PART 2.3 The following discussion considers three issues: first, the status of trafficked persons as victims of crime and victims of human rights violations; second, the criminalization of trafficked persons for status-related offences; and third, the detention of trafficked persons for status offences, protection or any other reason. The issue of victim detention is given particular and detailed consideration owing to the prevalence of this practice and its serious implications for the rights of trafficked persons, in particular, women and children. 7.2. TRAFFICKED PERSONS AS VICTIMS OF CRIME AND VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Principle 7 does not use the expression “victim of crime”, nor does it define that status. It is, however based upon the understanding that a trafficked person is a victim of crime as that term has been defined at the international level: [Victims of crime are] persons who … have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws.259 International human rights treaty law does not provide a rigorous framework of protection for the rights of victims of crime.260 The only directly relevant instrument in this context is a resolution of the General Assembly: the Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, General Assembly resolution 40/34, para. 1. 259 A limited exception is provided by the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, articles 8 and 9 of which deal extensively with the rights and interests of child victims of the offences covered by that instrument. 260 130 1985 Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. In a provision of particular relevance to the situation of many victims of trafficking, the Declaration notes how critically important it is for a person to be understood to be a victim of crime "regardless of whether the perpetrator is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted and regardless of the familial relationship between the perpetrator and the victim” (para. 2). The Declaration is explicit on the point that victims of crime are to be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity, and to have their right to access justice and redress mechanisms fully respected. It also notes the importance, for victims, of access to remedies, an issue that will be discussed further below in the context of Principle 17 and related Guidelines. In addition to being victims of crime, trafficked persons are also victims of human rights violations. In the context of extremely serious violations (a term that could include egregious cases of trafficking), the concept of victim has been defined, in the 2006 Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, as follows: [v]ictims are persons who individually or collectively suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that constitute gross violations of international human rights law, or serious violations of international humanitarian law. Where appropriate, and in accordance with domestic law, the term “victim” also includes the immediate family or dependants of the RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING