the identification and support of trafficked persons, and their access to justice," said Giammarinaro. “I call on the UK to pave the way toward the establishment of appropriate methodology to monitor and evaluate the impact of anti-trafficking and other related policies on the human rights of trafficked persons," she emphasized, adding that the priorities of migration and labour market policies are not always conducive to protecting human rights, and could even increase the social vulnerability of victims and potential victims. Giammarinaro, who commended the UK authorities for following up on her first visit by agreeing to publish the report recommendations and to co-organize today's event, also stressed the contribution of NGOs and civil society as crucial partners in combating modern-day slavery. She in particular highlighted the role of NGOs not only in victim identification and protection of victims’ rights, but also as partners in the development of policy responses.

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• Helen Bamber Foundation - Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group release policy report

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OSCE Special Representative presents annual report, agenda for preventing trafficking for labour exploitation

http://www.osce.org/cthb/86276

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, presenting her annual report to the OSCE Permanent Council, Vienna, 15 December 2011. (OSCE/Ahmet Cinar)

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, called on states to tackle the structural factors that increase the vulnerability of people to trafficking such as discrimination, violence, and lack of education and job opportunities, in her annual report to the Permanent Council on 15 December 2011.

“Addressing trafficking in human beings as a human rights violation implies not only a negative obligation of any state to abstain from direct violations of human rights, but also a positive obligation to put in place protective measures for potential, presumed and actual victims. Prevention also means long-term measures aimed at the economic and legal empowerment of people at risk,” said Giammarinaro.

She presented An Agenda for Prevention: Trafficking for Labour Exploitation - three expert papers that build on the outcomes of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Conference on Decent Work and Social Justice.

Giammarinaro also highlighted the importance of the Declaration on Combating all Forms of Human Trafficking agreed by the OSCE foreign ministers at the recent Ministerial Conference in Vilnius.

“The Vilnius declaration is an important achievement for the OSCE as a whole, as it reconfirms the political commitment to fight trafficking as an integral part of OSCE efforts towards common and comprehensive security, which includes full respect of human rights,” she said.

She told the ambassadors of OSCE participating States the declaration could underpin efforts to “achieve more effective results in the fight against all forms of trafficking, including the least addressed, such as trafficking for the removal of organs, for forced begging and forced criminality, while continuing to develop innovative approaches to the prevention of and fight against trafficking for sexual exploitation, trafficking for labour exploitation including domestic servitude, and child trafficking".

The annual report for 2011 highlights work with the participating States, OSCE structures, Institutions and field operations, as well as with international and non-governmental organizations to make the anti-trafficking framework more effective.