Sexual Exploitation: Foundation Scelles Carries the Word of France to the Vatican

Three months after the implementation of the new French laws that aim to combat the system of prostitution, Yves Charpenel spoke at the first world summit of judges at the Vatican. The purpose of the debriefing was to underline the major contributions of the new law towards combating human trafficking and to emphasize the essential role that judges had to play in order to achieve that end.

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"How does one hear the voices of the most vulnerable?”, “Can we continue to close our eyes?", "How can we talk about a 'free choice' in regard to exploitation?", "What are the responsibilities of governments and societies?" Yves Charpenel – the president of Fondation Scelles and a premier General Advocate at the Supreme Court in France-  asked, faced with this crime against humanity at the first World summit of judges against human trafficking and organized crime at the Pontifical Academy of social sciences on the 3rd and 4th of June 2016.

 

charpenel vaticanIn the presence of 170 judges and prosecutors from all over the world, both national and international leaders in the fight against human trafficking gathered to discuss possible ways to fight this crisis. Yves Charpenel presented the new legislative framework in France, the first Latin country to adopt the Nordic model, as an effective tool in combating this crime against the dignity and liberty of its victims. He also outlined the central role that judges have to play in this fight, without whom this battle cannot be won and who Pope François has dubbed the garners of peace in our society.

 

>> Read Yves Charpenel's speech 'Human Trafficking: A Crime against Personal Dignity'


>>Watch the video of Yves Charpenel's interview (about 2h40min)

 

The summit marks the third time that Fondation Scelles has been invited by Pope François to participate in an initiative aimed at combating human trafficking, the first being in 2014 when different religious groups gathered to discuss and develop projects to combat human trafficking and the second in 2015 which was devoted to returning exploited migrants to their countries of origin.

 

Global Abolitionist legislation is an indispensable tool in the fight against human trafficking

In response to the interest in the new French legislature (which was passed on the 13th of April 2016) shown at the international assembly at the Vatican, Yves Charpenel underlined the humanitarian values that form the foundation of the laws that "carry great hope for those who reject the reduction of human beings to the mere status of products."

A comprehensive legal approach has to be credited as the reason that "significant progress has been made towards the protection of human dignity...in my country, as in Sweden, in Norway, in Iceland and in Canada", he argued before the assembly in search of effective solutions.

Yves Charpenel presented the 8 key points of the new laws that focus all at once on the victim, the trafficker; the client and public opinion, and a combined preventative, repressive and social approach:

-       Creation of a new department that will organise and coordinate actions aims at helping victims of prostitution and human trafficking ;

-       Ensuring the right of all victims to benefit from support and protection ;

-       The creation, with state funding, of a fund for the prevention of prostitution and for the social and professional support of reformed prostitutes ;

-       Provisional authorisation for foreign prostitutes who are attempting to leave prostitution to live and work in France for a period of six months ;

-       Annulment of the soliciting offense : Prostitutes are recognized as victims and not as delinquents or criminals;

-       Obligation of ISP (Internet Service Provider) to block foreign websites that contradict French legislation against human trafficking and pimping from public view;

-       Implementation of a 5th class convention that allows for ‘requests to engage in natural sexual relations with someone engaging in prostitution’;

-       Under the prevention and awareness acts, citizenship and education are integrated into the fight against the commoditisation of human bodies as weapons.

Yves Charpenel noted that it is important to share successful experiences with other countries and emphasized the necessity of expanding these legislative changes beyond the borders of France to other states. He highlights the benefits of cooperation by giving two examples of cooperative projects shared by France; the first being the community approach with the Balkan countries and the elites of migration, which responded to needs that had not yet been met; and the second being bilateral cooperation, which while slightly complex to enforce should prove to be effective in combating human trafficking.

 

The Judge is the granter of peace and the cohesion in our societies:

Despite “a perfect knowledge of the realities of the crime that he fights, [and] the effective laws,” the judge insists that Yves Charpenel needs a third weapon against this denial of human dignity, namely “an unwavering commitment to the implementation [of these laws].

Unfortunately, “in our country the rule of law is ultimate” and “the mission of every modern judge (to protect the victims and punish the criminals)” is extremely complex. Yves Charapenel recounted a number of obstacles facing a judge’s pursuit of their mission, namely: the increase in the number of people trafficked worldwide (25 million people every year1); the power and the means that the traffickers posses (in the face of the modest means of judges); the indifference of public opinion; the vulnerability of the victims, especially those who come from vulnerable and discriminated communities; the increasing profits that can be made in the trafficking industry (about 32 billion dollars a year1); the inadequacy of the legal framework; the ineffective international arsenal for adequately reducing this intolerable violation of human rights and human dignity.

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If the combat cannot be won without judges, “Obviously; [it] cannot succeed alone” affirmed Yves Charpenel.

Pope François - fully aware of the difficult struggle that judges face as society’s first line of defence – vowed in his speech to see judges fully empowered, strong and completely aware of their mission.

The pope expressed his strong support in the judiciary “which should be free of government [...] and private intervention” and of course free of organized crime. He called on all religions to take responsibility in the fight against this crime against humanity because “our globalized world needs a new start rooted in justice” rendered by judges “without whom there is no form of order, no form of sustainable and integral development, nor any form of social peace.2

The judges and prosecutors are “faced with an almost impossible undeniably important task given the new problems posed by globalization,” he emphasized before underlining that they have the ability to render “a noble service [...] for the sake of humanity” by using justice to change the lives of victims and re-educating criminals – by means of penal punishment and the redistribution of their property acquired by criminal methods.

 

The judges made a collective commitment to concrete measures that aim to better combat human trafficking.

Pope François reminded the judges that they have a responsibility to society and encouraged them to work together to “open passages that will allow for the influx of new forms of justice for the benefit and dignity of humanity and for the sake of liberty, responsibility, happiness, and peace.”

pape sommet juges2Thus, the two days of the conference – which formed part of the effort towards emphasizing the responsibility of judges before the people and promoting the best defence against a phenomenon that has victimized more than 40 million people – was concluded.

The Pope and the other participants signed a declaration that included 10 recommendations to States. The declaration summarized the debate and affirmed support for declaration SDG 8.7, which was adopted by the UN in September of 2015 and insisted on the importance of taking effective measures to combat human trafficking3. The declaration makes special reference to the mobilization of resources to ensure convictions of traffickers and the allocation of seized funds towards the rehabilitation of victims for legal aid, protection, medical assistance and to pursue prostitution clients.

 

 

>> See the final declaration « Declaration of the Judges' Summit against Human Trafficking and Organized Crime » :

 

The Pope’s total commitment to ending human trafficking


While denouncing « globalized society's pursuit of profit above all, which produces a 'throwaway culture' (Evangelii Gaudium and Ladato si) that has created countless numbers of marginalized and excluded peoples », Pope François affirmed that the Church must “engage in big politics”.

The unprecedented meeting that took place on the 3rd and 4th of June marks a continued effort by the Holy See and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, with their president Margaret S. Archer and their chancellor the Cardinal Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo (who is also the Pope’s representative on the subject) against human trafficking. Pope François is very personally invested in this issue, which he worked to raise awareness for while he was archbishop in Buenos Aires. Pope François’ speech at the summit provides the basis for a road map for both people and diocese around the world on how to deal with the real threat that human trafficking poses in today’s society. The Pope emphasized: how important it in to firmly and collectively commit to the protection of victims; the link between corruption and human trafficking; and the impact of global warming on migration and the exploitation of the disadvantaged in his speech. He referred to the connection between global warming and exploitation as well as the necessity to protect our common home in his encyclical ‘Laudate si’.

 

>> Read Pope François’ speech


>> Watch the video of Pope François’ interview

 

1. Source UN: Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking
2. In a statement made by The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences they affirmed that “There is no real peace in society without judges to establish justice in each specific case”.
(http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/en/events/2014-18/judgessummit.html)
3. In September 2015, world leaders adopted a Sustainable Development Programme for 2030 which defines a new vision for global development for the next 15 years. Targets for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were set. The goals were declared interdependent and universal, which is essential for their realisation. The target of the SDG 8.7 calls for immediate and effective action to end: forced labour, modern day slavery; human trafficking; and child labour in all forms, including the recruitment and employment of child soldiers. The goal also emphasizes the many critical steps that have to be taken in order to achieve the objective of decent work for all, productive employment and shared and sustainable economic growth.