The Transnational Duty to Prevent Human Trafficking

Ross, Megan. "A Diamond in the Rough : The Transnational Duty to Prevent Human Trafficking in the Protocol." Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy 21, no. 325 (2014): 325–368.
This article looks at the three-pronged approach of the Protocol, as well as the actual approaches utilized by State Parties in preventing human trafficking. It is focused on answering the question: "did State Parties intentionally sign themselves up for mandatory transnational obligations to address the root causes of human trafficking in countries of origin?"[The Protocol is the international legal framework for human trafficking. Its long name is: Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.] [States who are members of the Protocol are also called State Parties.]
Written by Megan Ross, a legal consultant to the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, the article maintains that human trafficking is a transnational issue and its impacts extend beyond national borders. If states hope to make a dent in the growing incident of human trafficking, they must take on this transnational view in creating policies. This way, solutions are made at the international level, and laws addressing human trafficking would be complementary from country to country. Moreover, Ross believes that the utilimate goal of the Protocol is prevention. Most states today focuses on criminalizing and prosecuting traffickers, but Ross says that this approach is too narrow, if not ineffective, because it does not deal with the root cause of human trafficking. Human trafficking is essentially, a human rights issue because as long as the issues that lead to its conduct is not addressed - poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity – there is a great chance for re-victimization. Ross went on to explore the various approaches utilized by the United States in combatting human trafficking. In conclusion, Ross says that improving border control in origin and transit countries is effective in keeping the problem out of their territories, and a human rights approach may not be a priority among state actors, but must be reiterated by civil society if the goal is to eradicate the problem.
Rahman, Majeed A. "Human Trafficking in the Era of Globalization : The Case of Trafficking in the Global Market Economy." Transcience Journal 2, no. 1 (2011): 54–71.
This article by Majeed A. Rahman provides readers with a basic understanding of the phenomenon of human trafficking – its definition, history, its purpose, and why it proliferates. Rahman believes that the main motivation for the conduct of human trafficking is money. For traffickers, the transport of victims is a lucrative business (estimated at $31.40 billion in profits annually), no wonder it is now one of the fastest growing organized crimes and the third most profitable, next to arms and drug trade. Meanwhile, victims are typically lured by the promise of higher income overseas. Internationally, human trafficking also plays a role: it provides cheap labor to an economy needing to become competitive and wanting to reduce production costs.
Rahman says that human trafficking is an international issue, and argues that it is gender and demographically specific. Roughly 80% of victims come from developing countries, while 8% comes from transition or weakened states and only 10.8% comes from the US and Western Europe. 43% of all victims are often forced into commercial sexual exploitation, a majority of whom are women and children. Data from the United States corroborate such statistics: 46% of victims of human trafficking enter into prostitution while the rest enter into modern forms of slavery (in sweatshops, domestic servitude and agricultural work).
Rahman says that the difficulty in eradicating human trafficking lies on its economic value, as well as its very nature and organization. Because it is typically a clandestine operation, victims cannot be readily identified and assisted. Rahman believes that human trafficking is a multifaceted approach requiring an integrated approach. In the same way that states are accountable to improving policing capacities to prevent transport of individuals from and to their boundaries, NGOs have a major role to play in rehabilitating victims, particularly those who have experienced physical and sexual violence during their transport.
Nagle, Luz Estella. "Selling Souls: The Effect of Globalization on Human Trafficking and Forced Servitude." Wisconsin International Law Journal 26, no. 1 (2015): 131–162.
What is the impact of human trafficking to society and how does globalization affect the conduct of human trafficking? In this article, Luz Estella Nagle, a Professor of Law at Stetson University in Florida explores how the rapid integration of immature markets to a global economy is creating a world that is "unsafe, unethical, under-inclusive, and improverished". Just like Ross and Rohman, Nagle sees human trafficking as a complicated issue that has cultural, economic and political dimensions.
Nagle began the article by creating a distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking in the hope of creating a stronger position against trafficking and to awaken the reader to the responsibility of both the origin and destination country to protect the victims. The author believes that trafficking is no more than an unintended consequence of globalization, all owing to the great demand for cheap (if not free labor), the desire of people to achieve a better life, the ruthless supply, transportation and market structure for trafficking. For Nagle, both trafficking and smuggling have implications on a state’s laws and sovereignity, but trafficking is an even greater concern because the relationship between the victim and trafficker does not end until the trafficker has extracted the maximum economic gain from the victim. Most victims of trafficking already come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and are typically unaware of their condition until it is too late – either they have already been physically or sexually abused, or they have already been sold into slavery. Human trafficking is a commodification of human beings, and the very nature and organization of globalization makes trafficking an important economic player. In this sense, Nagle believes that governments must create a balance between economic development and the human rights approach if this phenomenon is to be deterred at all.
Jones, Loring, David W. Engstrom, Tricia Hilliard, and Mariel Diaz. "Globalization and Human Trafficking." Journal of Sociology & … 34, no. 2 (2007): 107–120.
Just like Ross, Rohman and Nagle, Loring Jones et al. believes that human trafficking is an international issue and must be addressed as such. It repeats the data found in the previous readings (incidents, industries benefitting from trafficking), but its main value is in the reiteration and further exploration into the consequences of human trafficking to society. According to Jones et al., victims of trafficking are in dire situation because most states are unable to handle their cases. For one, most authorities have no idea how to assist victims, much less identify them. Moreover, victims are treated by authorities as perpetrtors of illegal activity and may be subjected to incarceration or deportation. Deported victims not only lose their chance to create a better future, they may also face ostracism for engaging in shameful behavior, such as in the case of prostitution. In fact, most traffickers use this unfortunate fact to coerce their victims into submission.
Jones et al. says that human trafficking contributes to social structures because victims who are already disadvantaged in the first place are denied opportunities to improve their skills and potential, hence increasing their chances of being retrafficked in the future. In the societal level, the incapacity of victims to harness their capacities leads to lower productivity which in turn inhibits national development. Trafficking also has health impacts since reports show that victims are often subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Victims may contract HIV/AIDS, can experience broken bones and other complications, they may have poor hygiene. Some victims have to deal with alcoholism, drug addiction, depression and suicidal tendencies. Many develop the inability to recover from illnesses and several are unable to integrate into society without intervention.
Stewart, Christa M. "Trafficking: A Violation of Women’s Human Rights." Women Lawyers Journal 86, no. 4 (n.d.): 16–28.
Why do governments find it difficult to eradicate human trafficking? What need to be considered when creating policies to address trafficking? Christa Stewart explores the answers to these questions through this article. In the United States, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection of Act of 2000 provides a basis for combatting human trafficking. It creates a holistic approach to the problem by first gathering data on human trafficking and its victims, and then creating programs that utilizes the government resources to deal with traffickers and nongovernmental organizations to handle the victims. Perhaps an important feature of the law is that it enables victims of trafficking to obtain a legal status to become a permanent resident of the country. While this new law provides an incentive for assisiting victims, Stewart believes that several factors can cause challenges in implementation. First, victims will tend to avoid interaction with the authorities for fear of deportation as stipulated in the country’s strict immigration law. Second, the government knows that migrant populations are increasing, but because a number of them are undocumented (refugees, political asylums, etc.) there is difficulty in identifying how many are being trafficked, and how many arrived by legitimate means. Third, there is difficulty in identifying victims because several of them utilize a "travel agent" to avoid the long lines and bureuacratic processes, and the government may find it difficult to determine who are aware (or not) of the illegality of this practice. Because the new law tries to hold traffickers accountable, and to protect the rights of the victim, the government has to create a process to make this happen.
Birkenthal, Sara. "Human Trafficking: A Human Rights Abuse with Global Dimensions." Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law 6, no. 1 (n.d.): 27–40.
As has been mentioned in the previous resources, human trafficking is a transnational issue and would require a multilateral approach. Sara Birkenthal reiterates the need for governments to work together in order to address the problem, but she adds that integovernmental organizations (IGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are integral part of the solution because the issue is not just economic and political, it is also cultural. She says that the state government has the resources to criminalize and penalize traffickers, as well as protect the rights of the victim, IGOs can ensure coordinated effort among various states and NGOs can connect the efforts of the state and IGOs to the grassroots.
Birkenthal says that states typically handle trafficking issues because it has implications to the country’s economic and political wellbeing, but it is not treated with importance as a huma...