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Pam, Marlaska, Montero, Llop and Belarra
The law against trafficking will take longer than expected -and desired- to see the light. A year after the Ministry of Equality began to work on the norm, the text has been overcoming obstacles and avoiding the ‘scuffles’ between the Government partners. And it is that two ministries work in it, mainly: that of Equality, with Irene Montero in front; and that of Justice, directed by Pilar Llop. Despite the fact that the first text was born in the offices of Equality, the path to take to process it now falls to a group of experts appointed by Justice.
This Tuesday, Llop approved a ministerial order to set up a “special section” in one of the advisory bodies of the Ministry, the General Coding Commission, made up of specialists in the field. The objective? What within a period of two months -until May 30-, the group of experts has prepared a report in which it dictates the guidelines to follow to develop a norm against this scourge.
The ball is, therefore, in the court of that “special section”, whose report will dictate whether a single law should be promoted or develop another apart from that of Equality. Even so, from Justice they explain to 20minutos that, whatever is decided, it will always be in coordination with the Montero ministry, and insist on not evoking a scenario that has not yet materializednor will it until they receive the report.
One initiative and many phases
The initiative has gone through different phases. Montero’s team began work on an anti-trafficking law in March 2021 and released a first text for public consultation in April. A few months later, PSOE and Podemos announced that they would register a comprehensive law against trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation last January. But the intention still does not take shape.
As Equality sources explained to this newspaper, they have prepared the draft since this January, when they handed it over to Justice so that it could make its contributions and so proceed to negotiate it. They were aware that Llop’s department was going to create a group of experts, but they were not notified of the day on which they were going to make it public. The two departments coincide in emphasizing, on the one hand, that the norm has to reach the Council of Ministers “as soon as possible” and on the other, that the dialogue between them is being relaxed and without conflict.
Justice asks for patience in the face of the complexity of the norm
But neither the acts nor the communications of both say the same. Equality insists that they have been working on the law for more than a year with the participation of experts and in line with the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee and the European Strategy against Trafficking and the Warsaw Convention. “The Ministry of Equality works in close coordination with the other competent ministries to deploy a comprehensive package of measures to effectively combat the pimp industry and guarantee the rights of women,” they assert.
In recent months they have been pointing out some directions in which they intend to develop the standard. The development of a socio-labour insertion plan for victims of trafficking for the purpose of exploitation was one of them. They also proposed a reform of the immigration law and eliminate the requirement that anchors the social and economic rights of victims to an irregular administrative situation and, therefore, to report or collaborate with the police. In short, the Equality draft focuses primarily on ensuring the protection of victims and ensuring that they have a “safe door” of Exit with the help of specialized entities.
But, from what it expresses, it seems to Justice that it is a rule that, perhaps, is too focused solely on trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and leaves aside the other types. In addition, they argue that legal and legal complexity that entails the development of regulations is of such magnitude that it can only be done at a leisurely pace and after having consulted jurists and experts in the field.
In an interview with this newspaperthe Secretary of Equality of the PSOE, Andrea Fernández, assured that wanting to have the law ready in January was a “too ambitious” objective. “It is necessary to take legal operators into account when we talk about this law, because we have to contemplate how these norms that we take forward are going to be applied” he defended then.
Position similar to that transferred by sources of Justice to 20minutos. “We are talking about a very important law that affects Human Rights in every way, and we understand that this it must have an important legal basis“, they underline, also emphasizing that the Equality draft is limited to trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
What the Llop ministry is proposing is to promote a norm that has a “general scope”, and that allows the identification and reintegration of victims “of all kinds” of trafficking, Regardless of the specific measures taken to address trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation“. The law will incorporate, as explained in a statement, “a human rights and gender perspective that takes into account disability, diversity and the best interests of minors.”
It remains to be seen now how it turns out in the end. Both insist: there is a constant dialogue and communication is good. Only It remains to wait to see what the experts determine appointed by Justice to glimpse what will be the next steps that the future comprehensive law against trafficking will take.