Council of Europe Convention against Human Trafficking

This film, made in partnership with Euronews, focuses on the fight against trafficking in human beings, a trade which nets many millions of euros for the traffickers at the expense of untold misery for their victims.

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 3 May 2005, It entered into force on 1 February 2008, following its 10th ratification. While building on existing international treaties, the Convention goes beyond their agreed minimum standards and strengthens the protection afforded to victims.

The Convention covers all forms of trafficking (whether national or transnational, linked or not linked to organised crime) and all of its victims of (women, men or children). The forms of exploitation covered by the Convention include sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude and the removal of organs.

The main added value of the Convention is its human rights perspective and its focus on victim protection. Its Preamble defines trafficking in human beings as a violation of human rights and an offence to the dignity and integrity of the human being.