DRAFT CEDAW General recommendation on Trafficking in
Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration
The Committee is particularly concerned regarding the trends of trafficking in women and
girls17 as well as the role of technology in the recruitment of victims. These practices subject
women and girls to grave risk of gender-based violence and abuse.18 The Committee identifies
the higher risk faced by women and girls subjected to multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination, particularly women and girls in poverty, living in remote areas, forcibly
displaced women and girls and women and girl migrants.19
13.
The crime of trafficking is characterized by a complex web of perpetrator and victim
profiles, as well as jurisdictions, often implicating private persons, corporations, Statemandated actors and officials. Its victims include both citizens and non-citizens, with
trafficking victims being detected both in their countries of citizenship and abroad.20 The crime
may take place entirely within one jurisdiction but often involves the crossing of one, or several,
international borders. International pathways of human trafficking often align with international
migration flows; with many detected cases involving victims trafficked from lower to higher
GDP countries.21
b.
Trafficking in women and girls constitutes gender-based violence against
women
14.
In its general recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women, the
Committee clarified that discrimination against women included gender-based violence22 the
prohibition of which has evolved into a principle of customary international law.23 Recognizing
the gender-specificity of the forms of trafficking in women and girls and its consequences,
including harms suffered, the Committee acknowledges that trafficking in women and girls is
17
This includes: child marriage of girls fleeing humanitarian crises (A/71/303 (2016), para. 34;
A/72/164 (2017), para. 20; A/72/164 (2017), paras. 27, 40; CEDAW/C/TUR/CO/7); sexual
exploitation in refugee camps, temporary reception centres and informal settlements (A/72/164 (2017),
para. 35); recruitment of women forced to sell their babies (A/71/261 (2016), para. 41) or give them up
for adoption (CEDAW/C/MHL/CO/1-3); forced begging (A/HRC/34/55/Add. 1 (2016), para. 25);
sexual exploitation by peacekeepers (A/71/303 (2016), paras. 43-44); forced recruitment or abduction
into military service or by armed forces (A/71/303 (2016), paras. 31-32) or by terrorist groups for
purposes of forced marriage, forced pregnancy, sexual slavery, domestic servitude, to serve as
combatants including as suicide bombers, for sale or for ransom, and for purposes of being gifted to
fighters as a reward to increase the recruitment and retention (A/71/303 (2016), para. 33; A/72/164
(2017), paras. 19, 21, 26; CEDAW/C/NER/CO/3-4).
18
General recommendation No. 19 (1992) (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. II)), para. 14.
19
This includes women who are: migrants (CEDAW/C/ITA/CO/7; CEDAW/C/URY/CO/8-9); asylumseekers (CEDAW/C/NOR/CO/9); refugees (CEDAW/C/RWA/CO/7-9); internally displaced
(CEDAW/C/NGA/CO/7-8); non-nationals (CEDAW/C/BRB/CO/5-8); stateless; forcibly returned to
their country of origin (CEDAW/C/GTM/CO/8-9); in conflict or post-conflict situations
(CEDAW/C/BGD/CO/8; CEDAW/C/MMR/CO/4-5); living in post disaster situations; living in
poverty; rural women (CEDAW/C/BTN/CO/8-9); with disabilities (CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/2;
CEDAW/C/ROU/CO/7-8; from religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities (CEDAW/C/GTM/CO/8-9;
CEDAW/C/CRI/CO/7; CEDAW/C/HND/CO/7-8; CEDAW/C/CZE/CO/6); and, adolescents,
particularly girls without care or in alternative care settings (General Recommendations: No. 28 (2010)
(CEDAW/C/GC/28), para. 21; No. 34 (2016) (CEDAW/C/GC/34), para. 5; No. 37 (2018)
(CEDAW/C/GC/37), para. 75; A/73/263 (2018), para. 21; CEDAW/C/CAN/CO/8-9).
20
UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018, p. 9.
21
UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018, p. 9.
22
General Recommendation No. 35 (2017) (CEDAW/C/GC/35), para. 1. Gender-based violence
against women is defined as: “violence which is directed against a woman because she is a woman or
that affects women disproportionately”, and that it constituted a violation of their human rights
23
General Recommendation No. 35 (2017) (CEDAW/C/GC/35), para. 2.
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