Countering human trafficking in the Republic of Belarus

If you or your relatives or friends find yourself in a difficult situation and need competent legal advice, this article is for you!

Human trafficking is a global problem that affects the lives of millions of people in almost every country in the world and deprives them of human dignity and violates human rights. One of the most shameful crimes in the world, human trafficking misleads, victimizes and exploits women and men every day. Although the most well-known form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation, an increasing number of men are also being trafficked for forced labor.

According to the International Labor Organization, there are 20.9 million people (mostly women), including 5.5 million children, engaged in forced labor worldwide. Some of this number of people are involved in prostitution. Globally, human trafficking brings criminal gangs over 25 billion euros annually. According to the UN, 30 billion dollars a year. 161 countries out of 192 countries are involved in human trafficking.

The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime states that:

a) “trafficking in persons” means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons for the purpose of exploitation by the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or position of vulnerability, or by bribery, in the form of payments or benefits, to obtain the consent of a person having control over another person. Exploitation includes, 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;
b) the consent of the victim of trafficking in persons to the planned exploitation referred to in subparagraph (a) of this article shall not be taken into account if any of the means specified in subparagraph (a) were used;
c) recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation are considered “trafficking in persons” even if they are not associated with the use of any means of influence specified in subparagraph (a) of this article;
d) “child” means any person under 18 years of age.

Employees of the NGO “Business Women’s Club”, when identifying a victim of trafficking in persons, refer to the UN protocol. This Protocol was adopted by resolution 55/25 by the UN General Assembly on November 15, 2000 and was open for signature until December 12, 2002. Entered into force on December 25, 2003.

For the Republic of Belarus came into force with the signing of Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 197-3 of May 3, 2003 “On the ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,” supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.