DRAFT CEDAW General recommendation on Trafficking in
Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration
I.
Introduction
1.
Article 6 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (the Convention) sets out States parties’ legal obligation to “take all appropriate
measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of
prostitution of women”. Despite the plethora of existing anti-trafficking legal and policy
frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, trafficking in women and girls
remains pervasive globally. Perpetrators enjoy widespread impunity and women and girls
continue to be subjected to extreme forms of gender-based violence, constituting a violation of
their human rights and an obstacle to their achievement of substantive equality. The call for
strategic global action by States to combat trafficking in women and girls is echoed in the
Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development.
2.
According to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (the Committee), the phenomenon persists due to States parties’ failure to
effectively address the root causes of trafficking in women and girls and to discourage the
demand that fosters the exploitation of women and girls, which leads to trafficking. An inquiry
into the experience of women and girls on the move, both those forcibly displaced and those
who choose to migrate, reveals the potential adverse impact of States parties’ migration
framework on women and girls and the resulting risk of being trafficked. Inadequate attention
to women’s and girls’ experiences as victims of trafficking results in low rates of identification,
assistance and protection. Restrictive migration policies and over-reliance on the criminal
justice system to address trafficking in women and girls are barriers for victims’ access to
justice and other services including health and psychosocial support.
3.
This general recommendation sets out practical guidance on how to overcome this
impasse using a gender transformative approach – characterized by anti-trafficking measures
that are gender-sensitive, rights and needs-based, and evidence-led, emphasizing women’s and
girls’ empowerment as a strategic priority for sustainable development. It affirms States parties’
obligation of due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish trafficking in women
and girls, to protect victims as well as to provide reparations.
II.
Objective and scope
4.
The Committee is mandated by article 21 of the Convention to develop general
recommendations with the aim of clarifying States parties’ obligations to combat discrimination
against women and girls in the current context.1 Discrimination is defined in Article 1 of the
Convention as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the
effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment and exercise by women
of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.2 Article 2 of the Convention identifies the legal
obligations of States parties to respect, protect and fulfill women’s right to non-discrimination
and to the enjoyment of substantive equality with men.3 The Committee advances that a life
free from being trafficked must be recognized as a human right and appropriate conditions must
be created for that right to be fully exercised by women and girls.4 The requirement for States
parties to pursue by all appropriate means a policy of combatting trafficking is of an immediate
nature; delays cannot be justified on any grounds.5
1
General recommendation No. 28 (2010) (CEDAW/C/GC/28), para. 2.
General recommendations: No. 28 (2010) (CEDAW/C/GC/28), para. 4; No. 36 (2016)
CEDAW/C/GC/36, para. 21.
3
General recommendation No. 28 (2010) (CEDAW/C/GC/28), paras. 9 and 16.
4
General recommendation No. 36 (2016) CEDAW/C/GC/36, para. 21.
5
General recommendation No. 35 (2017) (CEDAW/C/GC/35), para. 21.
2
1