Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
Ambassador,
Distinguished guests,
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
As I am only the second woman to be elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in more than 60 years, I am particularly honoured to represent the Assembly in this Council of Europe event organised within the framework of the Austrian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.
As you know, for 65 years the Council of Europe has been a front line actor in the fight for human rights, including equality between women and men.
Trafficking, is just one of the battles Europe, as other regions in the world, have to face. It is complicated by the financial and economic crisis all our countries are facing.
We know it affects disproportionately women and girls, not only when we talk about sexual exploitation but also in terms of the much hidden exploitation of domestic workers.
Trafficking in human beings is a genuine scourge of our societies. It is a modern form of slavery and one of the worst forms of violation of human rights, dignity and integrity.
Other speakers before me have underlined how the Council of Europe has responded to this scourge through adopting the European Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and setting up a linked monitoring mechanism.
Let me emphasise, in the few minutes available to me, the role played by the Parliamentary Assembly and the special responsibilities that Parliamentarians have at national level to combat trafficking.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe asked, as far back as 1997, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to elaborate a Convention in this field.
It is the role of the Assembly to be forward looking and a motor for change. Action against trafficking is one example of where it has succeeded in bringing about change.
Change in terms of recognition of the scale of the problem of trafficking, change resulting in condemnation of the perpetrators and change in terms of handling highly vulnerable victims.
Furthermore it has brought about change through the introduction of an important and effective monitoring mechanism.
As members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, parliamentarians have a dual role and a dual responsibility. We are not only members of the Assembly but also members of our national parliaments, so when we leave Strasbourg our work continues in our home countries. It is thus for us to promote the signature and ratification of this and other Conventions.
To this end, PACE has been strongly committed to a parliamentary campaign "Parliamentarians get involved in combating trafficking in Human Beings".
A handbook published by our Assembly sets out ways parliamentarians can press for the ratification and application of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings. This can, for example, be through introducing legislation and lobbying governments.
Furthermore, Parliaments can strengthen and review national legislation and law enforcement in order to tackle and end trafficking, as well as allocate sufficient funds for anti-trafficking programmes.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has addressed this dimension on a number of occasions and most recently in Resolution 1702 (2010) on "Action against trafficking in human beings: promoting the Council of Europe convention".
Furthermore, in December 2010, an international conference "Parliaments united against human trafficking" was organised in Paris and various representatives of international organisations were present. Notable in this respect was Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children.
The reason I highlight this, is that in the final declaration member states were called upon to ensure cooperation with the United Nations and its specialised bodies in the field of trafficking. My participation, and that of my Parliamentary colleagues in this UN side event, is to give meaning to this declaration, and to support cooperation, coordination, collaboration, with the UN.
I would also like to reiterate what other speakers have mentioned, that the Council of Europe Convention against trafficking is open to all countries not only European countries. I make a call to you, please consider joining us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The work on this issue is never complete. In this respect the Parliamentary Assembly will soon debate a report on "Prostitution, trafficking and modern slavery in Europe". The report, which is already approved at Committee level, compares different legal approaches on prostitution in Council of Europe member states. It uses as a starting point the notion that regulations and policies governing prostitution are an effective tool for countering trafficking in human beings. Another example is our work on combatting trafficking in human organs.
We as Parliamentarians are aware of our duties to find new approaches to tackle trafficking in human beings.
We will continue campaigning for the ratification of the Convention, including by non-member states of the Council of Europe, and by the European Union.
As one of my predecessors, Mr De Puig, rightly put it:
"We, parliamentarians, have the power the victims lack".
So, let us continue to give these victims a voice.
Thank you.