In this regard, the UNTOC obliges States Parties to protect victims from retaliation or intimidation, while the UN Trafficking Protocol calls for establishing policies and programmes that serve to protect victims from re-victimization, among other functions.314 The Council of Europe Trafficking Convention requires that states take into consideration the safety and protection needs of victims, and establish return programmes aimed at preventing re-victimization. The convention also requires states to provide victims with effective and appropriate protection from potential retaliation or intimidation, in particular (but not only) during and after the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators.315 Where a risk of harm in another state is identified, states also have an obligation under the convention to notify and provide information on the risk to the relevant state without delay.316 The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has also issued recommendations on the assistance to be accorded victims of crime, which state that “victims should be protected as far as possible from secondary victimisation”.317 The prevention of secondary victimization is an obligation clearly embodied in the EU Trafficking Directive.318 In the directive’s preamble, it affirms the importance of conducting individual risk assessments to ensure that “victims [are] protected from retaliation, from intimidation, and from the risk of being re-trafficked.”319 As such, EU member states must ensure that trafficking victims receive appropriate protection on the basis of an individual risk assessment, including access to witness-protection programmes and similar measures.320 A number of problems have been identified concerning reintegration-support programmes currently available to victims of trafficking. In particular, access to such 314  UN Trafficking Protocol, art. 9.1(b). 315  Council of Europe Trafficking Convention, art. 28. While the protection afforded under Article 28 is specifically intended for the period of investigation and prosecution, the period in which protection measures must be provided depends on the threat posed in a particular case (see Explanatory Report to the Council of Europe Trafficking Convention, para. 288). The report recommends implementing measures that take the victim’s safety fully into account, including, for example, by ensuring that the victim’s place of residence is kept secret and secure against traffickers (see Explanatory Report to the Council of Europe Trafficking Convention, para. 164). 316  Council of Europe Trafficking Convention, art. 33(1). 317  Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, Recommendation Rec(2006)8 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on assistance to crime victims, 14 June 2006, para. 3.3. Under these recommendations, states should ensure the protection of the victim’s physical and psychological integrity (art. 10.1). States are also required to take specific protection measures for victims at risk of intimidation, reprisals or repeat victimization (art. 10.2). 318  EU Trafficking Directive, recitals 14 and 19, art. 12(4). 319  EU Trafficking Directive, recital 19. The EU Group of Experts has noted that, in order to prevent trafficked persons from being re-victimized or re-trafficked and to protect their safety, it is essential to establish appropriate, preferably voluntary, return procedures and social assistance programmes offering long-term assistance to enable trafficked persons regain control over their lives. Such programmes should start in the country of destination and should continue after the trafficked person has returned (see Report of the EU Group of Experts, “Explanatory Paper 13: Return and social inclusion”, p. 197. 320  EU Trafficking Directive, art. 12(3). The EU Directive on the rights of victims of crime establishes the importance of protection from secondary and repeat victimization, and acknowledges the particular risks facing victims of trafficking. In addition, it reaffirms the need for specific protection measures for victims, including during criminal proceedings, lists the information support and assistance victims should receive concerning the risks of re-victimization and spells out their right to protection. The directive states that child victims shall always be presumed to have specific protection needs due to their vulnerability to secondary and repeat victimization and intimidation. 82 Part 2: Explanatory Report to the Principles