Trafficking Protocol

The Trafficking Protocol, formally the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, is one of three protocols supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). It was adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2000 in resolution 55/25, opened for signature in Palermo, Italy in December 2000 (hence its informal name, the Palermo Protocol), and entered into force on 25 December 2003.

Article 3 contains the first internationally agreed definition of "trafficking in persons," built on three elements: an act (recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons), a means (threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or position of vulnerability, or giving payments to a person in control of the victim), and a purpose of exploitation (including sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, and removal of organs). Consent of the victim is irrelevant where any of the listed means is used, and for children under 18 the "means" element is not required.

The Protocol pursues three stated purposes, often called the "3 Ps": prevent and combat trafficking, protect and assist victims, and promote cooperation among States Parties. It obliges parties to criminalize trafficking (Article 5), provide victim protection and possible residence status (Articles 6–7), facilitate repatriation (Article 8), and strengthen border controls and document security (Articles 11–13).

Implementation is monitored through the Conference of the Parties to UNTOC, with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) serving as secretariat and publishing the biennial Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. The Protocol is the most widely ratified anti-trafficking instrument and underpins regional frameworks such as the 2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking and the 2011 EU Anti-Trafficking Directive.