The final report was presented to parliament and the press.
CCDH president Gilbert Pregno said during the presentation that while human trafficking has become more complex, the mild - often suspended - sentences mean that criminals have little incentive to stop. Human traffickers were probably laughing about the naivety of lawmakers.Max Mousel, lawyer at the CCDH, explained that sentences for human trafficking lie between 3 and 5 years. With aggravating circumstances this can increase to 15 years. One of the reasons judges often fail to determine aggravating circumstances is that the behaviour of the victim is given too much attention: “In some cases, the fact that no one had forced the victim to do sex work, or that they had come to Luxembourg of their own free will and could have left, were taken into account”, said Max Mousel. According to the CCDH, a “presumption of vulnerability” like in France should be introduced and magistrates should be given awareness training.
This is not the only demand the CCDH made in its report. Victims should be compensated better and more easily, data collection and statistics should be further improved, there should be a hotline to report human trafficking, and there was an urgent need for resources for care services, police and prosecution. Clients of sex work should also be made aware of when they are likely to use services relying on human trafficking.
The CCDH also demands that the Inspection du travail et des mines (ITM) be legally obligated to supervise the sector. The Minister for Labour responded this was not necessary since it was already factually within their competences, but Fabienne Rossler, secretary general for the CCDH, warns that if priorities shifted within the ITM, they could not be legally required to look after human trafficking.
While cooperation between the different actors in the fight against human trafficking had improved in recent years, there was still much to be done. Above all, victims needed to be the main focus.
