E
	ADVANCE EDITED VERSION	Distr. GENERAL E/CN.4/2006/62 20 February 2006 Original:  ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sixty-second session
Item 12 of the provisional agenda

integration of the human rights of women
and a gender perspective

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the
victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children,
                                             Sigma Huda*

Summary

            This report is submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights decision 2004/110.  It covers the period January-December 2005.  Section I outlines the Special Rapporteur’s activities during this reporting period.  Section II is devoted to a thematic study on the relationship between trafficking and the demand for commercial sexual exploitation.  Section III contains the Special Rapporteur’s conclusions and recommendations.

            Section II of the report first seeks to clarify the definition of trafficking adopted in the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (hereinafter referred to as the Protocol).  The purpose of this section is to foster the consensus reached through the negotiation process surrounding the drafting of the Protocol, and to provide a legal interpretation of the Protocol definition.  Second, the report addresses the concept of demand, explaining what is meant by this term, and discussing various factors that are relevant to a proper understanding of demand.  Third, the report highlights a variety of methods employed throughout the world by States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations in order to target the demand side of trafficking.

                                               
*  The reason for the late submission of this report is to reflect the latest information.