A/HRC/4/23 page 8 A. Introduction 16. Forced marriages take place in many social, political, cultural, economic and legal contexts around the world. In this report, the Special Rapporteur aims to identify when such forced marriages exist and when they have been carried out in the context of trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The Special Rapporteur also examines the possible causes and consequences of forced marriage in the context of human trafficking and addresses the demand for forced marriage. Finally, she offers recommendations to States and non-State actors on ways to prevent trafficking in persons through or for the purpose of forced marriages, discourage the demand for such marriages, protect and assist the victims, and establish legal and prosecutorial measures to combat forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons, especially women and children. B. Definition of trafficking in persons, especially women and children 17. In 2000, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol) set out minimum international standards for the prevention and combat of trafficking in persons for different forms of exploitation. According to article 3: “(a) ‘Trafficking in persons’ shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; “(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation … shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in paragraph (a) have been used; “(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered ‘trafficking in persons’ even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in paragraph (a); “(d) ‘Child’ shall mean any person under 18 years of age.” 18. UNODC stated in its response to the questionnaire that a case of forced marriage is a case of trafficking in persons when the elements of the crime of trafficking - act, means, and purpose of exploitation - as described in article 3 of the Palermo Protocol are present. C. Nature and forms of forced marriage 19. Before considering these elements, it is necessary to define what amounts to a forced marriage. The 1964 Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (Convention on Consent to Marriage) provides that “[n]o marriage