Legal protection and social reintegration of human trafficking victims

• Author: Andrei Armeanu
• Position: Jurist, Universitatea 'Alexandru Ioan Cuza', Facultatea de Drept, Iasi
• Pages: 1-7

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 2 (2019), pp. 1- 7

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LEGAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION OF HUMAN

TRAFFICKING VICTIMS

A. ARMEANU

Andrei ARMEANU

Jurist, Universitatea ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Facultatea de Drept, Iași

Adresa de corespondenţa: Andrei Armeanu, Aleea Bașotă, nr. 6, ap. 41, Iași, jud. Iași

E-mail: andrei_armeanu@yahoo.co.uk

ABSTRACT:

As of April 2019 the Romanian authorities have expanded the protective measures to

which victims of crime will have access through Government Ordinance 24/2019. This

legislative amendment is designed to harmonise national legislation with the full provisions of

the European Directive 2012/29/EU laying down minimum rules on the rights, support and

protection of victims of crime. These changes are welcome given previous legislative

loopholes and worrying statistics as the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings is

growing in Romania. This paper is reviewing recent legislative changes and proposes an

analysis of the protection and support measures available for victims of trafficking in human

beings in Romania.

KEYWORDS: assistance for victims of human trafficking, victim protection policies,

court proceedings, European Directive 2012/29/EU, the role of legal and judicial authorities

INTRODUCTION

Trafficking in human beings is a global phenomenon. In all its forms, this crime

seriously damages the dignity and physical integrity of an increasing number of women, men

and children worldwide.

The United Nations (2000) defines human trafficking as the recruitment,

transportation, or receipt of persons through some form of threat or coercion, particularly

those that abuse positions of power and take advantage of the vulnerability, for exploitation

including prostitution, servitude, or the removal of organs.

Based on this definition, victims of human trafficking can fall into several

subpopulations along two dimensions

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The first dimension is the type of trafficking experienced, the subpopulations of which

include commercial sex, forced labour, involuntary servitude, and domestic violence.

The second dimension is the type of individual targeted, the subpopulations of which

include domestic or international victims, minors, individuals with special needs, and the

children of victims being trafficked.

Trafficking in human beings is often transnational in nature, but this is not always

present. Cultural and linguistic barriers and the terror of victims make this crime very difficult

to investigate. Despite the background of the majority of victims in politically unstable or

economically vulnerable countries, this phenomenon also affects developed countries, which

are becoming markets for human traffickers.

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Pascual-Leone, A. (2016) ”Working with Victims of Human Trafficking” The Journal of Contemporary

Psychotherapy, p. 130