A/HRC/15/27 additional obligations on States with respect to certain groups who have been especially vulnerable to trafficking, including women, children, migrant workers and asylum-seekers. 23. Issues that were particularly highlighted during the plenary session included: the special vulnerabilities of victims and victim-witnesses; the need for research and strategy to address the increased vulnerabilities of special groups, such as young men mandatorily conscripted into the army and particularly vulnerable to being trafficked for labour exploitation in slavery-like conditions; the link between trafficking and corruption; the need for strong, integrated and cooperative identification procedures; victim access to legal remedies and compensation as an instrument of restorative justice and a recognition of the violence suffered by victims; the need for specificity in combating certain forms of trafficking such as trafficking for sexual exploitation; the link between trafficking and migrant smuggling; the importance of special measures to ensure child victims of trafficking are identified, protected and assisted; the impact of migration and labour policies on trafficking; and the need to empower migrants and vulnerable workers to claim their rights. Several participants noted that human rights were not a central focus of the Trafficking Protocol and that instruments such as the Principles and Guidelines had been essential in ensuring that obligations under the Trafficking Protocol were implemented within a broader framework of internationally accepted human rights. 24. The three panellists each provided a brief response at the conclusion of the plenary debate. Ms. Requena affirmed that the human rights approach was the only way to tackle trafficking in human beings. Protection of the private lives of trafficking victims was a consideration important for avoiding the stigmatization of victims. There was also a need to develop specific criteria and procedures for affirming victim status in a way that avoided further stigmatization. Ms. Gupta noted that migration was only one element in the creation of vulnerability and responses should take that into account. She addressed the issue of consent and the need to differentiate between child and adult victims while recognizing that young people might have entered into a trafficking situation as minors. Ms. Quisumbing referred participants to article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, noting that all individuals and States have responsibilities to build an international order in which all people can enjoy human rights. She urged all countries to establish national human rights institutions through which to monitor human rights violations, and to ratify the relevant international instruments, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 25. Ms. Gallagher, the nominated respondent for this session, then took the floor. In responding to the various interventions she highlighted the issue of remedies as an area of common concern. Despite being a basic legal entitlement, access to remedies was routinely denied to victims of trafficking. The importance of victim identification was also highlighted; failure to identify victims directly impacted on the ability of the State to deliver on the rights to which those persons were entitled. The speaker noted that concerns over “consent” were misplaced. International law is clear on the point that no person can consent to his or her own unlawful exploitation. The speaker concluded the session with an acknowledgement of the “macro” issues that underlay trafficking. That phenomenon was, after all, the predictable outcome of certain global and political realities. Those included migration regimes that restricted the ability of individuals to secure legal access to preferred destinations; international and domestic trade policies that liberalized the movement of money, good and services but not labour; and the internalization, diversification and explosive growth of the global sex industry. Those essentially economic determinants were reinforced by powerful social structures that exacerbated vulnerabilities among particular groups, including women, children and migrants, and that nurtured demand for the main products of trafficking. 8