The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, as National Rapporteur on the Trafficking of Human Beings, has today welcomed the passing through the Seanad of the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023. The legislation will, for the first time, put into law an identification and support process for victims of trafficking.
This legislation marks an important and significant step in ensuring a victim-centred National Referral Mechanism (‘NRM’) for suspected Victims of Trafficking. This Act is the first-of-a-kind in Europe, and will better protect the rights of trafficked victims.
The Act notably recognises specialist NGO’s as ‘trusted partners’ and the multi-agency identification process are significant and positive reforms. The Commission also welcomes the appeals process included in the legislation, as well as the two stage procedure (detection and identification) which supports provision of early assistance. Also important to welcome are the provisions for people with reduced capacity to consent and for children within the identification process; the presumption of minority - in line with EU standards; and the welcome move away from the extra test of ‘credibility’.
However, the Commission notes that the legislation still lacks a number of crucial protections.
Reminding that the mechanism is both for identification and assistance of victims, the Commission has repeatedly called for more details on assistance and supports to be provided in the legislation. We remain concerned that too many important matters surrounding assistance are left to be provided through soft policy.
A fundamental principle of an NRM is that it must apply equally to all victims, regardless of their nationality, immigration status, or pending international protection application. However, the decision not to enshrine immigration-related measures in statute could undermine the equal treatment of victims. It is important that all victims have equal access to the NRM.
Furthermore, we also remind that the Commission strongly recommended that the National Referral Mechanism legislation explicitly state that assistance and supports are not conditional on cooperation with criminal investigations and proceedings.
While we welcome the increased provisions for child victims and the inclusion of a presumption of minority, we remain concerned about the need for a child specific identification process and the absence of any age-estimation assessment in the legislation.
We are concerned that, despite the Commission highlighting the need for it, the legislation does not provide any form of statutory protection from prosecution for victims of human trafficking – where a person has committed a crime as a direct consequence of them being trafficked.
The Commission also continues to recommend that victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation be afforded the same protections as victims of rape and other sexual-assault offences in criminal trials.
Director Deirdre Malone said,
“This legislation is an important step towards providing victim-survivors of trafficking with protection and assistance to support their recovery from this horrific crime. However gaps remain. The National Referral Mechanism can be transformative for victims / survivors. We must ensure equal access for all.”ENDS/ For further information, please contact: Sarah Clarkin IHREC Communications Manager, 01 8592641 / 087 4687760 sarah.clarkin@ihrec.ie Follow us on twitter @_IHREC