Human Trafficking

Local authorities have a key role to play in addressing the challenges of human trafficking.

This is one of the messages that will be delivered at the SOLACE Human Trafficking conference being held in London on 16 March.

Human trafficking is a global problem. The Council of Europe states “people trafficking has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade, with a global annual market of about $42.5 billion.”

Alan Campbell, the UK’s Permanent Undersecretary of State for Crime Reduction will be the keynote speaker at the event, providing SOLACE members with the opportunity to directly question the Minister about the implications for local authorities of the imminent entry into force of the European Convention on Action against the Trafficking of Human Beings.

The aim of the convention, which was adopted by the Council of Europe on 16 May 2005, is to prevent and combat the trafficking of human beings. The convention entered into force on 1 February 2008. Of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, so far 21 have signed the convention and 17 have ratified it.

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom are the first 20 states to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against trafficking in Human Beings.

The Convention has been signed by 20 other Council of Europe member states: Andorra, Belgium, Finland,  Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and Ukraine.

Human trafficking poses a significant challenge to local authorities from a wide range of different perspectives. Victims who have been trafficked often require specialist care and attention, including access to a range of services such as healthcare, counseling, accommodation and legal advice. Trafficked children in particular will require a range of social services and may need to be taken into care.

The conference to be held on London is the culmination of a one-year project undertaken by the SOLACE European Study Group on Human Trafficking, during which information was collated about good practice in this area from local authorities across Europe. The event will demonstrate how this information can be used by UK local authorities to improve their own responses to the challenges of human trafficking.

For more information visit: http://www.solace.org.uk/trafficking.

For further information on the convention visit:

http://www.coe.int/t/DG2/TRAFFICKING/campaign/default_en.asp

For the explanatory report into the Convention.further visit:

http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Reports/Html/197.htm

Visit http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/197.htm for information on duties of parties that have signed up to the Convention.

Last Updated: 6. 2. 2009 18:52:14 By Charlotte Jacques