Strengthening Victim and Witness Protection for Successful Prosecution of Traffickers

The fact that most of the traffickers escape prosecution is appalling. Moreover, despite having several anti-trafficking endeavors from multiple sectors of societies, human trafficking is not curbed. Therefore, it is increasingly felt that together with executing awareness raising programs, efforts are needed to lobby for strictly penalizing traffickers who are traced with great effort so that they set examples for the potential traffickers. Hence, with the goal of improving prosecution and increasing convictions of traffickers through strengthened victim and witness protection measures, CeLRRd has launched Strengthening Victim and Witness Protections for the Successful Prosecution of Traffickers in the support of The Asia Foundation. The project period is September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009. Following activities are undertaken under the support:

Multimedia Campaign :

CeLRRd will design and print 5,000 posters and 20,000 pamphlets on the Trafficking in Persons Act disseminate them through the community level networks in 31 districts. The pamphelets will also be distributed during the street dramas conducted by Aarohan Theatre and the district level partners.

Community Orientation Meetings :

CeLRRd will conduct one-day orientation meeting on the Trafficking in Persons Act in 25 districts, each with 25 prominent community leaders, including the chief district officer, village development officer, local development officer, district superintendent of police, police investigators, district attorneys, prosecutors, civil society organizations, activists, social workers, teachers, and local media. These meetings will provide a platform for emphasizing the community's role in victim and witness protection and stressing the importance of support from local leaders in referring and guiding victims and witnesses to appropriate authorities.

Develop a Training Module and Manual on Victim and Witness Protection :

Based on the "Standard Operating Procedures for Human Trafficking Offences" developed by Daywalka Foundation, CeLRRd will further enhance the manual and include specific training components on victim and witness protection. The training module will include information on: protection of victims as crucial witnesses for the conviction of human traffickers; the risk of reprisal and by organized crime groups; international conventions and Nepali laws defining human trafficking as distinct from migration or human smuggling; common types and routes of human trafficking involving Nepali victims; responsibilities of the embassy in the repatriation process; the lack of confidentiality and privacy as serious challenges to successful post-rescue integration; typical psychological conditions of trafficking victims; and skills for conducting sensitive and effective interviews of victims.

Test the Training Module :

CeLRRd will test the full training curriculum in Kathmandu , Makwanpur, Morang and Banke with 60 police, public prosecutors, judges, and civil societies members.

Training Law Enforcement Officials and Foreign Service Officers on Victim and Witness Protection :

CeLRRd will conduct four regional, three-day trainings on victim and witness protection for 150 law enforcement officials (a combination of police officers, judges, court-officials, public prosecutors, lawyers and civil societies). Women investigators, police officers from the Women and Children's Service Center, and public prosecutors will be encouraged to attend. In addition, 30 Foreign Service officers will be invited to join the Kathmandu-based workshop, with CeLRRd targeting those who are likely to be responsible for handling trafficking cases in destination countries.

Legal Aid and Psychosocial Support :

CeLRRd has already assigned one trained lawyer in Banke, Chitwan and Morang to provide legal aid and psychosocial support in at least 63 trafficking cases.