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Stop the Traffic 2 - Fact Sheet

Stop the Traffic 2 (2003)

Fact
Sheets: International and Australian Law

Fact Sheet: International and Australian Law

On December 9 2002 Australia became signatory to The United Nations
Protocol to Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women
and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organised Crime.

The UN protocol:

  • clearly defines trafficked persons as victims of crime rather than
    criminals;
  • specifies that they should be protected;
  • states that consent to trafficking is irrelevant, because the means
    by which trafficking is effected such as the use of force, fraud or
    deception, make any consent invalid;
  • Emphasises the need to prosecute traffickers.

In 1999 the Australian Government introduced a Federal Criminal Code
Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) and the then Attorney-General,
Daryl Williams, affirmed that trafficking involved ‘serious
violations of fundamental human rights.’ 1

The detainment and deportation of women, particularly without the opportunity
to testify against their traffickers is then inappropriate and not in
keeping with either the UN’s recommendations or Australian criminal
code.

Overseas research shows that the provision of support for victims significantly
increases victims’ willingness to act as witnesses against their
traffickers by up to 50 per cent.

Due to work by the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Immigration
and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs there are currently eight prosecutions
under the Criminal Code in the courts at the moment and 18 investigations
being carried out.

There are maximum penalties of up to 25 years imprisonment for offences
relating to sexual servitude, slavery and other offences of a similar
nature.

Links

1. Williams, D. Speech given
in the context of a Bill: Criminal Code Act (Slavery and Sexual Servitude),
1998.