PART 2.2 Principle 5 recognizes that empowering vulnerable people through guaranteeing their human rights will reduce their susceptibility to being trafficked and exploited. It is addressed to States and others in a position to effect change. It requires them to consider the reasons why some people are trafficked and others are not; why some people are prepared to take dangerous migration decisions and others are not; why some people are more readily exploited than others, and in different ways. An understanding of vulnerability to trafficking should result in prevention measures that are realistic, effective and respectful of human rights. It should also contribute to more effective treatment of victims through, for example, better-informed support measures and reintegration programmes. 5.2. THE OBLIGATION TO ADDRESS VULNERABILITY TO TRAFFICKING The discussion under Principle 2 and related guidelines confirmed that States have an obligation to prevent trafficking and associated human rights violations. Principle 5, specifically directed at both States and intergovernmental organizations, extends that obligation of prevention to the factors that increase vulnerability to trafficking including inequality, poverty and discrimination. Principle 5 is supplemented by Guideline 7, which identifies a range of measures that could be taken by States to address vulnerabilities, including: the provision of genuine livelihood options to traditionally disadvantaged groups; improving children’s access to education; compulsory birth registration; review of policies that may compel people to take dangerous migration decisions; and promotion of legal, non-exploitative migration. Relevant treaty law confirms the existence of certain obligations with respect to preventing trafficking through addressing vulnerability. 106 Article 9 (4) of the Trafficking Protocol, for example, requires States parties to “take or strengthen measures … to alleviate the factors that make persons, especially women and children, vulnerable to trafficking, such as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity.” Article 31 (7) of its parent instrument, the Organized Crime Convention, also requires States to address the adverse social and economic conditions believed to contribute to the desire to migrate and hence, to the vulnerability of victims of trafficking.187 Both treaties highlight the need for education and awareness-raising aimed at improving the public’s understanding of trafficking, mobilizing community support for action against trafficking, and providing advice and warning to specific groups and individuals that may be at high risk of victimization.188 The European Trafficking Convention affirms an obligation to prevent trafficking by addressing the factors that create or increase vulnerability. States parties to that instrument are required to: • Establish and/or strengthen effective preventative policies and programmes for persons vulnerable to trafficking, including short-term measures such as information, awareness-raising and educational campaigns, together with longer-term social and economic initiatives that tackle the underlying and structural causes of trafficking; • Take appropriate measures to enable legalmigration including through the dissemination of accurate information; and • Take specific measures to reduce children’s vulnerability to trafficking, notably by creating See also Legislative Guides to the Organized Crime Convention and its Protocols, Part 2, para. 71. 187 Trafficking Protocol, art. 9 (2), Organized Crime Convention, art. 31 (5). See also Legislative Guides to the Organized Crime Convention and its Protocols, Part 2, para. 71. 188 RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING