A/HRC/36/43 particularly vulnerable to exploitation and a primary barrier to ensuring them access to justice is the kafala system of labour sponsorship, by which migrant workers are required to obtain sponsorship from their employers in order to live and work in the country. Domestic migrant workers are among the most vulnerable and can face specific barriers to gaining access to justice and remedy, including severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, such as passport confiscation and an inability to leave their work premises, and a dependence on their employers for retaining regular migration status. 2. Self-identification and lack of trust in the justice system 25. The relationship between potential victims and offenders can sometimes be contradictory. Some persons subjected to contemporary forms of slavery would often not see themselves as victims of exploitation and abuse. Migrant workers, for example, who had some knowledge of the situation that they were entering, may not want to be labelled as victims, but be provided with another job and better working conditions. Also, if the perpetrator is a family member, they may not be willing to be labelled as victims or to press charges, because of emotional ties. Furthermore, victims who belong to a group of people that has suffered discrimination and exclusion over generations and live in societies where slavery crimes are embedded in traditional beliefs and customs, would often not identify themselves as victims due to the normalization of such practices. 26. Persons subjected to contemporary forms of slavery often do not have confidence in law enforcement and judicial bodies. They often consider them to be corrupt or fear they will be discriminated against or revictimized. Furthermore, the fact that legal processes tend to be prolonged and complex exacerbates their distrust of the legal system. Systemic discrimination against people of “low” caste, indigenous people, migrants and other minorities in wider society and corruption among law enforcement, coupled with victims’ concerns over their particular situation (e.g. irregular status), feed into a general distrust of the police among victims and a perception that law enforcement agencies and courts exist to protect the wealthy and powerful.23 B. Practical barriers 27. Contemporary forms of slavery often take place in areas that are isolated and not easily accessible. This poses particular challenges to the identification of victims by the authorities as well as practical barriers to victims for accessing justice. The informal employment of workers in a range of economic activities and the fact that exploitation often occurs in hidden, inaccessible workplaces pose challenges to the identification of victims and their access to justice; informal employment is widespread in agriculture, small and medium enterprises, domestic work, among other services. 24 Furthermore, physical accessibility to justice institutions is a barrier encountered by victims, and the centralization of legal and administrative systems prevents victims from rural or remote areas from gaining access to such mechanisms. Thus, in many cases, victims exploited in places far from the main urban areas have little or no possibilities to gain access to specialized support services. Child victims in particular face enormous barriers in gaining accessing to justice. 28. Persons subjected to contemporary forms of slavery belong to groups in society that are marginalized and economically disadvantaged; they are exploited for their labour and paid low wages, not paid for their work, or their salaries are withheld; they are economically dependent on those who exploit them and this situation poses financial constraints in considering or attempting to gain access to justice. Pursuing criminal justice and participating in the procedure often involves significant expenses that victims cannot afford, including court and other filing fees, legal fees, expenses for gathering documents, 23 24 Submissions to the Special Rapporteur from the organizations ASI and the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women. See ILO, Hard to see, harder to count: Survey guidelines to estimate forced labour of adults and children (Geneva, 2012). Available from www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--declaration/documents/publication/wcms_182096.pdf. 9