This paper examines the successes and setbacks in the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons. While today, the majority of countries have passed specific legislation criminalising human trafficking in response to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, there are still very few convictions of trafficking. Using currently available knowledge, this paper discusses four possible reasons for low conviction rates. Further, the paper suggests that due to the heavy dependency on victim testimonies when prosecuting trafficking in persons crimes, members of criminal organisations that are easily identifiable by victims may face criminal charges more frequently than other members of the criminal group, particularly those in positions of greater responsibility who profit the most from the criminal activities. In this context, the exceptionally high number of women among convicted offenders is explored.
This paper examines the successes and setbacks in the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons. While today, the majority of countries have passed specific legislation criminalising human trafficking in response to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, there are still very few convictions of trafficking. Using currently available knowledge, this paper discusses four possible reasons for low conviction rates. Further, the paper suggests that due to the heavy dependency on victim testimonies when prosecuting trafficking in persons crimes, members of criminal organisations that are easily identifiable by victims may face criminal charges more frequently than other members of the criminal group, particularly those in positions of greater responsibility who profit the most from the criminal activities. In this context, the exceptionally high number of women among convicted offenders is explored.
This paper examines the successes and setbacks in the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons. While today, the majority of countries have passed specific legislation criminalising human trafficking in response to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, there are still very few convictions of trafficking. Using currently available knowledge, this paper discusses four possible reasons for low conviction rates. Further, the paper suggests that due to the heavy dependency on victim testimonies when prosecuting trafficking in persons crimes, members of criminal organisations that are easily identifiable by victims may face criminal charges more frequently than other members of the criminal group, particularly those in positions of greater responsibility who profit the most from the criminal activities. In this context, the exceptionally high number of women among convicted offenders is explored.
In recent years, the issue of trafficking of women and young girls has been of growing concern for the national and international community. The business of trafficking is the third largest and the most profitable organised crime. The common targets of such exploitation are girls from poor families, living in rural or semi urban areas, where the traffickers trap them either with the lure of 'jobs' or marry them with little or no dowry and then sell them to madams and brothel owners in red light areas. This paper deals with the extent and magnitude of the problem of trafficking, focusing on such aspects as modus operandi, the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, and the role of NGOs in the prevention and protection of trafficking.
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) is a crime against humanity. An indefinite number of people are trafficked around the world every year for a range of exploitative purposes. Labour trafficking has recently been recognised as the most common form of human trafficking. Labour trafficking is the intentional exploitation of a person for the purpose of forced labour and has been identified in such industries as construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and in domestic services. Australia is a destination country for labour trafficking, and the construction industry in particular has been identified as a hub for exploitative behaviour, culminating in a need for greater analysis of this issue. Traditionally, migration has factored heavily into the development of the Australian economy. The construction industry is a major driver of economic activity, and has been reliant on migrant workers to sustain industry growth. The expansion of the construction industry in Australia over the past decade has seen a significant increase in migrant labour forces, particularly from Asia and the Pacific. As a result of skills and labour shortages, the government has sought a short term solution in the expansion of the 457 temporary visa scheme. In providing employers the opportunity to sponsor skilled migrant workers, there has been a surge of migrant workers employed in the construction industry. Consequently, the rate of exploitation of such migrant workers has risen, raising the issue of labour trafficking in the Australian construction industry. The conditions attached to the 457 visa and the dependency of migrant workers on their sponsor, together with the rapidly expanding informal economy, and the proliferation of sham contracting, make migrant workers employed in the construction industry increasingly vulnerable to exploitation. Obtaining accurate figures about TIP is difficult, and evaluating the extent of this issue in the construction industry is facilitated by anecdotal reports, largely exposed by trade unions and the media. To date, there have been several cases of severe exploitation, one amounting to labour trafficking, and several others verging on trafficking. These cases demonstrate a propensity for exploitation in the construction industry, and the limitations of the Australian Criminal Code to adequately criminalise and punish this human rights violation. While the capacity to prosecute labour trafficking offences exists under Australian law, the narrow focus of the current legislation has catalysed a trend for prosecution through the civil, as opposed to criminal justice system. The lack of attention paid to labour trafficking as a criminal offence undermines the human rights of migrant workers, and acts as a precursor to more severe forms of labour trafficking in the construction industry in the future
My thesis argues that the genealogy of anti-slavey, anti-prostitution and anti-migration narratives have profoundly influenced contemporary discourses on trafficking, transforming "trafficking" into an ideology that is starkly different from its reality. In my understanding, the reality of trafficking entails a complex interaction of socio- economic and political environments of individuals that perpetuate systematic subjugation of more vulnerable populations. Trafficking exists on a continuum that begins with these structural inadequacies and feeds off people's hope for a better future by providing an illusion of escape. Accenting on historical associations of trafficking with anti-prostitution and anti-migration efforts in the first chapter, I argue that the contemporary legal response to the problem of trafficking is situated at a distance from its reality. Despite efforts to re-negotiate and comprehend the meaning of trafficking, the discourse continues to be dominated by earlier conceptions of the phenomenon in a manner that is alarmist and inadequate to sufficiently encapsulate its human rights abuses. In chapter two, using the example of Bangladesh as a case study, I argue the following: first, that efforts to address the problem of trafficking are strongly tied to international pressures, which in turn distance laws from actual enforcement. Second, I argue that despite efforts to re-negotiate the term "trafficking" and expanding the scope of laws, in practice, breaking trafficking from its genealogies has proven to be a complicated and arduous task. International influences along with general misconceptions have mitigated the effects of anti-trafficking laws as measures to rectify the human rights wrongs of the trafficking phenomenon. This calls for a conscious move away from the ideologies of "Trafficking" to a revision of socio-economic and political structures that impede equal development. The need lies in reducing the gap between the ideology and reality of trafficking. It can be achieved through a ...
