View/save PDF version of this document - La Strada International

Part Two. Article 3 347B. Approved text adopted by the General Assembly(see resolution 55/25, annex II)Article 3Use of termsFor the purposes of this Protocol:(a) “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation,transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of forceor other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse ofpower or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of paymentsor benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person,for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, theexploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation,forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or theremoval of organs;(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intendedexploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant whereany of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of achild for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons”even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) ofthis article;(d) “Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.C. Interpretative notesThe interpretative notes on article 3 of the protocol approved by the Ad HocCommittee and contained in its report on the work of its first to eleventh sessions(see A/55/383/Add.1, paras. 63-68) are as follows:Subparagraph (a)(a) The reference to the abuse of a position of vulnerability is understoodto refer to any situation in which the person involved has no real and acceptablealternative but to submit to the abuse involved.(b) The protocol addresses the exploitation of the prostitution of others andother forms of sexual exploitation only in the context of trafficking in persons. Theterms “exploitation of the prostitution of others” or “other forms of sexual exploitation”are not defined in the protocol, which is therefore without prejudice to howStates parties address prostitution in their respective domestic laws.(c) The removal of organs from children with the consent of a parent orguardian for legitimate medical or therapeutic reasons should not be consideredexploitation.(d) Where illegal adoption amounts to a practice similar to slavery asdefined in article 1, paragraph (d), of the Supplementary Convention on theAbolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar toSlavery 31 it will also fall within the scope of the protocol.31United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 266, No. 3822.