A/HRC/23/48 2. Protection 52. States have a duty to protect against human rights abuses (including trafficking in persons and exploitation of persons) by third parties, including business enterprises and criminal associations, through appropriate policies, regulation and adjudication. States should set out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction will respect human rights throughout their operations, both at home and abroad, and take appropriate action to stop trafficking in persons or the exploitation of persons from occurring, regardless of the size, sector, operational context, ownership and structure of the business enterprise. 20 53. The Special Rapporteur has noted that leaving the labour market to regulate itself in circumstances where substantial numbers of people are exposed to exploitation, in informal, unprotected and low-status income-generating activities, creates a vacuum in the rule of law, which is likely to be filled by unprincipled employers and criminals. Evidence to support this hypothesis is available from several regions where trafficking in persons and the exploitation of persons have been reported as disproportionately high in the sectors of the economy that have been established relatively recently, where there is a lack of established procedures for collective bargaining, or that, for various reasons, have escaped the scrutiny of labour inspectors or other law enforcement officials. Recent examples of emerging sectors in which trafficking in persons and exploitation of persons have been reported include the garment industry, mushroom and other agricultural production in various parts of Europe, and the picking of wild berries for the cosmetic industry. 54. The fact that certain income-generating activities are not regarded by States as legitimate or acceptable, such as prostitution or begging, is not a justification for States to ignore the abuse being experienced by individuals involved, nor for States to allocate inadequate resources to protect the adults or children who are trafficked into these activities. Similarly, the fact that certain States cannot afford to finance all the law enforcement activities required to enforce labour laws is not a justification for them to ignore violations of such laws (and of human rights). 3. Prosecution and punishment 55. Law has been used in specific ways to try to affect demand, sometimes to prohibit demand for specific services or products and sometimes to introduce regulation or other administrative systems. 56. The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings covers “criminalisation of the use of services of a victim”. Without making it obligatory for States parties to make it an offence for someone to purchase services from a person who they know has been trafficked, it requires States parties to consider doing so (art. 19). According to the reports of Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, some States of the Council of Europe have criminalized the known use of the services of trafficked persons. 57. Some States have preferred to encourage self-regulation among employment agencies. This was the approach in some European countries which later adopted tighter control and a system of licensing of agencies, for instance due to tragic incidents caused by trafficking in persons.21 20 21 14 Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, principles 1, 11, 13–15, 17, 22 and 24. See for example, Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; for more information see Gangmasters Licensing Authority Annual Report and Accounts: 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 (London, The Stationery Office, 2012).