Legislation to fight sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons is available, however, the judiciary needs to be fully educated on its existence to be able to apply the law, according to Virginia M. Kendall, member of the Federal Bench in the US.

In an interview with CNA, Judge Kendall, who was on the island as part of her international travel to lecture and train judges on anti-human trafficking laws and sexual exploitation of children, highlighted the global problem of trafficking, the difficulties in identifying victims, the coercion they undergo and public corruption that adds to the complexity of the issue.

Regarding Cyprus, she said that trafficking in persons mostly deals with young girls but the amendment of the artiste law led to a drop in the number of women entering the country to work as artistes and this was partly due to the renowned

Judge Kendall said her trip to Cyprus was to train judges and carry out an overview of practices in human trafficking, prosecution and investigation, bringing the offenders to trial.

As a federal prosecutor, Judge Kendall`s role at the time was in the field of child exploitation, coordinator on a national level cases involving sexual exploitation of children under federal laws and was also trained in the area of human trafficking. When she was appointed to the federal bench, she began teaching and writing and soon decided that there was a need to educate judges about child exploitation and human trafficking.

Primarily, she said, her focus has been in Africa, Nairobi, Liberia and Zambia, teaching judges about child exploitation and human trafficking laws and the unique way children become victimized, something that has expanded to young adults as well.