Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings
IN BRIEF
SURVEY REPORT 2021 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings © 2022 OSCE/Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings
Design: Tina Feiertag, Vienna Illustrations: shutterstock Introduction
Since the adoption of the first internationally recognized definition of trafficking in human beings as well as the first OSCE anti-trafficking commitments over 20 years ago, participating States have been com- bating trafficking in human beings.
But are they making progress? Are countries adopting new laws to combat trafficking? What areas of the field have seen the most pro- gress? What are countries doing to combat labour exploitation or technology-facilitated trafficking? What progress is being made on combating child trafficking?
Measuring such efforts and identifying areas for further improvement is crucial to ensure that collectively and individually countries of the OSCE region are moving toward achieving the common objective – ending trafficking in human being.
In 2020-2021, the Office of Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) conducted a survey of OSCE participating States (pS) and NGOs to assess pro- gress made in the OSCE region towards implementing the OSCE anti- trafficking commitments.1
Importantly, the 2020/21 survey tracks progress made toward the im- plementation of anti-trafficking commitments since the previous survey in 2015/16, with specific emphasis on recent OSCE Ministerial Council Decisions adopted during the interim.
The 2020/21 survey features new sections on vulnerability reduction, awareness-raising, and addressing demand, as well as the role of technology in facilitating and combating human trafficking and online sexual exploitation of children. It also describes emerging trends and presents recommendations for pS.
1 The survey collected data on progress with respect to different aspects of the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (2003) and its Addenda as well as Ministerial Council Decisions (e.g. MC.DEC No. 6/17, 7/17, 6/18). The survey was sent to all 57 OSCE participating States (pS). Forty-nine of the 57 pS (86%) responded to the 2020/21 survey, compared to the 52 for the 2015/16 survey. Besides, 84 NGOs responded from 40 countries, compared to 90 NGOs from 42 countries in 2015/16.
Survey Report 2021 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 3 Overarching Findings Section I and Trends Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings
Overall, the Report shows that OSCE pS are making steady The first section of the Report addresses the prevention of progress in implementing OSCE anti-trafficking commit- THB, including measures to address the demand for goods ments as well as the recommendations of the 2016 Survey Re- and services that could be produced by or extracted from port. Nevertheless, further progress is limited by resource trafficking victims. The focus is on: a) government procure- constraints across all aspects of the THB response, irre- ment practices and measures to supply chains; b) measures to spective of a country’s economic potential. There is a wide- address demand for services provided by victims of THB for spread need for enhanced political will to increase investment sexual exploitation; c) action to reduce vulnerability to THB. in the eradication of THB, particularly in areas that have greater potential of impact, including: a) Government procurement and private sector supply chains „ Prevention efforts targeting the “demand” side of the crime; Collectively, OSCE governments are the largest purchasers of „ Using victim feedback on services provided to improve goods and services in the world: total expenditure for pS and targeting of limited resources; Partners for Co-operation reached an estimated US $22 tril- „ Increased seizure and use of assets of traffickers to sup- lion in 2014. port resources for CTHB, both to compensate victims and for reinvestment into services and investigations; Countries have made strong progress in strengthening gov- „ Need for more measurement and evaluation of initiatives. ernment public procurement and transparency measures relating to labour practices in supply chains: the number of countries (29) reporting some public procurement policies in Forced criminality increased from 2% to place almost doubled from 2015/16. As governments mostly 24% of all reported cases. relied on self-certification (11), followed by supplier codes of conduct (9) and access to factory names and addresses (9), Emerging trends reported by pS in 2020/21 were: i) use of more emphasis should be given to robust processes to moni- live web cameras/live remote sexual abuse (pornography); ii) tor supplier adherence to procurement requirements. trafficking of pregnant women for the purpose of selling their new-borns; iii) targeting of people with developmental/physi- The number of countries with procurement cal disabilities by traffickers; iv) significantly increased risks to minors of online exploitation due to COVID restrictions; policies on trafficking nearly doubled. v) increase in forced criminality from 2% to 24% of all report- Sixteen pS – compared to 10 in 2015/16 – report laws requiring ed cases; and vi) substantial increase in cases of trafficking for businesses to report the steps they are taking to identify and forced begging and sham marriages. eliminate trafficked or exploited labour from their supply chains.2 Five pS reported requiring companies to take action in relation to cases of THB for forced labour in supply chains, but only 2 required proactive steps to verify that such cases do not exist. The lack of obligations for companies beyond fulfilling reporting requirements should be addressed by States.
2 France, Germany, and Norway have adopted, for example, specific new laws in this field.
4 Survey Report 2021 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings Section II Measures to prevent and respond to trafficking in children
As the focus on supply chains has increased, governments and Little new information was reported by survey respondents businesses have recognised that due diligence must stretch to in relation to policies to prevent child trafficking, suggest- the ways migrant workers are recruited and managed. Since ing stagnant progress in this area. This stands in juxtaposi- 2015/16, there was a major increase (29, up from 16) in the tion with data showing that the proportion of child victims number of pS prohibiting recruitment agencies from has tripled in the last 15 years3. Measures to prevent sexual charging recruitment fees to workers. exploitation of children associated with the tourism indus- try remained the least reported measure (only 20 countries). b) Demand fostering trafficking for sexual exploitation Countries reported little progress on Survey responses suggest that pS are paying more atten- addressing child trafficking, although tion to the demand that fosters THB for sexual exploita- children represent a third of all victims. tion, but that more action is needed: one-third of pS have not taken any legislative, educational, social measures to Overall, related to child trafficking, there is a strong focus on education and awareness, but little attention on address demand; 40% of pS do not criminalise the knowing assessing the effectiveness of reported activities. use of victims of trafficking subject to sexual exploitation; and only 11 countries provided examples of education cam- Importantly, the 2020/21 survey introduced new questions paigns targeting the use of services of victims of trafficking. on measures to address online child sexual exploitation. Thirty-four pS required taking down or limiting access to websites/online platforms that contain child sexual abuse ma- 1/3 of States have not reported any action terial. Only 23, however, required online platforms and tech on tackling demand, even though it is an companies to identify and take down child sexual abuse con- international legal obligation. tent.4 And only 9 pS reported age verification technology to limit access of children to pornographic websites. c) Reducing vulnerability to trafficking Despite high levels of awareness raising – 41 pS reported awareness campaigns – information is limited on the extent to which such activities have improved capacity to recog- nise, prevent, and fight THB. No government or NGO was able to point to evidence of the preventative effect of aware- ness raising. There is a need for both more rigorous/inde- pendent evaluation of prevention programmes, and increased search for and publication of success stories.
3 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2020). 4 The issue of the extent to which online platforms are responsible for the content placed by others remains sensitive. In addition, action against individual online venues calls for ongoing vigilance to prevent displacement (on this, see also Switzerland’s “trusted flagger” programme).
Survey Report 2021 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 5 Section III Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking
This section includes three areas of protection and assistance b) Victim support services for THB victims: a) identification of victims; b) victim support services; c) support for victims in the criminal justice process. Overall, the percentage of NGOs considering victim services to be very satisfactory is significantly lower than pS’ govern- a) Prompt and accurate identification of victims5 ments in all categories. The main takeaways are:
Survey responses in 2020/21 highlighted a 10% increase in „ Both pS and NGOs continue to rank job placement, com- States having legislation and/or policies that contain specific pensation, and training as among the least satisfactory ser- criteria for identifying victims of trafficking compared to vices for victims. 2015/16. „ As in 2015/16, a major concern from respondents is ac- commodation for trafficked persons, including lack of The formal designation of victims is still almost exclusively specialised shelters. done by law enforcement: in 29 countries, only officials as- „ Another area of concern was the lack of support for people sociated with law enforcement can designate someone as a with specialized needs, including people with disabilities. victim, while in 8 pS only law enforcement can refer them to „ Countries also noted instances of victims unable to access support services. services due to being foreigners or unwillingness to co- operate with judicial proceedings. Thirty-one pS also emphasised a range of different barriers „ The availability of funding continues to be a constraint in to victims coming forward – a more expansive assessment provision of services for victims, particularly by NGOs. than in the 2016 Survey Report, where the focus was mainly „ No pS or NGO cited feedback from victims on gaps in on actors’ capacity to identify victims. services.
The majority of cases (71%) are still identified by law enforce- ment; 70% of the remaining are identified by NGOs; very c) Support for victims throughout the criminal few cases are identified through hotlines or health and safety justice process inspections. The adoption and implementation of a non-punishment principle is lacking. At least 11 pS do not have non-pun- ishment provisions and others rely on general provisions in their law that are not specific to THB and have a high- er burden of proof. In at least 5 pS where non-punish- ment provisions exist, they are not available to all victims.
Barely half of the OSCE States reported providing support to victims independent of their co-operation with law enforcement.
Just 29 countries reported providing full support services to victims regardless of their involvement in criminal proceedings. Concerns were also raised about the ability of foreign victims to access justice and remedy, especially when they have no legal right of residence.
5 As noted in the Report (2016), available data suggest that only a small proportion of trafficked persons are being identified. The majority of reported cases cover trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation.
6 Survey Report 2021 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings Section IV Section V Investigation, law enforcement Technology and THB and prosecution
Twenty-five pS highlighted barriers to investigation/prosecu- This topic was new in the 2020/21 survey. Overall, responses tion of THB cases, in particular victim engagement with the suggest that many pS are still in the early stages of addressing criminal justice system and international co-operation.6 On the dual role technology plays in 1) facilitating THB, 2) taking the other hand, survey responses indicated that multi-agen- action to prevent, detect and investigate THB. cy co-ordination and specialization leads to greater success. Notably, only 27 pS reported law enforcement training on the dual role of technology and only 25 pS have standard operat- Very few countries are using assets ing procedures (SOPs) in place to monitor, detect, investigate, seized from traffickers to support victims as well as disrupt tech-facilitated THB. and victim services.
Progress has been made by pS in the use of indicators of fi- Only 7 countries reported laws to hold nancial crime to identify THB; yet, although 85% of pS list tech companies liable for knowingly THB as a predicate offence, only 18 were able to confirm that facilitating trafficking. financial investigation staff received training on how to inves- tigate THB offences. In terms of policies, only 14 countries noted a requirement for tech companies/internet service providers (ISPs) to report THB cases on their platforms. Meanwhile, only 7 countries Forty-four pS have laws in place that specify how confiscated 1) allow information/data collected by artificial intelligence assets were to be used. In all 44 cases, assets were to be re- technology to be used as evidence in court; or 2) make tech turned to the government’s general fund, with 30 pS also using companies/ISPs criminally and financially liable for knowingly funds to compensate victims. Much less common was the use assisting, facilitating, or supporting THB. of funds for victims support activities, to support investi- gating units, or to fund other counter-THB activities7.
Section VI Training and capacity building
This was also a new section in the 2020/21 Report. Over- all, technology is playing an increasing role in the delivery of training: more than half pS highlighted the use of online methods, often to overcome challenges posed by COVID-19. Twenty-five pS reported various types of cross-disciplinary training with personnel from a broad spectrum of profes- sional backgrounds.
Law enforcement officials appeared to have more access to training than other groups. 2020/21 survey includes a new category of training in trauma-informed approaches to sup- port child victims: figures for this training are lower than more general THB training across all categories, thus sug- gesting that more attention is needed for this response area. In general there was a lack of sustainable capacity building 6 Survey responses suggest that for victims with questionable immigration status engagement with authorities involves a mandatory return to their country of origin; responses also suggest initiatives. that some victims are prosecuted for criminal acts undertaken as a result of being trafficked. Responses also suggest ineffective interaction between law enforcement agencies and slow execution of inquiries. 7 For example, just 5 pS reported allowing a proportion of funds confiscated to be used to support the work of investigating units.
Survey Report 2021 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 7 The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe works for stability, prosperity and democracy in 57 States through political dialogue about shared values and through practical work that makes a lasting difference.
Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Wallnerstr. 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria Tel: + 43 1 51436 6664 Fax: + 43 1 51436 6299 email: info-cthb@osce.org www.osce.org/cthb