ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT IN PERSPECTIVE: AN ANALYSIS OF PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN MOZAMBIQUE

Resumen

Within the framework of protection of victims of trafficking in persons described in Chapter II of the
Additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime on the
Prevention, Suppression and Punishment of Trafficking in Persons, in particular Women and Children
(Protocol of Palermo [2000]) victims of trafficking in persons are entitled to assistance and protection.
It is a set of measures that aim to guarantee their access to justice and create conditions for them to
have a dignified and safe return in their communities, guaranteeing them protection rights (medical,
psychological and material assistance), as well as creation employment, education and training
opportunities. Taking these elements into account, this work seeks to understand how victims of
trafficking in persons have access to justice and mechanisms that allow them an adequate social
reintegration, taking into account their post-rescue vulnerability. The thesis of the article is that in
Mozambique there are legal conditions for access to justice given the existence of criminal legislation
for the accountability of offenders, as well as the provision of specific legal measures for the protection
and assistance to victims. However, there are difficulties for the social reintegration of victims since
there are no concrete programs for this purpose and institutional conditions for monitoring them. The
work is bibliographical and documentary in nature. It uses documents prepared by the United Nations
(conventions, treaties and official documents) and Mozambican legislation on human trafficking to
assess the framework formulated for victims' access to justice and the consequent guarantee of their
rights. The article concluded that, for victims of trafficking in persons, conditions of protection and
assistance must be created that allow them to develop economically in order to reduce their
vulnerability to trafficking