United Nations
The Additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, aimed at preventing, suppressing, and punishing trafficking in persons, especially women and children, provides the first internationally recognized definition of human trafficking and demonstrates the international community’s commitment to combat this crime. Indeed, Article 3(a) of the Protocol states that “The term ‘trafficking in persons’ shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.”
The offense of human trafficking thus comprises three elements: an act, one or more means, and a purpose: exploitation.
The Protocol further requires States parties to:
- Enact national laws that criminalize trafficking;
- Prevent and combat trafficking;
- Protect and assist victims of trafficking;
- Cooperate with other States to achieve these objectives.
Key normative instruments related to human trafficking*:
Conventions and protocols:
- 1926: Convention on Slavery
- 1951: Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
- 1951–1967: Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
- 1956: Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery
- 1999: Convention (No. 182) concerning the Worst Forms of Child Labour (C182), International Labour Organization (ILO)
- 2002: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
- 2002: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), 2002
- 2004: United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols, including:
- The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
- The Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air
- 2011: Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (C189), International Labour Organization (ILO)
- 2014: Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (P029), International Labour Organization (ILO)
Other relevant instruments:
- 2010: United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on July 30, 2010 (A/64/L.64)], 64/293.
- 2021: Political Declaration on the Implementation of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons
- 2023: Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly (A/RES/78/228)
We also invite you to consult the work of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons.
*It is important to note that this list is not exhaustive, and other United Nations instruments may also contribute to the fight against these crimes.
