In its judgment in the case of Krachunova v. Bulgaria (application no. 18269/18), delivered on 28 November 2023, the European Court of Human Rights found that Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights lays down a positive obligation to enable victims of human trafficking to claim compensation from their traffickers in respect of lost earnings.
The case concerned the attempts of a female victim of human trafficking to obtain compensation for the earnings from sex work that her trafficker had taken from her. The Bulgarian courts had refused compensation, stating she had been engaged in prostitution and returning the earnings from that would be contrary to “good morals”.
The Court stressed that the possibility for victims to seek compensation in respect of earnings withheld by the traffickers could redress the full extent of the harm suffered by them. It would also give them the financial means to rebuild their lives and would go some way towards ensuring the traffickers are not able to enjoy the fruits of their offences, thus reducing the incentives to commit trafficking. Moreover, the Court asserted that compensation must be considered an essential part of the integrated State response to human trafficking under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Court’s decision refers to the third party intervention made by GRETA in this case, according to which to deny victims of sexual exploitation compensation from their traffickers for loss of earnings - because prostitution is considered illegal, immoral or undesirable - would run contrary to the object and purpose of the international instruments created to provide effective protection to victims of all forms of human trafficking, in particular Article 15 of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings.
GRETA has emphasised that compensation plays a crucial role in the fight against human trafficking, not only as an instrument of restorative justice, but also by way of prevention and recognition by States of their failure to meet their human rights obligations.
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