Written by Dionysus, Headline Diplomat eMagazine, LUDCI.eu
Trafficking in persons is a multifaceted global problem. It cuts across several dimensions such as irregular immigration, forced displacement of migrant workers and populations, the refugee protection system, a transnational organized crime involving organized crime networks, as well as human rights violations.
Trafficking in persons is often characterized as modern slavery, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Trafficking is frequently linked to exploitation, sex trade, and domestic servitude. Trafficking in persons is also considered a form of sexual or gender-based violence, as in many cases it is directed against women and girls, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
For those lucky to get out, many end up downtrodden, failed by the justice system, their human rights as victims are taken away, and, after victimization, they end up criminalized. Part of these reasons are due to the gaps in the existing laws that affect victims, mistrust, the failure to reach out to victims physically and psychologically, among others, according to the Women Influencing Health, Education, and Rule of Law (WI-HER).
The numbers behind trafficking
Trafficking in persons is considered to be a truly global phenomenon. According to data reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), victims from at least 127 countries have been detected in 137 countries.
The figures show that of these victims, women and girls are proportionally more numerous (two-thirds of reported victims) than men (UNODC, 2010a). Sexual exploitation is by far the most commonly detected form of trafficking (79%), followed by forced labor (18%) (UNODC, 2009).
Today, more than 25 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery, according to Human Right First. Only 0.04% of trafficking case survivors are identified, according to Do Something, a nonprofit youth organization. This means that the majority of human trafficking cases go undetected.
Laws to protect victims are ineffective
In the last few decades, countries and international organizations have attempted to fight the problem of human trafficking head-on. But the question to ask today is not about the adoption of protocols and enaction of laws, but their effectiveness in upholding the rights of victims and giving them justice.
The United Nations General Assembly had adopted, on November 15, 2000, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the two additional protocols which supplement it: the Protocol aiming to prevent, repress and punish trafficking in persons, in particular women and children (the Trafficking Protocol) and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air, and Sea.
The international organization had expressed that it was “deeply concerned about the negative economic and social impact of organized criminal activity, and convinced that there is an urgent need to strengthen cooperation to prevent and combat such activities more effectively at the national, regional and international level”.
Following the UN’s protocol adoptions, in the United States, the Congress enacted in 2000, the “Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.” This act establishes the methods to prosecute traffickers, prevent the menace of human trafficking, and protect victims and survivors, according to the US Department of State.
Some of the purposes of the act are primarily “to combat trafficking in persons, a contemporary manifestation of slavery whose victims are predominantly women and children, to ensure just an effective punishment of traffickers, and to protect their victims.”
According to Act Alberta, Canada became one of the first countries to ratify the UN’s Trafficking Protocol which fundamentally aims at the prosecution and prevention of trafficking, ensuring at the same time respect for the rights and protection of victims.
By ratifying this instrument, Canada made a commitment to amend its national legislation, to establish information channels, and to encourage international cooperation in the fight against trafficking. Over the past few years, the Government of Canada has also adopted legislative and policy measures to criminalize trafficking and prosecute traffickers. Protection and assistance measures for victims of trafficking have also emerged.
In Europe, there is the “Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.” According to the Official EU Website, this charter sets the policy framework against human trafficking and identifies five priorities. These include:
- Identifying, protecting, and assisting victims of trafficking
- Stepping up the prevention of trafficking in human beings
- Increased prosecution of traffickers
- Enhanced coordination and cooperation among key actors and policy coherence
- Increased knowledge of and effective response to emerging concerns related to all forms of trafficking in human beings.
Victims are getting criminalized
However, the paradox of the story is that the victims are not getting to the end of these policies and protocols. Most of them still end up starved of their rights and, worse, criminalized, while their traffickers walk free.
According to the Women Influencing Health, Education, and Rule of Law (WI-HER), the frameworks to protect victims are failing because the current justice systems are overwhelmed.
Razan Farmand, a Rule of Law Technical Advisor at WI-HER, discusses the criminal justice system, victims, and the neglect of their rights, saying, “although many states have made progress in passing legislation to protect victims from criminal prosecution after they have been arrested, there are still gaps in identifying victims and challenges in the implementation of these statutes.”
Because of the fear of disclosure and distrust in the criminal justice system, authorities say it is challenging to give victims justice. Meanwhile, according to the UNODC, “without victim testimony, traffickers cannot be prosecuted.”
According to Farmand, criminal justice, and delinquency systems “are not designed to appropriately respond to sex trafficking victims.”
The WI-HER advisor says sex trafficking victims can easily and simultaneously be considered victims in the trafficking law and also criminals under the law on prostitution because of the long history of the criminalization of prostitution.
Furthermore, there is no comprehensive, reliable, and comparable data on trafficking in persons. The clandestinity of human trafficking networks, the reluctance of victims to report crimes to the authorities, the difficulty of identifying victims, and the sensitive nature of the data are real obstacles to the collection of reliable data, according to Natalya Timoshkina’s 2010 research, titled, “Human Trafficking in Canada and Worldwide.”
In Germany, while authorities are bent on stopping prostitution and enforcing stricter brothel controls and penalties for clients who knowingly exploit forced prostitutes, no form of protection is offered to victims, according to German weekly news magazine, Spiegel.
Green parliamentary deputy Ekin Deligöz described the reforms sought as inadequate: “The protection of victims is completely lacking,” she told the Ruhr Nachrichten. If you really want to help the forced prostitutes, you have to give them “the opportunity to restart in Germany, with a right of residence and a work permit”.
“Terre des Femmes,” a nonprofit organization, has long been demanding that the residence permit should be issued regardless of willingness to testify in criminal proceedings. “In this regard, we do not see any real progress in the coalition agreement. This is a big disappointment,” says Hellmann from the women’s trafficking department.
A project to inform victims of their rights
The European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN), together with a group of countries belonging to the organization, in 2019, launched a campaign aimed at victims of human trafficking and potential victims so that they know their rights and trust the authorities. Its launch coincides with the October 18, European Day against trafficking in human beings.
Because many victims are unaware of their rights or even ignorant of being victims of crimes of trafficking and exploitation, European countries, coordinated through EUCPN and EUROPOL, developed the information campaign financed by the European Union Internal Security Fund with the intention of informing.
Among others, it offers information on the right to assistance and support, the right to protection and compensation, human and labor rights, the right to reintegration, the right to a period of recovery and reflection, and the right to a residence permit, according to the EUCPN.
The campaign consists of printed and audiovisual materials for social networks that will be distributed in the 24 participating countries. To achieve the widest possible dissemination, collaboration is requested from different administrations and organizations with the intention that the message is especially visible in places frequented by potential victims of trafficking, such as infrastructures and means of transport, or entertainment venues.
While this European campaign has the prospect to inform victims, such a holistic campaign (directed to informing victims of their rights) cannot be found in Latin America yet.
Conclusion:
Human trafficking is a crime suffered by millions of people in the world and of which international mafia exploits the situations of the vulnerable, as highlighted by the UNODC.
Recognizing the risk factors associated with the victims’ situation of vulnerability, poverty, and gender inequality, authorities must take into account the specific needs of victims, especially women and girls in the fight against trafficking. All this without neglecting the victimization of men and young boys, who are mainly victims of forced labor in the sectors of agriculture, construction, and the textile industry, according to the Accountability Hub.
The United Nations Trafficking Protocol requires member states to criminalize trafficking in persons and prosecute traffickers. However, how these measures are applied risks increasing the vulnerability of victims and even criminalizing them.
Although the government of many countries is increasingly adopting legislation and policies to protect and assist victims of trafficking, they are not sufficiently tailored to achieve this end. They reach a few victims. There is a problem of mistrust in the criminal justice system. The services offered are limited and can cause secondary victimization and criminalization in their application.
Featured photo by Oleg Magni, Pexels
