Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Norway (Ratification: 2000)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) and 7(2)(b) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Sale and trafficking of children, penalties and effective and time-bound measures. Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee notes from the Report of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in Norway, 2022 (GRETA Report) that: (1) Norway remains primarily a country of destination for trafficking in human beings; (2) no official statistics have been available on the number of presumed victims of human trafficking since 2016; (3) no formal National Referral Mechanism has yet to be established; and (4) sexual exploitation remains the predominant form of trafficking detected, while cases of labour exploitation are increasing; (paras 11 and 12). The Committee notes that the GRETA Report recommends taking further steps to improve the identification and assistance of child victims (Appendix 1-List of GRETA’s conclusions and proposals for action, page 56).

The Committee further notes, from the Report Submitted by Norway on measures taken to comply with the Committee of the Parties Recommendation CP/REC (2022)05 on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings of 2024 (Third evaluation round of GRETA), that Norway has recently decided to create a national strategy against trafficking (page 11) and that in 2023, the National guidance unit for trafficking in children has been engaged in competence-building activities (page 12) and that authorities have procedures in place to address the disappearance of unaccompanied minors from reception centres (page 13). The Committee further notes that, according to the KOM Annual Report 2024, 19 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2024, of which six related to exploitation for prostitution or other sexual purposes; among the 16 registered victims, three were minors. It also notes that in the same year, three cases for human trafficking ended with convictions, including two for the exploitation of minors for sexual purposes (page 14).

The Committee also notes the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which expressed concern at the lack of comprehensive data on trafficking in women and girls, the fragmented system of victim identification and referral, and the low rates of prosecution and conviction rates in trafficking cases (CEDAW/C/NOR/CO/10, 2 March 2023, para. 32(a), (b), and (d)). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken to ensure that thorough investigations and prosecutions are carried out in practice against perpetrators that use children under the age of 18 years for labour or sexual exploitation; (ii) the measures adopted and the results achieved under the national strategy against trafficking to provide direct and adequate assistance to child victims of trafficking, and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration; (iii) updated information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed for offences involving the trafficking of children; and (iv) updated information on the number of child victims identified, removed, rehabilitated and socially integrated.