Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings: Warsaw, 16 May 2005

Trafficking in human beings has become a major problem in Europe. Each year, an increasing number of people, the majority of them women and children, fall victim to trafficking for the purposes of sexual or other exploitation, both within and over borders. This phenomenon has hit unprecedented levels, to the extent that it can be considered as a new form of slavery. One of the primary concerns of the Council of Europe is to safeguard and to protect human rights - trafficking in human beings directly undermines the values on which the Council of Europe is based.While other international instruments already exist in this field, the Council of Europe Convention, the first European treaty in this field, is a comprehensive treaty focussing mainly on the protection of victims of trafficking and the safeguard of their rights. It also aims to prevent trafficking and to prosecute traffickers. In addition, the Convention provides for the setting up of an effective and independent monitoring mechanism capable of controlling the implementation of the obligations contained in the Convention. The Convention entered into force on 1 February 2008 (though it has been signed but not yet ratified by the UK). Miscellaneous series no. 7 2008