Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-12-14-Speech-2-075"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20101214.7.2-075"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
In 2010, people are being bought and sold as slaves in Europe. This is happening despite the fact that slavery was prohibited more than 250 years ago. They are being forced into prostitution, forced labour or begging. They suddenly find themselves with an owner, who they absurdly enough often believe they are indebted to. Human trafficking is one of the most serious crimes in the world and, unfortunately, it is growing in extent all the time. It is a serious violation of the human rights which we in the EU defend fiercely and fight every day to uphold.
Unfortunately, we did not succeed in getting this proposal accepted. Thus, the Member States will not be forced to criminalise these people, but they will have to report on the measures they have taken to tackle demand for services provided by victims of human trafficking.
However, we have put this issue on the agenda, and at EU level we received support for our proposal from the relevant committees in Parliament as well as from experts, the police and voluntary organisations. I think that, with the agreement that we are to vote on today, we have come a good way along the road. Let us now stand together to put a stop to the trafficking in human beings in Europe, which is a modern form of slavery.
We must not give up, because people’s right to decide when it comes to their own life and their own bodies is a human right that cannot be bought and sold for money like shoelaces or bananas.
I would therefore like to begin by thanking Mrs Malmström for producing a legislative proposal on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings so quickly. I would also like to thank my fellow Member from the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Mrs Bauer, for her excellent cooperation, and all of the shadow rapporteurs who have worked on the directive. Finally, a big thank you to all of the other members of staff, who have done a fantastic job.
Human trafficking is currently the fastest growing cross-border crime. According to the UN report ‘Trafficking in persons’ for 2009, human trafficking is the activity that provides the second-largest income for criminal networks after arms trafficking. It is absolutely clear that no country can solve the problem of human trafficking on its own. Trafficking in human beings is going on in all countries in Europe and the human traffickers move their victims across national borders every day.
We therefore need to work together, and our legislation in this area needs to be as harmonised as possible. Therefore, the proposal for an EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, who will review and coordinate the EU’s work together with the national coordinators, is also a good one.
In order to tackle the problem of human trafficking, we need to have penalties that reflect the seriousness of the crime and that really hurt those who are making money out of trafficking in human beings. I think that we have made some progress with the proposals for penalties contained in the legislative proposal. It has also been proposed that the Member States should, in a legally certain manner, seize the human traffickers’ assets gained from their crime.
However, it is not enough to punish the perpetrators. Protection for victims of human trafficking must also improve. Without protection for victims, we will never be able to prosecute the human traffickers. Victims must receive the help they need and it is important, above all, to create a safe environment that will enable them to choose to cooperate with the police.
A passage is also proposed concerning enhanced protection for children who are victims of human trafficking, and that is something that I am very pleased about. Since 79% of victims of human trafficking are women and because sexual exploitation is by far the most usual type of human trafficking, it is crucial to view the legislation from a gender perspective and for all measures that are proposed to be analysed from the point of view of gender.
Ultimately, if we are ever to get to grips with this problem, we must do something about the uneven distribution of power between men and women. Inequality between men and women is a contributory cause of the vulnerability that leads to human trafficking.
In order to really tackle the problem of human trafficking, all Member States must put a great deal of effort into preventive work. In principle, this is a matter of reducing the demand in our countries for services provided by victims of human trafficking. If we can reduce demand, then access to services will also reduce. This means that we must deal with those who make human trafficking profitable. We therefore proposed that it should be mandatory for all Member States to criminalise those who knowingly use the services of victims of human trafficking. Under current EU legislation, it is a punishable offence for employers to exploit victims of human trafficking. The same principle ought to apply to individuals who exploit victims."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples