Macao Daily News ── To Know the Laws of Macao
Provisions of Combating the Crime of Trafficking in Persons

Published in newspaper on 06.07.2020

　　Trafficking in persons is a serious crime, to which the Macao SAR Government has always paid attention. In 2007, the Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Concern Committee was established. The Committee has consistently coordinated the efforts of government departments and various sectors of society to carry out work to prevent the crime and to protect victims in accordance with current laws and internationally accepted strategies. Moreover, in order to commit to the prevention of and combat against the illegal activities related to trafficking in persons, a law specifically targeting at combating the crime of trafficking in persons was enacted in 2008 and the crime of “trafficking in persons” was added to the Criminal Code.

　　Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 153-A of the Criminal Code, the act of inducing, accepting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person for the purpose of sexual exploitation, exploitation of labour or services of that person, in particular forced or compulsory labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, removal of organs or tissues of human origin by violence, abduction, deception or fraud, or by other means prescribed by law constitutes the crime of “trafficking in persons” and the perpetrator shall be punished with a maximum penalty of 12 years of imprisonment. If the victim is a minor, in determining whether the act committed constitutes the crime of “trafficking in persons”, it is not necessary to consider whether the perpetrator has used violence, abduction, deception or fraud, or other means prescribed by law. In other words, regardless of the means used by the perpetrator, as long as they were to achieve the aforementioned purposes, the crime of “trafficking in persons” will be constituted and the perpetrator shall be punished with a maximum penalty of 15 years of imprisonment. If the victim is under the age of 14, the penalty will even be aggravated and the perpetrator shall be punished with a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment.

　　We will introduce below the two purposes of the crime mentioned in the aforementioned provisions: sexual exploitation and exploitation of labour or services.

　　Sexual exploitation – As defined in the UNODC Model Law against Trafficking in Persons, it mainly refers to the obtaining of financial or other benefits by the perpetrator through the involvement of a person in prostitution or as a subject in pornographic materials, etc. For instance, providing a place for that person to engage in prostitution or assisting in soliciting customers and collecting remunerations from these acts can be considered as sexual exploitation.

　　Exploitation of labour or services – It refers to situations involving forced or compulsory labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, etc. According to the Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, “forced or compulsory labour or services” is defined as all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.

　　In addition to the aforementioned circumstances that constitute the crime of “trafficking in persons”, in fact, Article 153-A of the Criminal Code also stipulates other circumstances of trafficking in persons. For instance, if a parent sells his minor child to another person, both the buyer and the seller will be committing the crime of “trafficking in persons”.

　　In order to prevent trafficking in persons from occurring in Macao, in addition to the proactive measures taken by the Macao SAR Government, the joint participation of citizens is also essential. Therefore, if you suspect any suspicious situation of trafficking in persons, please contact the police as soon as possible, or call the 24-hour human trafficking report and assistance hotline at 2888-9911 to provide information.

Note: The content of this article has references primarily to the provisions of Law 6/2008 on Combat the Crime of Trafficking in Persons and Article 153-A of the Criminal Code.

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