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La Strada International wishes to inform and update you on developments in the field of trafficking in human beings and activities of the Platform and member organisations. We welcome your feedback and input. Please e-mail us
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Postcare project - Posting of third-country nationals in care services
On 11th of May, the project Postcare was formally launched during an online kick off meeting. This 18 months project, which started on March 1 this year, will focus on research related to the posting of third-country nationals in European care services. La Strada International, involving CoMensha our member organisation in the Netherlands, will in particular conduct research on posted care workers and their position in the Netherlands. See more
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Webinar Sex Work, Migration, Exploitation and trafficking
On 17th of May, LSI contributed to the webinar 'Sex work, migration, exploitation and trafficking', organised by the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) and hosted by Freedom Collaborative. This webinar was the final event of ICRSE’s 'Rights not Rescue' programme (2019 – 2021), aimed to empower migrant sex workers to fight trafficking and exploitation in the sex industry and strengthen ICRSE’s advocacy on issues relating to migration, exploitation and human trafficking. See more
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Open Gate advocates for living wage in North Macedonia
LSI’s member Open Gate, also member of Clean Clothes Campaign, is actively lobbying for a living wage; a salary from which people can live, for workers in North-Macedonia. In the ongoing struggle to improve working conditions and strengthen workers rights in the clothing industry, Clean Clothes Campaign has introduced a Europe Floor Wage: a cross-border major benchmark for wage living in Central Europe, which is based on the costs of living in 15 European garment production countries, including 7 EU Member states. The Europe Floor Wage benchmark is a concrete tool to show brands and governments what wage is needed to live on and it can be used by unions and labour NGOs to strengthen their bargaining power. See more
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CCEM’s SAVE project supports identification of trafficked persons in Morocco
The SAVE project, coordinated by LSI’s member Comité contre L’esclavage Moderne (CCEM) in France, which started in 2019 will continue until 2023 with support from the European Commission. The project aims to support the identification and assistance of victims of labour exploitation in Morocco, through the work of six Moroccan partner associations. In 2020, almost 140 victims of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation were detected by the SAVE partners in Morocco. For CCEM it is important to work with Moroccan NGOs, as many of the exploited persons they assist in France, originate from this country. See more
For more LSI members updates click here
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New EU Voluntary return and reintegration strategy
In April 2021, the European Commission presented its new Strategy on voluntary return and reintegration. The aim of the strategy is to promote voluntary return and reintegration and to develop ‘a more coherent and coordinated approach’ among Member States as, according the Commission, ‘voluntary returns are more humane, more effective and less costly than forced returns’. See more
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10th anniversary CoE Convention on Violence against women
On 11th of May it was ten years ago that the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was signed in Istanbul, hence the Convention is often referred to as the Istanbul Convention. Today, it is still the most far-reaching international legal instrument to set out binding obligations to prevent and combat violence against women. The Convention recognises violence against women as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. See more
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Future of Europe Conference
The Conference on the Future of Europe was officially inaugurated on Europe Day, on May 9 and is an opportunity for Europeans to debate on Europe’s challenges and priorities. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission have committed to listen to Europeans and to follow up, within their sphere of competences, on the recommendations made. Citizens and organisations can share contributions, organize or attend events and present ideas and exchanges on Europe’s challenges and priorities via the established digital platform. About 13 thousand participants and more than 3 thousand ideas have already been submitted. The contributions on the platform will be analysed, bundled and taken to a number of European citizen panels. See more
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Access to protection and remedy for victims of labour exploitation in Belgium and the Netherlands
A new published ILO study provides insights into the avenues for protection and remedy that exist in both Belgium and the Netherlands for human trafficking victims for the purpose of labour exploitation.
In addition to mechanisms specifically put in place for identified trafficked persons through the criminal justice system, the study also examines the availability of alternative avenues for remedy in civil or labour judicial proceedings, complaint mechanisms through the labour inspectorate and other state operated compensation mechanisms for victims of violent crime, workplace accidents or insolvency schemes. This is especially relevant in cases when legal investigations or criminal court procedures have stopped or when persons have not been identified formally as a victim of human trafficking. See more
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New OSCE paper on gender-sensitive approaches to human trafficking
The OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings launched a paper Applying gender-sensitive approaches in combating trafficking in human beings. Based on findings of a multi-method research design which included surveys, expert interviews and expert group meetings with trafficked persons, anti-trafficking experts, service providers and law enforcement, the paper explores the development of and gaps in applying gender-sensitive approaches in the framework of prevention, protection, and prosecution of human trafficking. See more
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Annual Europol and Eurojust reports on Smuggling and Human Trafficking
In its 5th annual report for the European Migrant Smuggling Centre, Europol provides an overview of its recent (operational) activities and identified trends related to combat human trafficking and human smuggling and looks ahead at expected challenges related to both international crimes. According to the report, exploiters increasingly seek to exploit their victims in the context of supposedly voluntary business agreements, while also legal business structures are commonly used to organise the exploitation of persons. Next to sexual and labour-related exploitation, Europol notes that criminals increasingly focus on exploiting persons into forced begging and forced criminality, particularly targeting vulnerable victims, like minors and disabled persons. See more
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New Dutch report on perpetrators of sexual exploitation
A new (Dutch) report 'Perpetrators of Domestic Sexual Exploitation' published by the Centre against Child Trafficking and Human Trafficking (CKM) in the Netherlands paints a picture of a vulnerable group of young perpetrators; in 40% of the cases the perpetrator was younger than 23 years old - with a low income and negative childhood experiences. The report – partly based on a review of 25 Dutch investigation files - shows that there is a very short window of opportunity to prevent actual exploitation. Contrary to the classic image of a 'loverboy', in 51% of the victim cases the perpetrator does not use an affective relationship to recruit and exploit and other means of coercion are used. See more
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New Survivors’ Guide to Money
Regaining financial stability can be extremely difficult after being trafficked. “A Survivor’s Guide to Money,” is a new publication by Megan Lundstrom, a former victim of trafficking and co-founder of the US based Avery Center. The guide focuses on practical lessons for trafficked persons in their path to financial independence and is designed to help them understand the financial abuse they have endured and to set goals in their journey to gain financial stability.
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New Guide on Child Rights and Global compacts
Destination Unknown's new guide on child rights and the global compacts analyses the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees through a child rights lens and outlines the measures foreseen in these documents for the protection of the rights of the child. It outlines what is in the Global Compacts that is of relevance for children and the provisions for the implementation, monitoring and review of these frameworks. It also suggests ways of engaging with the implementation of the Global Compacts. Destination Unknown is committed to working in partnership and developed this guide to support people, organisations and agencies working to protect children on the move to make better use of the Global Compacts in their daily work, to the benefit of refugee and migrant children. Watch this video to find out more. Explore the guide!
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EuroMed report on migrants return policies in the Mediterranean region
The NGO EuroMed Rights has recently published a brief study on the return policies of migrants in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The report shows that EU Members States, EU institutions and third countries in this area have adopted a joint approach. As a consequence, such policies brought into being certain common issues, including lack of transparency a massive violation of human rights.
According EuroMed, EU Member States used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to resort to mass detention, restrict freedom of movement and reduce access to detention places for civil society organizations in 2020. See more
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Council of Europe’s 2021 Report finds there is a Democracy Crisis
On 11 May 2021, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić released her annual report on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The report assesses recent developments in several areas including political institutions and judicial independence, freedom of expression and association, human dignity, anti-discrimination and democratic participation. The assessment is based on the findings of different Council bodies, such as the European Court of Human Rights. The Secretary General found that while such areas were already facing significant challenges in the previous years, the situation worsened because of the COVID-19 outbreak. See more
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Commercial sexual exploitation of children in South Eastern Europe
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime’s Observatory of Illicit Economies in South Eastern Europe (SEE-Obs) published a new report on commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the region, called ‘Exploited in plain sight – an Assessment of commercial sexual exploitation of children and child protection responses in the Western Balkans. LSI’s members representatives; Stojne Atanasovska Dimishkovska and Marija Todorovska of Open Gate in North Macedonia and Marija Andjelković of ASTRA in Serbia contributed to the report. See more
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Call for input next ATR issue 'Migration, Sexuality, and Gender Identity'
The Anti-Trafficking Review, an open access, peer reviewed journal published by GAATW, has launched a new call for papers for a special issue themed 'Migration, Sexuality, and Gender Identity' with guest editor Svati Shah. The aim of this issue will be to explore the experiences of LGBTQI+ people with migration, informal labour, sex work, asylum, trafficking, and more. In addition to academic articles, GAATW also welcomes shorter, blog-style pieces written by queer people or advocates that share first-person experiences with migration. See the full call for papers here. The deadline for submissions is 15 November 2021.
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New publications on due diligence and remedies
BSR, a global non-profit organization that works with its network of more than 250 member companies and other partners to build a just and sustainable world, has published a white paper ‘Seven Questions to Help Determine When a Company Should Remedy Human Rights Harm under the UNGPs’ that identifies seven questions that companies may ask to better understand their connection to negative impacts and appropriate responses. These questions are not intended to be applied formulaically or rigidly. They are designed to help guide companies as they consider appropriate actions under the UNGP cause/contribute/directly linked framework when a negative impact arises. See more
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IOM website on global migration data and information
The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) flagship publication has launched a dynamic new webpage that connects fact-based narratives on migration with interactive data visualizations of some of the latest global migration data and information. It is the first microsite of its kind since the World Migration Report (WMR) series began more than two decades ago.
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FAST Series of Podcasts on global finance and human trafficking
Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) launched The Podcast, a series of podcasts, exploring the connections between global finance and modern slavery and human trafficking, hosted by James Cockayne, Head of the Secretariat of the Liechtenstein Initiative housed at United Nations University Centre for Policy Research.
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