The government approved yesterday in the Council of Ministers the global organic bill against trafficking and exploitation of human beings. The text raises prison sentences of six months to four years for those who take advantage of the services or benefits of victims, among which women forced into prostitution stand out, and guarantees victims full assistance, with temporary residence and work permits.
This law, drawn up under the direction of the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the Ministries of Equality, Interior and Inclusion, aims to combat all forms of exploitation, From forced labor and labor services, to begging or organ trafficking. Also, the crime of labor exploitation is introduced for the first time.
“This law is the result of an inter-ministerial consensus and puts an end to the dispersion of regulations currently existing in Spain. It will be a before and after in the commitment to protect human rights and with a much more effective fight against the mafias of exploitation. It is the third most lucrative trade after arms and drug trafficking“, said the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, after the press conference of the Council of Ministers, according to Europa Press.
Llop added that this bill comprehensively addresses all forms of exploitation and discourages demand “in order to dismantle and break the links in the chain of trafficking.”
The project, reports Efe, reorganizes and clarifies in the Penal Code the prosecution of human trafficking and exploitation, typifying the offenses of forced labor, servitude and slavery. To discourage demand, The use of services, benefits or activities of victims of forced labor or services, servitude or slavery is also criminalized.
D.Thus, anyone who uses the sexual services provided by a victim of trafficking will be punished with a prison sentence of one to four years and a ban on residence. If the person acted with gross recklessness, the penalty will be six months to two and a half years. Only those who, having occasionally used the services of these victims, will report it will be exempted from punishment. Will also be punished those who, without being the perpetrators of the crimes of trafficking or exploitation, facilitate it by renting premises or accommodation.
Beyond the penal response, it also includes prevention and raising awareness in society and assistance to the victim, guaranteeing them a series of rights and support. Measures are established in the fields of education, health, advertising and the media and the adoption of the said measures in the private and commercial sector, to avoid exploitation; and labor standards are strengthened in the most sensitive sectors, with the collaboration of the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate.
In general, the right to specialized protection and assistance is recognised, adapted to the type of trafficking and exploitation suffered and to the profile of the victim. You will be informed in a language you understand, with the help of an interpreter or a cultural mediator if necessary, and in close collaboration with accredited specialized entities.
Future “adjustments”
It also recognizes the right to privacy and protection of the victim’s identity upon detection and the right to free legal assistance; as good as labor rights and access to benefits such as minimum subsistence income.
On the other hand, the recognition and effectiveness of the rights recognized in the standard are not linked to the filing of a complaint and the participation of the victims in the criminal investigation, without prejudice to the fact that the public authorities encourage the victim to collaborate for effective prosecution of the crime through the necessary mechanisms.
Llop pointed out that the law on trafficking does not exclude judges and prosecutors from the identification of victims in the criminal field, since the draft provides that victims can be accredited by a final judgment in the criminal field, following a system of judicial accreditation similar to that of victims of gender violence.
This bill creates the National Referral Mechanism (MND), as the body responsible for the immediate referral of presumed victims of trafficking; and a National Rapporteur on Trafficking and Exploitation of Human Beings, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, who will oversee all public policies in this area.
As explained by the minister, the law on trafficking is approved in a first round and they will continue to work to improve the rights of victims and have recognized that the text “will be subject to future adjustments”.
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