The Human Trafficking Research Coalition has welcomed the Justice Minister Hon Paul Goldsmith’s announcement of reforms to New Zealand’s criminal trafficking laws, calling it a vital and long-overdue step forward.

The reforms will:

• Remove the requirement to prove coercion or deception when the trafficked victim is under 18.
• Make it explicit that consent is irrelevant when the victim is under 18 or when coercion or deception was present.

“This is a real win for advocacy. World Vision New Zealand, ECPAT Child Alert, Tearfund New Zealand and Hagar New Zealand have been advocating for years through the Human Trafficking Research Coalition for the definition of child trafficking to be amended. Our core message has been clear: when the victim is a child, coercion or deception should not need to be proven, and consent is irrelevant,” the Coalition said in a statement.

Rebekah Armstrong, Human Trafficking Research Coalition member and Head of Advocacy and Justice at World Vision New Zealand, said the announcement was “also a reminder of the importance of engaging in select committee processes. Survivors, academics, lawyers, and NGOs all contributed during the hearings for Greg Fleming MP’s bill to increase penalties for slavery offences, which included recommendations to strengthen the wider modern slavery legal framework.”

While welcoming the reforms, Eleanor Parkes, Human Trafficking Research Coalition member and National Director of ECPAT NZ, noted there is still more work to do: “These reforms also need to include more comprehensive changes to the trafficking provisions in the Crimes Act 1961 to make sure all the current legal gaps are addressed — including the definition of ‘means’ and ‘exploitation’ so we're looking forward to seeing more of the detail over the coming weeks, and hopefully continuing to strengthen our anti-trafficking legislation.”

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