IACHR
Press Release
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the IACHR Urges States to Identify and Protect Victims of Human Trafficking, Particularly Women and Girls
July 29, 2020
Washington, D.C. - On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons,
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is concerned
about the impact of movement restrictions to contain the COVID-19
pandemic on the comprehensive protection of the human rights of
victims of human trafficking (particularly women and girls). The
IACHR therefore urges States to identify and protect these victims
and to integrate efforts to protect the human rights of mobile
persons into all actions and policies designed to fight the COVID-19
virus.
The IACHR warns that—due to restrictions on access to certain
areas and on the work of social and protection services—internally
displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants are being
directly and indirectly affected by this health crisis, in countries
of transit and destination. This entails serious risks of exposure
to various forms of human trafficking, including sexual and labor
exploitation, practices that amount to slavery, debt bondage, and
organ harvesting. According to the
United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC), the risk of exploitation increases when
precarious migration movements increase, and precarious migration
movements are linked to poverty, low degrees of economic and social
development, and inequality of opportunity. The IACHR further warns
that migration dynamics in the Americas have their own specific
drivers, including the situation in places of origin, transit, and
destination, and intra-regional and extra-continental human mobility
dynamics. This context stresses the need for cooperation, the
exchange of information, and systematic data-gathering to protect
human rights, including victims and displaced persons.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IACHR further observes
that vulnerability is on the rise and means that several vulnerable
groups—such as children and adolescents, indigenous persons, and
LGBTI persons, as well as women—face greater risks of being
subjected to exploitation. In order to prevent infections with
COVID-19 and the spread of the virus, States in the Americas have
restricted mobility by adopting curfews and keeping stores,
factories, and borders closed, among other measures. This has led to
the loss of livelihoods and jobs in both the formal and informal
economy, as well as to the adoption of precarious lockdown
conditions, which have also increased exposure to domestic and
gender-based violence. In this context, fewer social exchanges and a
reduced presence in public spaces have prompted additional triggers
for individuals seeking to satisfy their basic needs—such as food,
healthcare, accommodation, and safety—to be displaced within and
outside States, which exacerbates their vulnerability to becoming
victims of crimes including human trafficking.
In
Resolution 04/2019, concerning the Inter-American Principles
on the Human Rights of All Migrants, Refugees, Stateless Persons,
and Victims of Human Trafficking, the IACHR notes that any efforts
to fight human trafficking need to adopt an intersectional approach
to protection that incorporates a gender perspective, the principle
of a child’s best interests, and a differentiated approach that
takes into consideration age and other factors. This is in line with
the contents of
Resolution 63/156 on trafficking in women and girls,
issued in 2008 by the United Nations General Assembly.
The IACHR further stresses that State actions to combat human
trafficking must adopt a human rights perspective to protect anyone
affected by the ongoing health crisis who are being exploited (or
risk exploitation). In this context, the Commission urges Member
States to take into consideration these Inter-American Principles,
which (among other things) call to prevent and fight human
trafficking by identifying and dissolving transnational networks and
confronting risks that aid human trafficking. The IACHR also urges
States to take into consideration its
Resolution 01/20, Pandemic and
Human Rights in the Americas, and refrain from implementing migrant
detention measures that increase the risk of infection with
COVID-19. States also have an obligation to act to prevent and fight
xenophobia and the stigmatization of mobile persons, and to ensure
that these persons are taken into consideration when implementing
policies and measures for economic recovery in the context of the
ongoing crisis.
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, in order to prevent
human trafficking and protect victims of this crime—mainly in the
context of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus—the IACHR
stresses that States must: i) strengthen and prioritize their
efforts to implement comprehensive policies aimed at fighting human
trafficking with a human rights approach; ii) address the specific
vulnerabilities of women and children and include the relevant
differentiated perspectives in the design of any policies,
legislation, and practices; iii) refrain from taking action that
criminalizes migration; iv) monitor the effects of lockdown policies
at a time of crisis; v) strengthen the capacity of criminal justice
and social welfare institutions to fight human trafficking and
protect the human rights of its victims; and vi) provide mechanisms
for comprehensive reparation.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 183/20