Training and Advanced Education Unit (TAE)
Training to Executives and Judicial Personnel

Forced Labour and Trafficking in Persons
International Instruments and Practical Tools for Judges and Other Enforcement Institutions

In spite of measures the international community has adopted for prosecuting and punishing these criminal offences, millions of people around the world are still subject to these abusive practices.

Based on the ILO’s Global Report on forced labour issued in 2005, approximately 12.3 million people worldwide were in some form of forced labour or bondage. Of these, 9.8 were exploited by private agents including more than 2.4 million in forced labour as a result of human trafficking. 43 per cent were used for forced commercial sexual exploitation. According to information contained in the UNODC Global Report Against Trafficking in Persons in 2009, 80 per cent of trafficked victims are women and children and half of all human trafficking victims are under the age of 18.
The annual profits, from human trafficking alone, are estimated to be at minimum in US$32 billion.

Facing the versatile face of modern slavery, judicial personnel and law enforcement confront themselves with the complex scenario of different forms of forced labour and trafficking in persons.
Judiciary and law enforcement institutions have taken up the challenge of identifying and fighting new forms of slavery. There has been a growth in the legislative interventions against debt bondage, slavery-like practices and migrant smuggling. Further, there has been a steady increase in the number of cases of work and sexual exploitation brought before courts. Police and labour inspectors, often in cooperation, are playing an increasingly active role in both prevention and prosecution of these crimes. However, the slavery phenomena remain largely invisible: few perpetrators have been prosecuted and convicted, and only a small number of victims have been identified and assisted.

In a world full of challenges, the multiple faces of slavery represent the opposite of what is envisaged by globalization, human rights and human dignity.

For these reasons, targeted actions against forced labour and trafficking in persons have to become a centerpiece of human rights, anti-discrimination, poverty reduction and development programmes. To achieve this goal, all concerned actors must have the clearest possible understanding of his or her own role and responsibility, and act accordingly if they are to contribute to this common effort to end exploitation. Moreover, there is a need for a more rigorous assessment of the main elements of forced labour and trafficking in persons. These sometimes elusively defined elements, not only let the phenomenon exist but also contribute to its reinforcement and spreading of new forms of coercion.

With these aims in mind, UNICRI is delighted to announce the positive outcome of the first course on Forced Labour and Trafficking in Persons. It was jointly organized with ITCILO, held in the UN Campus in Turin (Italy) from the 16th to the 20th of November 2009.
Born from the idea to merge the strengths of two UN entities involved in the fight against forced labour and trafficking in persons, the course was based to find insights to the following three questions:

• How can a national part of a global community reinforce the capacity and cooperation of labour inspectors and law enforcement in preventing sexual and economic exploitation?
• What are the international instruments and practical tools for persecuting and punishing perpetrators?
• How can a society, a government, or an international or national organization protect and compensate victims for the damage suffered?

The course was attended by 15 experts (Fig.1) from 11 different countries that confronted and shared their competencies and judicial tools.

The juridical capacity of judges and professionals in the prevention and fighting of different forms of forced labour and trafficking in persons combined to bring about a common effort among the participants.  Together, the participants created an international network of experts able to continue to cooperate in the future.

Moreover, through an active participatory approach, UNICRI and ITCILO offered the opportunity to present and confront national experiences within the framework of a transnational approach to the phenomenon.

Considering the success obtained and the growing need of sharing practical tools and international instruments in the daily professional experience of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, labour inspectors and police, UNICRI will continue its effort in the battle against modern slavery. UNICRI realizes the multiple effects of the phenomena and the need for imminent knowledge and cooperation. As the phenomenon is still growing and the need for knowledge and cooperation imminent, UNICRI will strongly continue its effort to raise awareness and promoting global initiatives to fight this trafficking.