The European Parliament has approved the reform by 563 votes in favor, 7 against and 17 abstentions, but it still needs the formal approval of the Twenty-Seven and after its publication the governments will have two years to transfer it to the respective state legislations.
This Tuesday, the plenary session of the European Parliament gave its approval to the agreement between institutions last January by which forced marriage, illegal adoption and surrogacy “for purposes of exploitation” will be classified as crimes of human trafficking, that is, , when the woman is coerced or deceived to become pregnant.
The reform, adopted by 563 votes in favor, 7 against and 17 abstentions by the plenary meeting in Strasbourg (France), still needs the formal approval of the Twenty-seven and after its publication the governments will have two years to transfer it to the respective state legislations.
The new rules aim to offer judicial and police authorities stronger tools to investigate and prosecute new forms of exploitation, including those that occur on the Internet.
One of the speakers, Unidas Podemos MEP María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop, highlighted that trafficking is becoming “more sophisticated” while the resources to fight it are “rudimentary.” For this reason, the MEP believes, the reform will help “quickly locate victims, protect them and support them.”
Brussels proposed in December 2022 This review of the common standards to reinforce the fight against sexual and labor exploitation of people and adapt a regulation that is more than 20 years old to the current reality.
Along with the new definitions of the crime, another of the keys to the new norm is that clients who contract prostitution services with a person despite being aware that it is a person will be criminally prosecuted in all states of the European Union. a trafficking victim.
In this context, the European Parliament defended in the negotiations that “surrogacy for reproductive exploitation in the context of trafficking” should also be pursued, whichor addresses the general issue of ‘surrogacy’ but rather focuses on the crime when it is the result of the “exploitation” of women.
The authorities must also ensure that victims of trafficking who also need international protection receive adequate support, advice and protection to ensure that their right to asylum is respected.
Source: Eitb
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