Human Rights Council
Eleventh Session
Resolution 11/3. Trafficking in persons, especially women and children
The Human Rights Council,
Reaffirming all previous resolutions on the problem of trafficking in persons, especially
women and children, in particular General Assembly resolutions 63/156 and 63/194 of
18 December 2008, and also its resolution 8/12 of 18 June 2008, in which the Council extended
the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children,
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights,
Reaffirming the principles set forth in relevant human rights instruments and declarations,
including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol thereto on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional Protocol thereto,
Recalling the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the
protocols thereto, and reaffirming in particular the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the Convention, and
recalling the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of
the Prostitution of Others,
Recognizing that victims of trafficking are particularly exposed to racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and that women and girl victims are often
subject to multiple forms of discrimination and violence, including on the grounds of their
gender, age, ethnicity, culture and religion, as well as their origins, and that these forms of
discrimination may themselves fuel trafficking in persons,
Recognizing also that trafficking in persons violates human rights and impairs the
enjoyment of them, continues to pose a serious challenge to humanity and requires a concerted
international assessment and response and genuine multilateral cooperation among countries of
origin, transit and destination for it to be eradicated,
Bearing in mind that all States have an obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent
trafficking in persons, to investigate and punish perpetrators, to rescue victims and to provide for
their protection, and that not doing so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of victims,