Call on governments to stop detaining survivors!
From Freedom United
| Shockingly, survivors around the world are being detained in prison-like settings for breaching immigration rules, often as a result of their exploitation. We’re urging world governments to stop enacting harmful policies that discriminate against individuals based on their immigration status, perpetuate revictimization, and hinder survivors’ recovery. Sign the petition today to urge governments to stop detaining survivors and release all potential and confirmed survivors from detention. |
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| Crossing a border, albeit without the right documents, doesn’t inherently make someone a risk to society. In fact, immigration rules are often what makes people vulnerable to exploitation – it allows traffickers to use the threat of detention to keep victims from seeking help. There is no justification for putting trafficking survivors behind bars when they have already been subject to a loss of liberty and severe exploitation. Yet, this is what is routinely happening to survivors around the world.[1] Add your name to the global call on governments to meet international standards designed to protect survivors from further trauma and revictimization. Under the Palermo Protocol on Trafficking, the main international anti-trafficking law, the non-punishment provision[2] urges states to ensure survivors are not held in detention nor prosecuted for crimes they were forced to commit as a result of their exploitation. Detaining trafficking survivors is inhumane and risks seriously exacerbating survivors’ “physical, psychological and social recovery, it may also result in accumulative trauma, suicidal behaviour and post-traumatic stress disorder.â€[3] The UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons has explicitly called for potential and confirmed victims of trafficking to be removed from prison-like settings.[4] This is a global problem. The U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report 2020[5] made recommendations to several countries including the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Jordan and others to improves their policies on detaining survivors. It is unacceptable that thousands of survivors are forced into revictimizing circumstances in detention centers around the world instead of being supported to recover from their experiences. Join the campaign urging world governments to stop detaining trafficking survivors and release all survivors from detention so that they may receive the support they desperately need. Take action now! In solidarity, Miriam and the Freedom United team |
