WUNRN
General Assembly Distr.
GENERAL
A/HRC/6/NGO/43 5 September 2007 ENGLISH ONLY
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Sixth session Item 3 of the
provisional agenda
PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL,
POLITICAL ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT
Written
statement* submitted by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and
Children (CATW), a non-governmental organization in special consultative status
The
Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is
circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.
[2
September 2007]
*
This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from
the submitting non-governmental organization(s). GE.07-14012
Written
statement regarding the second annual thematic report by the Special Rapporteur
on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons,
especially women and children, Ms. Sigma Huda
1.
On 8 October 2004, the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, pursuant
to Commission decision 2004/110, appointed Ms. Sigma Huda (Bangladesh) as
Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in
persons, especially women and children.
2.
As part of her mandate, the Special Rapporteur submits annual reports to the
Human Rights Council on her country visits and on communications set to and
received from Governments. The annual reports include recommendations on
measures required to uphold and protect the human rights of the victims of
trafficking in persons.
3.
The Special Rapporteur has regularly given special attention to thematic issues
in her annual reports. The first annual thematic report of the Special
Rapporteur delivered at the sixty-second session of the Commission on Human
Rights addressed the relationship between trafficking and the demand for
commercial sexual exploitation (E/CN.4/2006/62).
4.
The second annual thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in
Persons is devoted to a study on forced marriages in the context of trafficking
in persons and is informed by the responses of 28 governments, 26 international
and national NGOs and a number of United Nations agencies to a questionnaire on
the issue. The Special Rapporteur also based her report on the testimonies of
victims of forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons, mainly
women and children.
5.
In this report, the Special Rapporteur aims to identify when such forced
marriages exist and when they have been carried out in the context of
trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
6.
She notes in her report that forced marriages take place in many social,
political, cultural, economic and legal contexts around the world despite a
number of international and regional agreements prohibiting this harmful
practice; and that the vast majority of victims are women and girls.
7.
The Special Rapporteur highlights the criminal and hidden nature of forced
marriages, challenges the idea that victims can consent to this practice, and
points to the severe physical, psychological and health consequences for those
who are victims of forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons.
8.
The Special Rapporteur concludes in her report that in order to eradicate
forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons, it is necessary to
target the demand. She proposes that a complete legal prohibition on the demand
for forced marriages would function as a deterrent to those who acquire and use
the most vulnerable and powerless women and girls for forced marriage. UN Doc. A/HRC/4/23 (24 January 2007)
9.
According to the report, forced marriage can be used as a method of recruitment
for the purpose of trafficking in persons, and may also be a result of
trafficking in persons. The Special Rapporteur notes that the Palermo Protocol
provides States with an obligation to prevent the trafficking in persons, including
through measures to discourage the demand, to criminalize and prosecute the
trafficking in persons, and provide assistance and protection to its victims.
10.
In the report, she offers recommendations to States and non-State actors on
ways to prevent trafficking in persons through or for the purpose of forced
marriages, discourage the demand for such marriages, protect and assist the
victims, and establish legal and prosecutorial measures to combat forced
marriages in the context of trafficking in persons, especially women and
children.
CONCERNS
1.
The CATW International note with great concern that the phenomenon of forced
marriages of women and girls in the context of trafficking in persons is
widespread, is deeply harmful for its victims and has a serious impact on the
status of women and girls in those societies where it occurs.
2.
We also note with great concern that many States, despite their international
obligations, lack adequate laws, policies and measures to prevent and combat
forced marriages in general, and especially forced marriages as a result of or
a reason for trafficking in persons, especially women and children, or fail to
implement such laws and policies.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Any
society that claims to defend principles of legal, political, economic and
social equality for women and girls must put in place comprehensive legal and
practical measures, including measures that discourage the demand, to prevent
and combat forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons,
especially women and children.
The
second annual thematic report on forced marriages in the context of trafficking
in persons of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims
of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Sigma Huda, is an
important call for State Actors to develop and implement such measures in
collaboration with civil society.
The
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International, therefore, urges the
United Nations Member States to ensure the implementation of the
recommendations set out in the second annual thematic report on forced
marriages in the context of trafficking in persons by the Special Rapporteur on
the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially
women and children, Sigma Huda.
================================================================
To leave the list, send your request by email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.