Virtual Casebook: Women, Law and Social Change

Part 2.E
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN /
TRAFIC DES FEMMES ET DES ENFANTS

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Papers

V. Chin and Y. Dandurand, Trafficking and Other Transnational Forms of Violence Against Women and Children

V. Chin and Y. Dandurand, Chart of Related Canadian and International Provisions: Trafficking

Cases

R. v. Sharpe [2001] 1 S.C.R. 45

R. v. McCrory [2001] BCJ No. 1622

Legislation

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. 2001, Bill C-11 (assented)

C-24: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (organized crime and law enforcement) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts 2001, Bill C-24 (assented)

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (child prostitution, child sex tourism, criminal harassment and female genital mutilation), S.C. 1997 c.16 (Bill C-27)

Conventions

Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime

Opened for signature December 20, 2000.

For an overview of the Convention, consult the  Conference Web site at which the Convention text was debated and finalized: http://www.odccp.org/palermo/convmain.html

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
(PDF) English, French

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
(PDF) English, French

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
(PDF) English, French

Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
(PDF) English, French

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution A/RES/54/263 of 25 May 2000; not yet in force (see article 14)

Inter-American Convention On  International Traffic In Minors

Adopted at Mexico, D.F., Mexico, on March 18, 1994, at the Fifth Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP-V)  

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which entered into force in 1981, is the primary international treaty that deals with women's human rights. The Convention prohibits all forms of discrimination against women. Article 6 reads: "States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women." The rights outlined in other articles are also important to addressing the rights of sex workers and victims of trafficking.

Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

Opened for signature at Lake Success, New York, on 21 March 1950.

International Labour Organization

Important International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions can be found by searching the ILO site. In particular, Conventions on Forced Labour (No. 29), Abolition of Forced Labour (No.105), On Freedom of Association (No. 87), and Protection of Wages (No. 95) are relevant. Also relevant is the ILO Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action For the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 87th session in June, 1999.

Reports and Articles

Trafficking In Women, Including Thai Migrant Sex Workers, In Canada, A Report prepared for the Status of Women Canada, by The Toronto Network Against Trafficking in Women, The Multicultural History Society of Ontario, The Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, June 2000

Canada: The New Frontier for Filipino Mail-Order Brides, Report prepared for Status of Women Canada by Philippine Women Centre of B.C., November 2000

Migrant Sex Workers from Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union: The Canadian Case, A Report Prepared for Status of Women Canada by Lynn McDonald, Brooke Moore and Natalya Timoshkina, Centre for Applied Social Research, University of Toronto, November 2000

Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation in the Americas - Introduction to Trafficking in the Americas, Organization of American States

Documents

Model guidelines for the effective prosecution of crimes against children
International Association of Prosecutors

IAP Best Practice Series No. 2 addresses the conduct of prosecutions of crimes against children, following on the first work in the series “Recommendations on Combating Use of the Internet to Exploit Children”.

These Model Guidelines bring together international standards for the treatment of children and the proper standards to be observed by prosecutors. They distil from those instruments the general principles to be applied and deal in some detail with the practical issues that arise against that background.

Like other works in this series, it is first and foremost a practical document. It tells prosecutors, in broad terms, what should be observed when dealing with crimes against children at all stages of prosecution, from initial dealings with victims and witnesses, through case preparation to trial and sentencing.

Extended material

To explore a full range of Articles, Documents and Links on this topic, click to: University of Toronto, Law Library, Women’s Human Rights Resources Online.

Some commentary and materials are drawn from the University of Toronto Law Library Women’s Human Rights Resources Web Site with permission. www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/diana

October 25, 2001