Today marks one month since the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) confirmed that states have a duty to protect individuals with intellectual disabilities from human trafficking.
In its judgment in the case of I.C. v. the Republic of Moldova, of 27 February 2025, the Court found that the Moldovan authorities had failed to protect an intellectually disabled woman from labour exploitation and sexual abuse, and to effectively investigate her allegations.
This failure amounted to breaches of Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), 4 (prohibition of forced labour), 8 (right to respect for private and family life), and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case concerned a Moldovan woman who had lived in State care until 2013, when she was taken by a couple to live on their farm. There, she was forced to work without pay and repeatedly sexually abused by the farm owner. After five years of exploitation, the woman managed to escape and contacted an NGO, which helped her lodge a complaint with the police.
The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) submitted a third-party intervention in this case concerning the prevention of human trafficking, the interpretation of the concept of “abuse of a position of vulnerability” as part of the offence of human trafficking, and the effective investigation and prosecution of human trafficking offences. The ECHR referenced GRETA’s submissions and its second monitoring report on the Republic of Moldova in its reasoning.
This judgment reaffirms the State’s obligation to establish and implement appropriate legislative and administrative frameworks to prevent and protect persons with intellectual disabilities from human trafficking. It also reinforces the need for states to conduct effective and fair investigations into trafficking allegations to ensure victims receive justice and protection.
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