The General Assembly,
 
      Reaffirming the principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women,
 
      Recalling the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons
and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, and taking note of the
comments contained in the report of the Secretary-General,
 
      Recalling also all previous resolutions on the problem of the traffic in
women and girls,
 
      Affirming the provisions of the outcome of the World Conference on Human
Rights, held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993, the International Conference
on Population and Development, held at Cairo from 5 to 13 September 1994, the
World Summit for Social Development, held at Copenhagen from 6 to 12 March
1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women, held at Beijing from 4 to 15
September 1995, and the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Cairo from 29 April to 8 May
1995, pertaining to the traffic in women and children,
 
      Acknowledging the work done by intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations in compiling information on the scale and complexity of the
problem of trafficking, in providing shelters 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 girl children
from developing countries and from some countries with economies in transition
who are being victimized by traffickers, and acknowledging that the problem of
trafficking also victimizes young boys,
 
      Convinced of the need to eliminate all forms of sexual violence and
sexual trafficking, including for prostitution and other forms of commercial
sex, which are violations of the human rights of women and girl children and
are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person,
 
      Realizing the urgent need for the adoption of effective measures
nationally, regionally and internationally to protect women and girl children
from this nefarious traffic,
 
      1.    Takes note with appreciation of the report of the
Secretary-General on the traffic in women and girls;
 
      2.    Welcomes the convening of the World Congress against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children at Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996;
 
      3.    Calls upon Governments of countries of origin, transit and
destination and regional and international organizations, as appropriate, 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 commercialized sex, forced marriage and forced
labour in order to eliminate trafficking in women, including by strengthening
existing legislation with a view to providing better protection of the rights
of women and girls and to punishing the perpetrators, through both criminal
and civil measures;
 
      (c)   Stepping up 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 confidential health care and by
taking measures to cooperate with non-governmental organizations to provide
for the social, medical and psychological care of the victims of trafficking;
 
      (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;
 
      4.    Invites Governments to accord standard minimum humanitarian
treatment to trafficked persons, consistent with human rights standards;
 
      5.    Also 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 gender-based violence, including trafficking,
with a view to sensitizing them to the special needs of victims;
 
      6.    Encourages, in this regard, relevant United Nations organizations
and bodies, including the International Research and Training Institute for
the Advancement of Women, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to
contribute to the preparation of guidelines for the use of Governments in the
elaboration of their manuals, in cooperation with all relevant
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, including those
concerned with traumatic stress, taking into account existing research
material or studies on the subject;
 
      7.    Calls upon all Governments to criminalize trafficking in women and
girls in all its forms and to condemn and penalize all those offenders
involved, including intermediaries, whether their offence was committed in
their own or in a foreign country, while ensuring that the victims of these
practices are not penalized, and to penalize persons in authority found guilty
of sexually assaulting victims of trafficking in their custody;
 
      8.    Urges Governments concerned to support comprehensive practical
approaches by the international community to assist women and children victims
of transnational trafficking to return home and to be reintegrated in their
home societies;
 
      9.    Invites relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental
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.   Encourages Governments, institutions and non-governmental
organizations to take preventive and assistance measures, including by
establishing helplines to enable victims or potential victims of trafficking
to seek assistance, and to provide targeted training to those groups dealing
with this problem, including law enforcement and judicial personnel, using as
far as possible female police officers to assist victims;
 
      11.   Invites the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in
addressing the obstacles to the realization of the human rights of women, in
particular through his contacts with the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes and consequences and the
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography, to include the traffic in women and
girls among his priority concerns;
 
      12.   Invites States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child to include information and statistics on trafficking in women and girls
as part of their national reports to the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, taking into account the general recommendation
of the Committee, and to the Committee on the Rights of the Child,
respectively;
 
      13.   Encourages the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality
to continue to address the issue as part of the integrated follow-up to the
Fourth World Conference on Women;
 
      14.   Encourages all Governments to develop methodologies and to collect
national information, including statistical data, on trafficking in women and
girls in countries with special vulnerability;
 
      15.   Encourages countries with special vulnerability to conduct
campaigns designed to increase public awareness of the problem;
 
      16.   Welcomes the consideration given to the problem of trafficking in
women and girls by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,
and invites the Commission to continue to consider appropriate measures to
address this issue;
 
      17.   Also welcomes the decision of the Economic and Social Council to
devote its coordination segment of 1997 to mainstreaming a gender perspective;
 
      18.   Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly
at its fifty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution.