EU Statement - HRC59 - Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

United Nations Human Rights Council 59 th session Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 23 June 2025 EU Statement Mr President,The European Union would like to thank the Special Rapporteur for the report and presentation today. No person should ever be treated as a commodity. Unfortunately, this simple statement remains a utopia in many cases, as your current report lays out. Trafficking in human beings comes in many shapes and forms – and often affects those in the most vulnerable situations. We therefore particularly welcome the focus of this year’s report on the legal situation of migrant domestic workers. Often women and girls from different socio-economic backgrounds or from minority communities. Often secluded from the public eye, they can be particularly exposed to exploitation and abuse.  The EU is deeply concerned about your findings, in particular that many women migrant domestic workers endure sexual harassment, sexual and gender-based violence, and are prone to the risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced labour or domestic servitude. All states, whether countries of origin, destination or transit, have a responsibility to take measures to prevent and fully eradicate trafficking in human beings, including by countering impunity for all perpetrators involved, and to improve on the situation of victims - by effectively combatting criminal networks, by identifying, protecting,...