Trafficking in persons is an abomination and deep affront to Commonwealth values and threatens the very goals set out in the Commonwealth Charter.
Trafficking in persons is an abomination and deep affront to Commonwealth values and a corrosive threat to the realisation of the goals set out in the Commonwealth Charter of respect for human dignity and freedom.
On World Day against Trafficking in Persons we reaffirm our Commonwealth commitment to work for the eradication of this global scourge, and encourage concerted international efforts by all countries to implement strategies that respect individual rights, and gender equality and that fight against condemnable exploitation of the vulnerability of women.
Trafficking continues to rise globally, including in and between regions of the Commonwealth, yet the number of traffickers prosecuted remains low. Alarmingly, trafficking of the young, particularly of girls, is on the rise, and children now account for nearly one third of victims. Urgent ways need to be found for increased access by survivors to justice and support services, and to secure their rights and social inclusion.
The Commonwealth Expert Group on Strategies for combating the Trafficking of Women and Children called for strategies to be developed aimed both at prevention, and at providing greater assistance to victims. It emphasised the need for such responses to be rights-based and gender-responsive, and for them to be informed by detailed research and data.
In marking this day, we draw particular attention to the 2015 report to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children. It highlighted the need to understand trafficking in persons as an economic and social phenomenon deeply rooted in poverty and inequality, in lack of education and opportunity, and in gender discrimination.
The Commonwealth Secretariat seeks to provide support for all our member states towards the implementation of anti-trafficking strategies. We encourage durable and strengthened efforts by our membership to combat trafficking through prosecution, protection and prevention.