Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-18-Speech-4-299"
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"en.20000518.13.4-299"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in 1996, we more or less got the political go-ahead to tackle trafficking in women at European level, and I am delighted to tell you that the then Belgian government played a vital role in bringing about this green light. But I think we need to ask ourselves whether, after four years of work, Europe is sufficiently equipped to be able to fight this trafficking in women effectively. I think I can assume that the Sörensen report makes it abundantly clear that this is not the case. We back Mrs Sörensen’s report 100% and I would like to congratulate her on her sterling work. I would especially like to re-emphasise the fact that the resolutions, which we will be approving tomorrow, fail to display a coherent legal framework for tackling trafficking in women, an issue which, in fact, the Belgian government made a point of hammering home at the time. I think that everyone by now realises that a coherent approach to trafficking in people first and foremost presupposes a clear definition of trafficking in women, which, indeed, is not restricted to forced prostitution, although this is very important, but encompasses all types of trafficking in women and which is linked to deterrent sanctions involving trafficking in people.
I think it is beyond dispute that the national laws and methods for tracing victims and prosecuting offenders within the world of trafficking in women should be harmonised as a matter of urgency and that it is important that police forces work together more effectively.
A second point which is essential to us in this report – and we have been hammering on about this for a while now – is the fact that we need to continue to be committed to the protection of women who are the victims of such types of trafficking. All too often in many countries, those women are criminalised whereas, in fact, they are the victims. What we are advocating is a legal residence status for those women so that they can be protected.
Thirdly, I think it is clear that without such a legal framework, we will never reach a solution to this problem. In fact, I would like to congratulate Commissioner Vitorino at this stage on his intention to present a framework decision to the Council within the course of this year, as a result of which we would then be able to resolve a number of these bottlenecks and issues.
Patsy Sörensen, our rapporteur, knows the topic of her report like the back of her hand. I would therefore ask the Commissioner, since he is here, when drafting his future policy on trafficking in people, to talk to police forces and the civil service – this goes without saying – but I would very much urge him to make ample time for workers at base and aid workers in the field. After all, it is also their expertise which can ensure that our approach to trafficking in women is coherent and all-encompassing."@en1
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