We must support trafficking victims in times of crisis, especially women and children, urge participants at OSCE Ministerial Council event

TIRANA/VIENNA, 3 December 2020 – Challenges faced by victims of trafficking and anti-trafficking actors supporting groups vulnerable to trafficking during the pandemic were discussed today on the margins of the online OSCE 2020 Ministerial Council.

Combating trafficking in human beings was a priority for the Albania’s 2020 Chairmanship. The Chairmanship remains committed to strengthening the fight against trafficking in human beings; a challenge felt throughout the OSCE region.

Some 160 representatives of the OSCE participating States, experts, civil society, academics and the media gathered to address emerging challenges in the field of human trafficking at the event organized by the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Participants discussed potential measures and policies participating States can implement to ensure detection and identification of, as well as support and assistance to, women and children victims of trafficking. Participants also discussed ways to decrease vulnerability to THB, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The year 2020 has been challenging for vulnerable persons, and particularly for victims of trafficking,” said Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. “The COVID-19 pandemic not only heightened existing risks, it also created new challenges for victims and survivors of trafficking, exacerbating the gender and age-specific vulnerabilities of groups at-risk of trafficking.”

Richey said the pandemic exposed existing gaps in national anti-trafficking frameworks in supporting the most vulnerable groups, providing assistance to victims, and countering the traffickers’ impunity. “Human trafficking is a grave human rights violation, and a form of gender-based violence grounded in structural gender inequalities that enable discrimination, objectification, and subsequent exploitation of women and girls in our societies. We must unite and strengthen our efforts in combating this scourge.”

Per-Anders Sunesson, Ambassador at Large for Combating Trafficking in Persons of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, said that addressing emerging human trafficking trends and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is of utmost importance. “Sweden highly appreciates ongoing co-operation with the OSCE and OSCE participating States on combating this heinous crime and assuring support to victims,” he said.

Timea Nagy, Founder and CEO of Timeas Cause Inc. and Survivor Leader from Canada, added: "As a survivor, it is reassuring and inspiring to see a Ministerial meeting raise awareness about human trafficking during very difficult economic times.”

The speakers noted that as the world marks the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence campaign, it is crucial to highlight the gendered nature of trafficking, which disproportionately affects women and girls.

Dalia Leinarte, Member and Former Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) noted that “during the COVID pandemic, traffickers moved online like all of our lives moved online”. Leinarte led the drafting of the Committee’s latest recommendations, calling on social media platforms to use big data and artificial intelligence to help eliminate trafficking in women and girls, amid an increase in online traps designed to recruit potential victims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tatiana Kotlyarenko, ODIHR Adviser on Anti-Trafficking issues, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled previously existing trends in the trafficking of human beings. “Already before the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls constituted the majority of detected victims of trafficking. This trend will likely continue during and in the aftermath of the pandemic, especially affecting marginalized communities. The increase of domestic violence is also very worrying, as it is a recognized, well-documented push factor into trafficking for sexual exploitation.”

In April 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, the OSR/CTHB offered preliminary recommendations to OSCE participating States on short-term responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and in July 2020, ODIHR and UN Women jointly released a report and recommendations on Addressing Emerging Human Trafficking Trends and Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic.