A/HRC/23/48
labour rights. This desire is usually expressed in the form of money which supplies
income for traffickers and their associates. Discouraging such demand requires
measures to address the nature and extent of the exploitation of trafficked victims
(primarily in the places where they are exploited), as well as measures to address the
social, cultural, political economic, legal and development factors that shape demand
and influence or enable the trafficking process. This can be done by influencing the
purchasing decisions of individuals and business entities, who contribute, wittingly or
unwittingly, to the income of traffickers and their associates. States have a
responsibility to act with due diligence to prevent trafficking in persons, including
taking measures to discourage demand.
85.
Taking in account States’ obligations under international human rights law, the
Special Rapporteur would like to offer a set of recommendations which may serve as a
basis for human rights-based measures to discourage the demand that fosters or leads
to trafficking in persons:
(a)
States should identify and analyse factors that generate demand for
exploitative sexual services and exploitative labour and take strong legislative, policy
and other measures to address these issues. Measures to discourage demand should be
based on existing experience and accurate information about patterns of trafficking in
persons occurring in their jurisdiction (concerning people trafficked into, through or
out of their territory);
(b)
States have a responsibility 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;
(c)
Discouraging demand routinely requires measures to stop
discrimination, notably discriminatory practices which contribute to the exploitation
of persons. These include discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, national origin
and other criteria, such as discrimination against migrant workers in employment
practices. States should eliminate acts or practices of discrimination on such grounds
and should amend laws and policies that institutionalize discrimination and thereby
also shape demand, particularly ones concerned with employment or migration, just
as they must challenge discriminatory social attitudes, practices and beliefs, which
also shape demand;
(d)
It is necessary to put regulatory and supervisory mechanisms in place
whenever they encourage or facilitate any forms of labour migration, as the absence of
such mechanisms has had the effect of facilitating trafficking in persons. Legislation is
required to protect anyone who, in the absence of appropriate protection, can be
exploited with relative ease (such as migrant workers in general, child
workers,particularly those below the minimum age for admission to employment) and
anyone working outside a formal or regulated workplace (such as migrant domestic
workers and other migrants, particularly women, who work in unregulated or
informal workplaces). Legislation may also be required to ensure that any places
where trafficked persons may be deployed to work or earn money, including informal
workplaces or settings, are subject to the rule of law and can be checked by law
enforcement officials, if necessary;
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