International Legal Framework

Trafficking, slavery and slavery-like conditions

Trafficking, slavery and slavery-like conditions such as forced labour, servitude, debt bondage and forced marriage breach fundamental human rights. The core international human rights framework is found in the:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

The international human rights framework is overseen by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). OHCHR also supports the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Trafficking, slavery and slavery-like conditions is also subject to a number of specific international laws. This includes the:

• Slavery Convention (1926)
• Protocol amending the Slavery Convention (1953)
• Forced Labour Convention (1930)
• Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (1957)
• Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956)
• Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949)
• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children (2000)

The United Nations Human Rights Council has a number of special rapporteurs in the area of Trafficking, slavery and slavery-like conditions including the:

• Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
• Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) brings together UN agencies and intergovernmental organisations with the aim of mobilising and partnering with all stakeholders (including governments, business, non-governmental organisations and academia) to eradicate human trafficking.

Labour rights

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a UN agency specialising in labour standards and the promotion of decent work. There are a number of ILO conventions relevant to the work of Anti-Slavery Australia, including the:

• Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
• Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930
• Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
• Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
• Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97)
• Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143)
• Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)
• Home Work Convention, 1996 (No. 177)
• Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189)

Regional Framework

The Bali Process

The Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) is a regional forum of governments, intergovernmental bodies and international agencies working together to address peoples smuggling, people trafficking and transnational crime in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Bali process is co-chaired by Australia and Indonesia.

Australia Asia Program to Combat Trafficking in Persons

The Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project (ARTIP Project) was an initiative between 2006-2011 focussed on the prevention of trafficking in persons in the Asia region by facilitating a more effective and coordinated approach to trafficking by the criminal justice systems of participating national governments.

Between 2011 and 2013, the ARTIP Project was replaced by the ARTIP Transition Project. The successor program to ARTIP, the Australia Asia Program to Combat Trafficking in Persons (AAPTIP), began in 2013.

AAPTIP operates at regional and national levels, in support of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and working with the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), regional anti-human trafficking bodies and particular partner countries. The AAPTIP is a five year program, running until 2018. The goal of the program is to reduce the incentives and opportunites for the trafficking of persons within the ASEAN region.