A/HRC/41/46 trafficked persons to face negative and judgmental reactions from their family members and/or their community, who may blame them for an association with prostitution or for failed labour migration and unfulfilled expectations. Repatriation can also create tensions within families or communities, as the victims’ behaviours may be neither understood, nor accepted, leading to further interpersonal tensions and possibly social exclusion. Overcoming discrimination and stigmatization related to the perception that society may have of trafficking victims, and keeping in mind a gender-sensitive approach when addressing these factors, is paramount in order to achieve their social inclusion. Similarly, assisting the person’s family is essential in order for victims to regain self-acceptance, selfesteem and motivation, while at the same time ensuring the survivor’s independence and agency. Social inclusion thus encompasses not only survivors’ empowerment, but also their acceptance by their families and society as a whole. In this regard, faith-based organizations play a pivotal role in reducing stigma associated with trafficking in persons and in facilitating the social inclusion of trafficked persons in their families, communities and society as a whole.31 31. In addition to stigma, migrants who are victims of trafficking may also face xenophobia, intolerance and intersectional discrimination. States’ obligations to prohibit discrimination on any grounds, including race, sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, ethnicity, or any other status, such as migratory status or the status of victim of trafficking, should be enforced as a prerequisite to trafficked persons’ social inclusion. The Special Rapporteur stresses that States, in cooperation with civil society, should provide trafficked persons with comprehensive and easily accessible and understandable information about assistance options at all times in their recovery. She notes with interest programmes such as the one provided in Germany through which refugees, including trafficking victims, can have access to migration counselling and to integration courses, generally consisting of 600 hours of language training and 100 hours of cultural orientation. Cultural outreach allows trafficked persons to become acquainted with their rights, with cultural differences that may exist with their home countries, and with the means that may contribute to their social inclusion. 32. IOM has noted that, in certain contexts, limited support systems and uncertain livelihoods can lead to perceived competition for scarce resources, contributing to community instability and making reintegration and social inclusion difficult. 32 In order to address this challenge, the Special Rapporteur echoes the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, who noted in his recent study on the return and reintegration of migrants that: “Reintegration should be addressed at the individual, family and community levels … Reintegration programmes should link with national, regional and international development plans and include local economic development strategies. Prior to the return of migrants, an assessment of the labour market, institutional capacities, prevailing socioeconomic and environmental conditions, services and infrastructure should be carried out.”33 33. Political, religious and community leaders have a key role to play to combat stigma and discrimination. For instance, it was reported that Yazidi survivors returning to Iraq after having been held captive by ISIL expressed their desire to meet their spiritual leaders and benefit from a “purification” ceremony with the aim of bringing back their initial Yazidi faith and “cancelling” forced conversion to ISIL ideology. An NGO, Yazda, took an innovative and survivor-led approach in this regard, by helping to implement these ceremonies and organizing around 100 trips to Lalish, the holiest Yazidi place, for around 500 survivors. This highly therapeutic ritual, coupled with public statements by the highest Yazidi spiritual leader reassuring communities that “those rescued remain pure Yazidis and everyone should cooperate so that victims can return to their normal lives and integrate into society” contributed substantially to their social inclusion.34 In the same vein, the initiative 31 32 33 34 10 See Caritas Internationalis, Talitha Kum, Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, and World Vision International, among others. Submission to the Special Rapporteur from IOM. A/HRC/38/41, paras. 58–59. Submission to the Special Rapporteur by Yazda.