Strategies and Tools

The following reports provide general resources useful for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and also information that may inform NGO advocacy strategies.  Human rights NGOS and intergovernmental organizations have recognized specific areas that must be strengthened in order to ensure effective protection of victims and prosecution of traffickers.  For example, this section includes draft standards for the treatment of trafficking victims and strategies to ensure that victims who serve as witnesses are protected.  Likewise, this section contains research on legislative reform, which point to particular weaknesses in national legal systems. 

General Resources for NGOs

Law Enforcement Co-operation with Non-Governmental Organizations, with reference to the Protection of Victims and Victims as Witnesses, Paul Holmes, International Law Enforcement Coordination Consultant, from the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Global challenge for the 21st century, Brussels, 18-20 September 2002.  [PDF, 29 pages].
This report discusses the rationale and legislative basis for cooperation between law enforcement bodies and NGOs, as well as some of the risks attached to such cooperation.  The report also includes recommendations on dealing with trafficking victims and victims who serve as witnesses.  Some of the recommendations are directed toward improved cooperation between agencies and others address victim protection.

Trafficking in Human Beings in [European Union] Candidate Countries, Dr. Lenke Fehér, Senior Scientific Researcher, National Institute Of Criminology, Budapest, from the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Global challenge for the 21st century, Brussels, 18-20 September 2002.  [PDF, 38 pages].
This report outlines the European efforts to combat trafficking and emphasizes the need for candidate countries to develop comprehensive legislation that addresses the various facets of the problem of trafficking, including victims’ needs.  The report also presents concrete recommendations for developing an effective counter-trafficking policy, for government institutions and for NGOs.

A Resource Book for working against Trafficking in Women and Girls: Baltic Sea Region, Kvinnoforum, Stockholm, Sweden, Third edition, February 2002.  [PDF, 87 pages].
This report documents the experiences of six NGOs working in coalition against trafficking and provides references and on-line materials.

Crossing Borders Against Trafficking in Women and Girls: A Resource Book for Working Against Trafficking in the Baltic Sea Region, Kvinnoforum, Stockholm, Sweden, Second edition, November 1999. 
This report sets out approaches for combating trafficking and provides information from the perspective of trafficking survivors.  The report also contains handouts, such as “Things to Think about for Women and Girls Who Decide to Work Abroad,” and other reference materials.

Trafficking in Women for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation: Mapping the Situation and Existing Organizations Working in Belarus, Russia, the Baltic and Nordic States, Foundation of Women's Forum/Stiftelsen Kvinnoforum, Stockholm, August 1998.
This report documents the problem of trafficking in women but also includes a survey of NGO activities on this issue as well as strategies for future actions.

Trafficking In Women: Innovative Strategies And Tools For Action, Final Report of the Conference Organized by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights in Cooperation with La Strada-Ukraine, held in Vienna, November 2001.  [PDF, 52 pages]. 

Also available in Russian: Торговля женщинами: разработка новых стратегий и инструменты действия [PDF, 78 pages].
This report is a compilation of materials presented at the conference and includes recommendations on witness protection, informational campaigns, intergovernmental and law enforcement cooperation.

Victim Protection and Victim’s Rights

Trafficking of human beings: methods and measures for defending and supporting the victims, report presented by Giuseppe Roma, General Director, Centro Studi Investimenti Sociali (CENSIS), Rome, Italy, from the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Global challenge for the 21st century, Brussels, 18-20 September 2002.  [PDF, 25 pages].
This report includes information on measures to counter the various methods of recruitment and measures for social reintegration of victims.

Law Enforcement Co-operation with Non-Governmental Organizations, with reference to the Protection of Victims and Victims as Witnesses, Paul Holmes, International Law Enforcement Coordination Consultant, from the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Global challenge for the 21st century, Brussels, 18-20 September 2002.  [PDF, 29 pages].
This report includes discusses the rationale and legislative basis for cooperation between law enforcement bodies and NGOs, as well as some of the risks attached to such cooperation.  The report also includes recommendations on dealing with trafficking victims and victims who serve as witnesses.  Some of the recommendations are directed toward improved cooperation between agencies, but others address victim protection.

Human Traffic, Human Rights: Redefining Victim Protection, Anti-Slavery International, 2002.  [PDF, 231 pages]. 

Executive summary also available in Russian: Резюме отчёта Международной организации против рабства, Торговля людьми, права человека: новое определение защиты жертв, [PDF, 11 pages].

A Human Rights Approach to the Rehabilitation and Reintegration into Society of Trafficked Victims, remarks by Widney Brown, Human Rights Watch, from "21st Century Slavery - The Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings," Conference in Rome, Italy, 2002.

The Need for Effective Witness Protection in the Prosecution of Traffickers: a Human Rights Framework for Witness Protection, presentation by Elaine Peterson, Trafficking Program Officer, Anti-Slavery International, February 2001.  [PDF, 15 pages].

Women as Victims and Survivors in the Context of Transnational Crime, Edna Erez, Justice Studies Department, Kent State University, presented at the 10th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and The Treatment of Offenders in Vienna, Austria, 10-17 April 2000.

Human Rights Standards for the Treatment of Trafficked Persons, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, the Foundation Against Trafficking in Women and the International Human Rights Law Group, January 1999.  [PDF, 17 pages]

Health of Victims

Put in Harm's Way: The Neglected Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking in the United States, H. Patricia Hynes and Janice G. Raymond, from Policing the National Body: Sex, Race, and Criminalization, 31 July 2002.
This report focuses on the negative health consequences faced by victims of trafficking; it also includes a general discussion of the dynamics of trafficking to the U.S.

Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation in The Americas, Fact Sheet, Inter-American Commission of Women (Organization of American States) and Women, Health and Development Program (Pan American Health Organization), July 2001.  [PDF, 2 pages].
This fact sheet focuses on the issue of trafficking in the Americas but provides a useful and brief synopsis of the most common health risks faced by trafficking victims, which has a global significance.

Legal strategies 

Reference Guide for Anti-Trafficking Legislative Review, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), September 2001.  [PDF, 114 pages].

Also available in Russian: Руководящие Принципы по Пересмотру Законодательства против Торговли Людьми, [PDF, 151 pages] and in Serbian: Priručnik za Reviziju Zakonske Regulative protiv Trgovine Ljudima, [PDF, 138 pages].
This guide takes a comprehensive view of the types of legislation necessary for an effective anti-trafficking policy.  The guide addresses prevention, prosecution and protection and assistance for victims, providing international standards, examples of national legislation and recommendations for legal initiatives that fall within each broad topic.

The Trafficking and Smuggling of Refugees: the End Game in European Asylum Policy?, UNHCR Working Paper, John Morrison and Beth Crosland, UNHCR Policy Research Unit, April 2001 (No. 29). [PDF, 93 pages].

The Swedish Approach to Prostitution, Sari Kouvo, Department of Law, University of Göteborg, Sweden.
This article discusses Sweden’s 1999 law, which forbids the buying and attempted buying of sexual services, as a unique legal approach to the problems of prostitution and trafficking.