The Commission on Human Rights,

Recalling all previous resolutions on the problem of the traffic in women and girls adopted by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others,

Reaffirming the provisions adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders pertaining to the traffic in women and children,

Acknowledging the work done by intergovernmental and non­governmental organizations in compiling information on the scale and complexity of the problem of trafficking, in providing shelter for trafficked women and children, and in effecting their voluntary repatriation to their countries of origin,

Noting with concern the increasing number of women and girls who are being victimized by traffickers, and acknowledging that trafficking also victimizes young boys,

Stressing the urgent need to eliminate all forms of sexual violence and trafficking, including for prostitution, which are violations of the human rights of women and girls and are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person, through the adoption of effective measures nationally, regionally and internationally,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary­General on the traffic in women and girls (A/52/355);

2. Welcomes national, regional and international efforts to implement the recommendations of the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, and calls upon Governments to take further measures in that regard;

3. Calls upon Governments to criminalize trafficking in women and girls in all its forms, to condemn and penalize all the offenders involved, including intermediaries, whether their offence was committed in their own or in a foreign country, while ensuring that the victims of those practices are not penalized, and to penalize persons in authority found guilty of sexually assaulting victims of trafficking in their custody;

4. Also calls upon Governments of countries of origin, transit and destination and appropriate regional and international organizations to implement the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women by:

(a) Considering the ratification and enforcement of international conventions on trafficking in persons and on slavery;

(b) Taking appropriate measures to address the root factors, including external factors, that encourage trafficking in women and girls for prostitution and other forms of commercial sex, and strengthening existing legislation with a view to providing better protection of the rights of women and girls and punishing the perpetrators through criminal and civil measures;

(c) Increasing cooperation and concerted action by all relevant law enforcement authorities and institutions with a view to dismantling national, regional and international networks in trafficking;

(d) Allocating resources to provide comprehensive programmes designed to heal and rehabilitate into society victims of trafficking, including through job training, legal assistance and health care;

(e) Developing educational and training programmes and policies and considering enacting legislation aimed at preventing sex tourism and trafficking, giving special emphasis to the protection of young women and children;

5. Invites Governments, with the support of the United Nations, to formulate manuals for the training of personnel who receive and/or hold in temporary custody victims of gender­based violence, including trafficking, with a view to sensitizing them to the special needs of the victims;

6. Encourages relevant United Nations bodies and organizations, including the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the United Nations Children's Fund, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as well as the International Organization for Migration, to contribute to the preparation of guidelines for the use of Governments in the elaboration of their manuals, in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental and non­governmental organizations;

7. Encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to include the issue of traffic in women and girls in its programme of work under its advisory, training and information activities, with a view to providing assistance to Governments, upon their request, in instituting preventive measures against trafficking through education and appropriate information campaigns;

8. Invites the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography of the Commission on Human Rights and the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of the Sub­Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to continue addressing, within their respective mandates, the problem of trafficking in women and girls as a priority concern, and to recommend, in their reports, measures to combat such phenomena;

9. Invites relevant intergovernmental and non­governmental organizations to provide advisory services to Governments, upon their request, in planning and setting up rehabilitation programmes for victims of trafficking and in training personnel who will be directly involved in the implementation of those programmes;

10. Requests the Secretary­General to provide the Commission, at its fifty­fifth session, with his report to the General Assembly at its fifty­third session on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 52/98 of 12 December 1997;

11. Decides to continue its consideration of this question at its
fifty­fifth session under the appropriate agenda item.

51st meeting
17 April 1998

[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XV.]