Portugal and the Universal Periodic Review: The UN Policies on Human Trafficking

The context is that it will be the first academic investigation of the effectiveness of the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to help safeguard the rights of those effected by human trafficking (HT) and sexual exploitation in Portugal. It will investigate the modalities of the Working Group of the Human Rights Council, the government's submissions within the National Report, the extent to which recommendations on HT are 'noted' or 'supported', the stakeholder submissions focusing on this issue and the data on the outcomes of the pre-sessions organised by the NGO, UPRinfo.

This data will act as an interpretive lens to assess the extent to which Portugal adheres to the UPR recommendations to combat HT and safeguard the rights of victims.

The research questions will be focused upon: (a) the modalities of the UPR for assessing and combatting HT and sexual exploitation in Portugal; and (b) to assess the extent the recommendations by UN member states and the Working Group of the Human Rights Council are translated into domestic legal change. I will investigate the pressure points at both the international and domestic levels which reveal the conflicts on the legal and political issues for the prevention of HT in my country.

The collation of the data will be mostly through a methodology of a doctrinal investigation of the UPR and Portuguese governmental documentation on the issue of HT. In discussion with my supervisors, this method of collating data may be appropriately supplemented by research visits, wider stakeholder documentation and reports (for example, the files of UPRInfo in Geneva, Portuguese governmental ministries and Portuguese NGOs).

It is intended that this thesis will impact upon: (a) the operation of the UN's UPR and the modalities and policy infrastructure; and (b) to increase transparency and identify any blockages in the Portuguese political and legal processes firstly engaging with the UPR and secondly creating national law to protect the victims of HT. There is a growing realisation of the synergy between the UPR and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, so I will review the impact of this hybrid approach (of weaving together the UPR and the SDGs), for furthering the SGDs 5, 8 and 16.

Working within the M4C standard award of 3.5-years the timeline would be: Year 1 - Review Portugal's 3 completed UPR cycles and identify potential issues for the 4th Cycle in the 47th HRC Session in July 2024. Year 2 - Review Portugal's national law on human trafficking under the Código Penal Portugues (the Portuguese Penal Code), the National Plans Against Trafficking in Human Beings (2014-2017 and 2018-2021), the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national parliament in the implementation of UPR recommendations, and then Portuguese civil society engagement with HT.

Year 3-3.5 - write up the findings from the data collated on both the UPR and the Portuguese national position. Provide

recommendations for the improvement of national legal change to combat HT and sexual exploitation and safeguard the rights of victims associated with this crime.