Measures against trafficking
Romanian authorities take further action against traffickers
Leila Keamil, 11.09.2024, 13:50
The Bucharest Senate unanimously adopted a legislative proposal to amend the Criminal Code, which provides for a similar legal practice for human trafficking and procuring carried out by coercion. Thus, procurers would be punished like human traffickers, and as a result they will no longer be able to receive suspended prison terms. Currently, pimps can escape, in some cases, from serving a sentence behind bars, if, for example, the victims declare that they were not forced to have sexual relations in exchange for money.
The legislative proposal was initiated by the Social-Democratic deputy Florin Manole and the Liberal Cristian-Tudor Băcanu. Florin Manole stated that all human traffickers must go to prison, without exception. According to the statement of reasons, combating human trafficking is a priority for the Romanian authorities, due to the negative impact on trafficked persons, the complex and cross-border nature of this phenomenon, the mobility and flexibility of organized groups, in parallel with the professionalization of criminals who also use the new technologies to achieve the intended goal.
Deputy Florin Manole stated that the bill is necessary because the current Criminal Code creates confusion between human trafficking and procuring in its aggravated form, carried out through coercion. He added that in practice there is no difference between the two acts, since both are carried out by coercion, and both represent the same serious violation of the rights and integrity of the victims. “Depending on the classification, the culprits can be held accountable more or less harshly. The responsibility must be equally harsh in both situations”, pointed out the Social-Democratic deputy.
All parliamentary groups supported the initiative. The legislative proposal adopted by the Senate will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this matter. For her part, the Minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu, has announced that legal assistance becomes free for victims of several crimes, including sexual harassment, child pornography, torture, slavery. On the other hand, the table of prohibited psychoactive substances in Romania was recently updated. 14 new names were added to the list of narcotics. Specialists in the field have found that the latest psychotropic substances released on the market are addictive even after the first use and recommend parents to watch carefully the behavior of their children. Drug use prevention and counseling campaigns will be launched in schools in the coming period. (MI)
