FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM
73
(b)
To protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full
respect for their human rights; and
(c)
To promote cooperation among State Parties in order to meet
these objectives.
The application of the Protocol is limited to situations of
international trafficking involving an organized criminal group175. Further,
the Protocol obligates the State Parties to adopt such legislative and other
measures necessary to criminalize trafficking and related conduct176.
Definition
As seen in the last chapter, the 1949 Convention on Trafficking
limited the definition of trafficking only for the purpose of prostitution.
It did not cover the entire gamut of purposes for which trafficking could
take place. Apart from conflating trafficking with prostitution, the
Convention also, did not leave scope for voluntary, consensual
prostitution. The tenor of the 1949 Convention was moralistic and
prohibitionist. This led to the absence of an agreed definition of trafficking
and the link between trafficking and prostitution. It is in this background
that the definition of trafficking in the Protocol evolved. This definition
represents a compromise on each of the above mentioned issue sand
cannot be seen as a clear victory for either side. As the debates made
clear, States agreed to sacrifice their individual views on prostitution to
the greater goal of maintaining the integrity of the distinction between
trafficking and migrant smuggling. The travaux preparatoires indicate
that the Protocol addresses the issue of prostitution only in the context of
trafficking, and that these references are without prejudice to how States
address this issue in their respective domestic laws.177
According to the Protocol, “trafficking” consists of three separate elements:
(i)
an action, consisting of recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harbouring or receipt of persons;
175
Ibid, Art. 4.
176
Ibid, Art 5.
177
Interpretative Notes for the official records (travaux preparatoires) of the negotiation of the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, U.N.
Doc. A/55/383/Add. 1 at para 64.