Project "Forced Labour Today"

"Forced labour today – Empowering trafficked persons"

On 2 June 2009 the German Institute for Human Rights launched the project "Forced labour today – Empowering trafficked persons". The project is planned for an initial three-year period. It is being carried out in cooperation with the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" (EVZ).

Human rights are aimed at empowering individuals to assert their own rights. Therefore, the purpose of the project is to increase the ability of persons who have been trafficked into labour and sexual exploitation to actually assert claims for wages and compensation against perpetrators and exercise their rights under the German Crime Victims' Compensation Act (Opferentschädigungsgesetz). To achieve this, the project offers financial support for test cases by means of a legal aid fund.

Background

It is now undisputed that human trafficking can lead to contemporary forms of slavery and that it must be considered a human rights violation. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of human trafficking is still primarily understood and treated as an aspect of the fight against crime. Trafficked persons play only a marginal role as subjects with their own legal rights.

A feasibility study that was done before the project showed that, in spite of legal options in Germany, only a small group of trafficked persons currently receives compensation or can assert wage claims in court.

Very few women who have been trafficked into sexual exploitation and testify as witnesses in criminal proceedings have received compensation from perpetrators. Payments are still generally far less than the amount the trafficked persons are entitled to. At present very few of them receive state payments under the German Crime Victims' Compensation Act.

Almost no useful information is available about compensation for people who have been trafficked for labour exploitation. So far only a few individuals in this group have exercised their rights by filing suit in the labour courts or reaching out-of-court settlements with employers.

Asserting court claims for compensation and wages is costly, time-consuming, and burdensome for trafficked persons. The system for providing support – such as the specialised counselling centres for trafficked persons, specialised lawyers, migrants’ and women’s associations, and trades unions – can play a decisive role in this area.

Target groups

Indirect target groups of the project are persons who have been trafficked for all forms of contemporary forced labour, such as those who have been trafficked into sexual or labour exploitation, as well as other forms of severe exploitation.
The project is also aimed at governmental and non-governmental organisations that come into contact with trafficked persons. One focus is key players from organisations that provide support, such as counselling centres, lawyers, and law enforcement authorities.

Measures

The project includes activities at both the individual and structural levels. In selected cases, it provides financial support for trafficked persons to assert claims for compensation and wages in court and in out-of-court negotiations with employers or perpetrators. It also provides financial aid for clarifying fundamental legal issues before asserting claims for wages and compensation.

Additional measures such as symposiums and advanced training will increase awareness and improve the qualifications of professionals in this area. Guidelines will be issued, a documentation system for proceedings to claim wages and compensation will be developed and a website on this specific issue will be created in the project.

Simultaneous lobbying and public relations work will draw increased attention to the issue of wages and compensation for the people affected by current forms of forced labour. The project will also raise the issue of claims for wages and compensation within the framework of implementing the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and EU legislation.

Contact:
Heike Rabe
Phone:  0049 30 25 93 59 - 127
e-mail: rabe@institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de

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