Sex trafficking laws should not only ensure that trafficking victims are granted rights, but are also affirmatively granted protection from harm or the threat of harm during proceedings against their traffickers. Other witnesses, family members of and persons close to trafficking victims must also be protected from retaliation and intimidation.  These protections should be in place before, during and after the legal proceedings.

Those responsible for victim and witness protection should consult Module 12 of the UNODC Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners, which describes appropriate protection measures to be taken by first responders, investigators, and the judicial system in human trafficking cases. (See: UNODC Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners, Module 12, 2009)     

Before interviewing trafficking victims and potential witnesses, law enforcement and first responders should also consult Modules 8 (adults), 9 (children), and 10 (use of interpreters) UNODC Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners, which provide suggestions for how to interview trafficking victims, including interview checklists. (See: UNODC Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners, Modules 8-10, 2009) 

Victims and witnesses should not be deported to their home country if they are likely to be harmed or threatened there.  Governments must ensure safe return or relocation to a third country if the former is not possible. (See:  Annotated Guide to the Complete UN Trafficking Protocol, International Human Rights Law Group, Art. 24, 2002; UN Trafficking Protocol, Arts. 6 & 7; UNODC Model Law Against Trafficking in Persons, Arts. 21-23)

Sex trafficking laws must ensure the safety of all witnesses, including when testimony is given. Drafters should review evidentiary rules to assess whether testimony may be given through the use of communications technology to protect victims from being re-traumatized and witnesses from retaliation. In some countries, such audio- or video-taped testimony is already allowed in cases of child sexual abuse. In such countries, those standards should be applied to children who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. 

Promising Practices: In Belgium, the rules of criminal procedure allow for the audiovisual recording of the interview of the minor who consents to the recording by a specifically trained police officer as long as the minor is 12 years or older. (See:  Monitoring State Progress to Protect Children and Young People from Trafficking for Sexual Purposes report by ECPAT International, 36, 2010) In Canada, the government has provided for the use of closed circuit television testimony to allow victims to provide testimony in a more victim-sensitive manner. (See: U.S. State Department 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, 100, 2009) 

Finally, drafters should consider including provisions in the law to permit relocation of witnesses and victims. (See: Annotated Guide to the Complete UN Trafficking Protocol, Global Rights, Art. 24, 2002)