Seventh Annual Meeting On The Role of the Asia Pacific Forum In the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights New Delhi, India, 11 – 13 November 2002 Resolution of the Pre Forum NGO Consultation on Trafficking and National Institutions24 Trafficking of women and children is a serious problem facing the Asia Pacific region, which requires affirmative and comprehensive attention by all State parties. National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) have an essential role to play in the development of strategies to eliminate discrimination and exploitation of women and children. The cross-border nature of the issues involved present a challenging inter-jurisdictional problem for regional lawmakers. At its core, the international trafficking in women and children is about exploitation, violence, forced prostitution, abduction and fraudulent coercion of the most reprehensible kind. Despite numerous useful international efforts to combat trafficking, two significant gaps remain (1) law enforcement and adjudication, and (2) cross-border co-operation. Even though a variety of existing legal provisions already proscribe the activities of traffickers and their agents, existing anti-trafficking initiatives have not prioritised the apprehension and prosecution of these individuals, who are often known within their communities. Under current circumstances, trafficking has proliferated without any serious challenge from law enforcers. Clandestine activities will continue to proliferate unless the stakes are raised significantly. Law enforcement and the judiciary must act aggressively and comprehensively to put an end to this culture of impunity and to instil a real fear of apprehension, prosecution and conviction in traffickers, their agents and their supporters. At the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Forum, held in September 2001 the Pre Forum NGO Consultation made recommendations to NHRIs in their strategies to address the issue of trafficking. This year the Pre Forum NGO Consultation offers the following recommendations to serve as guidelines for NHRIs in their strategies to enforce legal mechanisms. This enforcement initiative will eventually be supplemented by an intensive effort to attack poverty and gender inequality, due to caste and cultural practices that are the underlying root causes of trafficking. Specifically we recommend that: 1. NHRIs should establish the office of a National Rapporteur on Trafficking and establish a specialised nodal agency designed to address the issue of trafficking. 2. NHRIs should review existing legislative or administrative provisions and assess their humanitarian impact when implemented in relation to victims of trafficking, and make 24 Facilitated by: Asia Pacific Human Rights Network (APHRN). Secretariat: South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC). B-6/6, Safdarjung Enclave Extension, New Delhi – 110029. Phone: +91 11 6192717; 6192706. Fax: +91 11 6191120. Email: secretariat@aphrn.org. Home Page: http://www.aphrn.org 93