The victim’s power to say “no” with “impunity”

traficking, when they themselves believe trafickers’ deceptions and hope they will improve the lot of the victims. In these cases, and especially when family members are themselves vulnerable, courts may ind it dificult to decide if they were victims of the deception or active participants in it. See also section 3.2.5.11 on family relationships as a source of vulnerability. In a sexual exploitation case López López Argentina, 496 one of the victims was the defend- ant’s daughter and the other victim was her niece. Although both victims grossly contradicted themselves in their testimony compared to the statements they gave during the investigation, the court expressed its understanding of the effects of family relationship on the victims’ behaviour. The court found that it could be assumed that these victims were not likely to tell the truth in order not to cause any harm to the defendant. It is to be noted that the evidence in the case did not rely solely on the testimony of these victims and included an expert psychological evaluation of one of the victims, which revealed indicators of psycho- emotional and sexual abuse. The defendants were found guilty of human traficking of minors and related charges. “It is usual that this kind of persons victims of traficking in person, because of their great vulner- ability, seem reluctant to tell the truth or give testimonies totally coherent. But in this speciic case, the victims are not only victims of traficking but also daughter and nephew of the lady LLL, which adds an extra element that explains why they are not telling the truth. If she told us the truth, she would expose her mother to the risk of a ten years or more penalty. So she has an additional, understandable and valid argument, to lie.” López López y Novello, TOCF II, Córdoba, 0613, Argentina. Translation supplied by Mr. Marcello Columbo, an expert practitioner from Argentina. In the sexual exploitation case, Okafor Nigeria, 497 there was a family relationship between one of the victims and the defendant, who was the victim’s biological mother. The victim was initially reluctant to testify. The prosecutor dealt with this by continually reassuring the witness and reframing some questions, in view of her tender age and low level of education, in order to assist the victim to give unbiased testimony. The court concluded that the relation- ship between the daughter and mother had not impacted on the credibility of the victim’s testimony. The defendant was found guilty of three counts of attempting to organize foreign travel to promote prostitution. In Case No. 16852010 Egypt, 498 parents facilitated the sexual abuse of their minor daugh- ter by marrying her, by means of a sham marriage contract, to a person in his eighties and subsequently not heeding her pleas for relief when he sexually abused and beat her. Because of this, the victim threatened to commit suicide. According to a request by the public pros- ecution, the Grand Mufti of Egypt provided the following Fatwa 499 to the court: 496 Previously cited. 497 Previously cited. 498 Previously cited. The case includes a Trial Court decision by the Criminal Court of Giza Province and a ruling of the Court of Cassation ordering a retrial and has been summarized and analysed by an Egyptian expert. 499 Fatwa is a religious opinion issued by an expert mufti demonstrating a ruling within Islamic law based on evidence, as a response to a speciic question.