Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2015-09-10-Speech-4-051-000"
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"en.20150910.4.4-051-000"2
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"Madam President, let me start by thanking the Commissioner for coming to speak to us today. As one of the rapporteurs for Parliament’s implementation report on the Anti-trafficking Directive to be drafted later this year, I am very happy, Commissioner, to hear from you.
The EU actually has a good record on action to protect victims of human trafficking. In 2011, the Anti-trafficking Directive was held up globally as the gold standard in protection of victims because it adopts a gender-specific approach. Although the very nature of this crime makes it difficult to get reliable data on the numbers of victims, the Eurostat report earlier this year estimated that between 2010 and 2012 there were over 30 000 victims registered in 28 Member States, 80% of which were women. These figures do not, of course, include the huge numbers of victims who are not identified by authorities as victims of human trafficking.
Although victims are varied, held and controlled for a variety of reasons, we cannot dismiss the significant gender dimension of this crime. The majority, which is 69% of identified victims, were trafficked for sexual exploitation and 95% of that number were women. These numbers show that however good the EU is at tackling this issue, we cannot rest on our laurels. So whilst this crime constitutes a huge abuse of fundamental rights, it continues and is hugely profitable for the traffickers.
Our work to protect victims must be vigilant and ongoing. Why, then, do we tolerate the lack of engagement by national authorities? How come, Commissioner, they are not pursued for the figures that they have committed to feed to your officers? It is clear that some countries have achieved a great deal and are cracking down on trafficking, whilst others have still to implement the directive fully and are dragging their feet in recognising this crime. What more evidence do they need to take real action, to which their governments have already committed themselves, in order to rescue the victims and pursue the perpetrators? How much longer do these people, who are controlled and sold as so much baggage, have to wait to get justice?
The evidence shows that human trafficking is an issue that European people want to see tackled with coordinated European action. When asked which forms of violence against women the EU should prioritise, trafficking in human beings comes out very high. The transnational nature of these crimes means that we can only address both the root causes, the rescue and care of victims, and the punishment of perpetrators, if we work together at both source and destination countries.
The Commission must come forward quickly with its post-2016 strategy towards the eradication of human trafficking. We in Parliament look forward to receiving these proposals so that we can work closely with you to crack down on this vile trade. The Commission must also ensure that they are monitoring and implementing the Anti-trafficking Directive in every single Member State. We hope that Parliament’s upcoming work on this will help feed into this work.
Trafficking is a crime committed upon the most vulnerable and those victims deserve better protection, but we cannot do that effectively unless we know the state of play in each and every Member State. However, it is important to remember as we debate migration and human smuggling this week that human trafficking is a different, truly vile trade that abuses victims’ human rights. Commissioner, we look forward to working with you in the coming months to tackle this crime."@en1
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