Activities of Vincenzo SOFO related to 2022/0426(COD)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims
Amendments (17)
Amendment 62 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) In order to tackle the steady increase of the number and relevance of offences concerning trafficking in human beings committed for purposes other than sexual or labour exploitation, it is necessary to include forced marriage and, illegal adoption, surrogacy and sale of children in the forms of exploitations explicitly listed in the Directive and to ensure that the Member States address within their national legal systems the widest range of forms of exploitation, insofar as these fulfil the constitutive elements of trafficking in human beings.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4 a (new)
Recital 4 a (new)
(4a) Surrogacy exposes both to high risk of exploitation - due to the lack of harmonised or clear rules banning this practice at international level - and to unscrupulous commercialization. This situation causes a significant increase in demand for trafficking in human beings and must be taken into account when identifying and combating this phenomenon.
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) An increasing number of offences concerning trafficking in human beings is committed or facilitated by means of information or communication technologies. Traffickers use the internet and social media inter alia to recruit, advertise or exploit victims, exercise control and organise transport. Internet and social media are also used to distribute exploitative materials. Information technology also hampers timely detection of the crime and identification of the victims and perpetrators. It is therefore important to explicitly include the on-line dimension of the crime into the legal framework. As the pandemic has contributed to an increase in crimes committed via the internet and many perpetrators of trafficking in human beings have moved to cyber space, activities aimed at monitoring the internet should be intensified, as well as international cooperation in the field of detecting and prosecuting perpetrators of trafficking in human beings should be enhanced.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) In order to further reinforce and harmonise the criminal justice efforts on demand reduction across Member States, it is important to criminalise the intentional use of services which are the objects of exploitation with the knowledge that the person is a victim of an offence concerningin relation to trafficking in human beings. Establishing this as a criminal offence is part of a comprehensive approach to demand reductionreduce demand for illegal goods, which aims to tackle the high levels of demand that fosters all forms of exploitation and trafficking in human beings. In this context, Member States shall clarify and apply definition of "intentionality" in accordance with their criminal law provisions and legal practice.
Amendment 108 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 10 a (new)
Recital 10 a (new)
(10a) In combating trafficking in human beings in migration contexts Member States should implement comprehensive measures including efficient diagnosis of cases of trafficking of human beings, constant monitoring of this phenomenon, providing support and protection to victims and conducting training for persons likely to come into contact with victims.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 2 – paragraph 3
Article 2 – paragraph 3
(1) in Article 2, paragraph 3, “or forced marriage, or illegal adoption, or surrogacy, or sale of children” is added at the end of the paragraph.
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 2 – paragraph 3
Article 2 – paragraph 3
(1a) in Article 2, paragraph 3, the following sentence is added at the end of the paragraph : With regard to the inclusion of "forced marriage, or illegal adoption, or surrogacy, or sale of children" as forms of trafficking in human beings, Member States' exclusive competences shall be respected, in particular with regard to the definition of marriage and the conditions for marriage and adoption.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 2 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 6 a (new)
(1b) in Article 2, the following paragraph is added: "6a. Exploitation referred to in this article should include cases of in-person interaction and acts committed remotely through the misuse of technology and electronic means."
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – point e (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – point e (new)
(e) was committed through creation of sexually explicit content featuring a victim of trafficking and shared trough technology and electronic means to a wider audience.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – point f (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – point f (new)
(f) was committed in migration contexts particularly those acts carried out in such a manner as to expose the persons to danger for their life or safety or by subjecting them to inhuman or degrading treatment.
Amendment 159 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 5 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 4 a (new)
in Article 5, a new paragraph is added: "4a. Members States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that legal persons operating, managing or controlling websites offering sexual services, no matter the place of their legal registration, can be held liable for the advertising of minors for sexual services on their websites."
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 11 – paragraph 4
Article 11 – paragraph 4
4. In Article 11, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: Member States shall take the necessary measures to establish by laws, regulations or administrative provisions, national referral mechanisms aimed at the early identification of, assistance to, and support for victims, in cooperation with relevant support organisations, including hotlines, and to appoint a national focal point for the referral of victims.
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 18
Article 18
Offences concerning the use of services which are the object of exploitation with knowledge that the person is a victim of an offence concerningin relation to trafficking in human beings
Amendment 248 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 18 a – paragraph 1
Article 18 a – paragraph 1
1. In order to make the preventing and combating of trafficking in human beings more effective by discouraging demand, Member States shall take the necessary measures to establish as a criminal offence the intentional use of services or audiovisual material which are the objects or results of exploitation as referred to in Article 2, with the knowledge that the person is a victim of an offence referred to in Article 2providing services or appearing in audiovisual materials is a victim of an offence referred to in Article 2, in accordance with their criminal law provisions and legal practice.
Amendment 256 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 18
Article 18
1a. Use of services or audiovisual materials referred to in paragraph 1 shall include acts performed by means of information and communication technologies.
Amendment 263 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Directive 2011/36/EU
Article 18
Article 18
2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that an offence as established in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 is punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties and sanctions.
Amendment 266 #
2a. Member States may impose additional control measures on the process of production of services and goods which are the object of exploitation as referred to in Article 2 where it cannot be achieved only by means of criminal law.