Action against Trafficking in Human Beings


Current Activities

Monitoring Activities

The 10th ratification of the Convention on 24 October 2007 triggerred its entry into force on 1 February 2008 and the setting up of its monitoring mechanism;

- the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)
- the Committee of the Parties
For up-to-date information on their respective activities click on the links above.

 Joint Council of Europe/United Nations Study on trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs
 
 Link to the study [PDF] 
 This new joint Council of Europe/United Nations publication was presented at a special launching event in the United Nations headquarters in New York on 13 October 2009 on the occasion of the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Link to launching event
 
 The study stresses that trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal is a small part of the wider problem of organs, tissues and cells (OTC) and highlights that there is widespread confusion in the legal and scientific communities between the two types of trafficking, which require different solutions.  Executive Summary of the Joint Study [PDF]



Expert Seminar on the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, Madrid, 2-3 December 2008

An Expert Seminar on the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings took place in Madrid on 2-3 December 2008. The seminar provided technical assistance on the implementation of the measures contained in the Convention and promoted further ratifications of the Convention.

The seminar, which took place in the framework of the Spanish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, was organised by the Gender Equality and Anti-Trafficking Division of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, in co-operation with the Ministry for Equality of Spain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain and the Spanish Diplomatic School. Ms Bibiana Aido Almagro, Minister for Equality of Spain, Ms Victoria Scola, Special Ambassador of the Spanish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and Mr Angel Lossada, Secretary of State of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation gave opening addresses.

Participants and speakers included national governmental representatives responsible for preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, representatives of academia, as well as representatives of national and international NGOs active in this field.

The first working session of the seminar gave a general overview of the measures contained in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The following sessions were devoted to specific aspects, including the need for national coordinating bodies for combating trafficking, the necessity to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in preventing trafficking, civil society’s action to prevent trafficking, the question of the identification of victims of trafficking, the recovery and reflection period, the need to criminalise trafficking in human beings, as well as an overview of the monitoring mechanism of the Convention.

Participants exchanged experiences in implementing the measures contained in the Convention and those countries which have not yet ratified the Convention were encouraged to do so. Seminar Proceedings THB-ES-ESP(2008)