Human trafficking popular models criminology essay

CHAPTER 3

Abstract

Human trafficking is the transnational organized crime prevalent across the world. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking whether as a country of origin, transit or destination of victims. Year after year, thousands of men, women, and children are invariably victimized, falling into the trap of human trafficking. Trafficking has been widely recognized as a complex regime interfering with the criminal justice system, rights issue, gender issue, public health issue, and so on. The current study presents a brief overview of the popular intervention and intervention strategies approaches to human trafficking along with their merits and demerits on the basis of the secondary sources of available literature on trafficking. Also, an attempt has been made to develop an alternative framework (the family-centric approach) with ‘ family’ at its root in the trafficking discourse. The methods used in the study are analytical and descriptive. The study concludes that unilinear approach to trafficking is not sufficient enough to combat it, and requires multidimensional insights which could target its perpetrators, protect the victims and address its root causes by involving all the stakeholders especially the families and the community, where from the vulnerability originates and must end at the same. Keywords: Human rights, human trafficking, public health, organized crime, vulnerability.

Introduction

Human trafficking (HT) is an umbrella term encompassing the exploitation of men, women, and children in varied sectors such as sweatshop labor, commercial sexual exploitation, and domestic work, illegal adoption of children, forced marriages, begging, and organ trading, and so on. Trafficking may be defined as one of the most extreme forms of exploitation that exists in the twenty first century (Morehouse, 2009). It is the third largest criminal industry in the world after illegal arms and drug trade (Djuranovic, 2009; Sharma, 2007) generating an estimated $9. 5 billion per year (Vreja, 2005). It is estimated that around 7000 to 4. 0 million individuals are trafficked into the slave trade each year. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims (Pandey, 2010; Mohiuddin, 2006). The current study presents a critical overview of the popular intervention and intervention strategies to human trafficking along with their merits and demerits on the basis of the available books, articles, institutional reports and other literature on human trafficking. Also, an attempt has been made to develop an alternative framework (the family-centric approach) with ‘ family’ at its root in the trafficking debate. The methods used are analytical and descriptive.

Trafficking as a Criminal Law Issue

Trafficking in various forms has existed in the society from times immemorial. It has been prevalent in some form in almost all parts of the world. In India, bonded labour system where the slave offered his labour in exchange for cash or ‘ devdasi’[1]a customary form of modern prostitution represented archaic form of trafficking, continues unabated till today assuming new dimensions in contemporary times. Similarly, the African slavery system was popular in African subcontinent where the Whites exploited the Negros or the blacks as slave servants, and so on (Hussain, 2004). There is immense diversity between and within different trafficking systems (Lackzo and Gramegna, 2003). Different groups, agents or individuals may be involved in different phases of the process and can organise recruitment, transportation and control in different ways. Similarly, a geographical unit can be a source, transit or destination unit depending upon the context. For example, a country may be a source nation in the international context but may itself have an established trafficking nexus within itself. Trafficking is an old phenomenon which is found unchecked even today in different forms and magnitude. Its acceleration can be traced down to the origin of the capitalist market system and global trade between and amongst nations. The colonialism is said to have perpetuated trafficking where the imperial regimes preyed on the resources (raw material, labour of the natives, etc.) of the colonies for their benefit and promotes the system of the slave trade throughout the world. Gradually, with the breakdown of the imperial regimes, the slave trade system received widespread condemnation and there arose massive uproar in favour of abolition of slavery. With this, slavery came to be treated as a crime and breakdown of civil laws or intrusion into civil liberty of the citizens. The first international anti-trafficking legislation dates back to 1904, the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic issued by the erstwhile League of Nations and was followed by series of international legislations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949 Convention), the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (2000), and the most recent being the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000)[2](Sen, 2004). The major methodological challenges confronting the criminal law approach are as follows: Firstly, human trafficking accounts for a myriad of activities. There are numerous forms and degrees of exploitation within many sectors and the methods by which people are moved are immensely diverse (Molland, 2005). Intricate nature of trafficking makes it hard to target and the scale of the phenomenon is difficult to judge. Secondly, the Palermo protocol[3]stresses on the ‘ movement’ from one place to another as an essential element of trafficking, downplaying the local trafficking operations as victims may be exploited even in their native land. This gives rise to an additional constraint. It is difficult to track trafficking at the initial stage, before the exploitation begins. Individuals intercepted at borders or during movement to the destination due to forged identity or some kind of susceptibility are charged of illegal migration and booked under migration felonies while the perpetrators move scot free. Weak legislation and limited judicial precedence (internationally there have been very few convictions) often mean that there is also a lack of legal conceptual clarity (Molland, 2005) which has perpetuated this trade in human beings.

The Demand and Supply Framework

In a ‘ Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences’ Coomaraswamy (2000) has rightly said that:

” Traffickers fish in the stream of migration. They prey on the most vulnerable sections of the migrants to supply to the most exploitative, hazardous and inhuman forms of work. Traffickers can also create a migration situation by capitalizing on the lack of choice of the poor. This very powerlessness of the migrants creates a condition in which they can easily be duped, coerced and exploited furthering their susceptibility to the continuance of exploitation” (Sharma, 2007). The anti-trafficking interventions have tried to combat trafficking through targeting its root causes. This has resulted into the debate surrounding the demand side and the supply side of trafficking. The demand side refers to the areas where the trafficked victims are exploited and exhausted, while the supply side enlists the vulnerable factors of trafficking. The demand and supply perspectives target the supply side factors of trafficking. It intends to combat trafficking through redressal of its root causes which increase one’s vulnerability to trafficking. It specifically aims to combat trafficking through intervention and interception at the first phase, before the trafficking occurs. It is an effective intervention strategy, far superior to the criminal justice system; for a criminal justice issue acts after the harm already has been done, while this framework helps combat trafficking at the community level. According to the UNODC, the potential demand factors include: changes in the informal economies of countries, the growing involvement of criminal syndicates, illegal activities, globalisation, migration, transportation and communication, and increased demand for cheap labour, etc. (Deane, 2010). Besides, development policies and patterns of development promoting tourism, industrialization, rural to urban migration particularly of males, expanding commercial sex industry throughout the world, demand by employers and enterprises for cheap labor of children and women, male attitudes and perceptions of women, male dominated value systems in society, and women’s unequal and low socio-economic status are noteworthy (Hameeda, Hlatshwayo, Tanner, Turker, and Yang, 2010; Huda, 2006; Roby, 2005; Sen, 2004; Ruhi, 2003; Mishra, 2002). The supply factors include: poverty and deprivation, feminisation of poverty, inadequate educational and employment opportunities, gender disparities in access to opportunities, and lack of social safety nets, economic disparities within countries, and between countries, globalisation and liberalization induced population mobility, debt bondage, social conventions such as child marriages, polygamy, dowry, and social stigma against single, unwed, divorced women and girls, and those sexually abused, pursuit of consumerism, the sale of women and children, growth of transnational crime, and expansion of drug trafficking networks, a low political will, and weak law enforcement mechanisms and measures to penalize offenders, and exploitation by corrupt law enforcers and officials (Hameeda, Hlatshwayo, Tanner, Turker, and Yang, 2010; Pandey, 2010; Fayomi, 2009; Ghosh, 2009; Joffres, Mills, Joffres, Khanna, Walia, & Grund, 2008; Roby, 2005; Sen, 2004; Bhattacharjea, 2003; Ruhi, 2003; Mishra, 2002). Amidst the interplay of the demand and supply factors, impunity has been identified as the dominant theme behind trafficking. It has been found that trafficking laws are quite weak combined with low political will and thus traffickers manage to go scot free in case of execution or do away with meager punishment which has rightly perpetuated this trade unbridled around the globe. Alison Phinney (2001) has conceptualized it through the concept of ‘ trafficking triangle’, which refers to the space created by the demand, supply and impunity with which trafficking occurs. She states:” Trafficking is driven by demand in the sex industry, fueled by individuals who are denied equal rights and opportunities for education and economic advancement and perpetuated by traffickers who are able to exploit human misfortune with near impunity. Insufficient or inadequate laws, poor enforcement, ineffective penalties, minimal chances of prosecution, the relatively low risks involved, corruption and complacency, the invisibility of the issue, the failure of governments to implement policies and provide adequate services for victims – all play a role in perpetuating trafficking” (Sharma, 2007; Sen, 2004).

Trafficking as a Transnational Organised Crime[4]

‘ Organised criminal group’ may be defined as a structured group of three or more persons, existing for a period of time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offences established in accordance with this Convention[5], in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit.[6]Transnational organized crime involves planning and execution of illicit business ventures by groups or networks of individuals working in more than one country. There are five popular models of trafficking operations existing in different areas. Each model is an ideal type associated with a different national group engrained in the local history, and reflects geographical identity, and the market forces that drive the trade (Shelly, 2003). These models may not be comprehensive but provide insights about the dominant pattern in the region. The supermarket model is prevalent between Mexico to United States of America (USA). The trafficking for labour is more popular than for sex. It is marked by high volume and low cost of trafficking and profit is higher per individual. This trade may require multiple attempts as evidenced by the fact that 1. 8 million individuals were arrested on borders in the year 2000 (Shelly, 2003). Traffickers employ dangerous means for transportation, thus high fatalities are recorded. Here, trafficking is complicit with other elements of illicit economy-linked to corruption, arms and drug trade. Recently, the costs have increased with increased border security in the Mexico-US borders (Shelly, 2010). The natural resource model is devoted exclusively to the trafficking of women. In this game, women are utilized similar to any natural resource like timber or furs. It is directed towards short-term profits with little concern for the maintenance of supply or the long term durability of the business. This model does not maximize profits and profits are not repatriated or used for development. Instead, profits are disposed of through conspicuous consumption or are sometimes used to purchase another commodity with a rapid turnover. British law enforcement found that the profits from trade of women were used to buy rubber boots for sale in Ukraine or cars for sale in the Baltic region (Shelly, 2010). The trade and development model is most applicable to the smuggling of men but also involves the trafficking of women who represent as much as 10 percent of the total volume. Chinese and Thai trafficking crime syndicates run these networks in an organized and integrated way from start to finish. These operations control smuggling at all stages from recruitment through debt bondage and eventually to an assignment in a brothel in order to secure long-term profits. There exist established networks that make profit from this trade of human being. For example, the Asian cruise case generated $60 million in profits (10 percent estimated from trafficking) in Washington D. C. and New York from the transport of the victims (Shelly, 2010). It is to be noted that money is laundered back to China for development. Much of the profit is repatriated and eventually leads to further entrepreneurship throughout Thailand and southern China (Shelly, 2003). The Pimp model is a localised model involving the domestic trafficking in the US, often of the juveniles. There are small individual entrepreneurs who often work together as loose networks. It involves serious manipulation of victims through psychological tactics and drugs often from the late childhood to early teens. As per the FBI estimates, on an average, victims survive seven years in prostitution. It is marked by significant profits, as each girl controlled by a pimp may generate at least $1000 per night (Shelly, 2010). The profits generated are dissipated among the local groups. The West African model of trafficking is coterminous to traditional slavery system where blacks were used as slaves in the US for domestic purposes. Currently, it operates from Africa to Western Europe predominantly for sexual exploitation. Multifaceted crime groups are engaged in the trafficking operations. The unique feature of this model is combination of criminal acts of human trafficking with traditional practices such as voodoo. The complicity of the victims is often ensured through ritual oath taking using blood, fingernails, and other private body parts performed by a Juju priest. Reprisals for renegade victims range from madness to death. Such oath taking is effective in instilling fear into the victims and ensuring their allegiance and commitment to the ‘ contract of agreement’ obtained from such process (Fayomi, 2009). A study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted that the Nigerian madam who receives the trafficked women and girls at the destination would threaten death by magic if the victims refused to cooperate (Adepoju, 2005).

Human Trafficking and Rights Perspective

Trafficking, until recently, was viewed as a criminal law issue, targeting the perpetrators. According to this approach, the state used victims against the culprits and received attention practically only to present the extent they are relevant for law enforcement purposes (Rijken, 2009). Of late, it was realized in a growing number of countries that victims of trafficking are particularly vulnerable and that the ordinary protection mechanisms for victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings are not suited to provide these groups with adequate protection. Further, it was noticed that the protection mechanisms for the trafficked victims were generally available for as long as they cooperated with the judicial authorities in the criminal proceedings. The human rights perspectives grew as an improvement over the criminal law approach. Trafficking is a grave violation of human rights. The human rights abuses are many, and occur at each step in the trafficking process (Jordan, 2002; Beyrer, 2001). Anne Gallagher (2005) described that human rights violations are implicated in all aspects of trafficking, from the factors that contribute to vulnerability to trafficking, to the loss of civil and political rights (such as loss of liberty) during the trafficking process, to sometimes inadequate response of state parties in addressing the problem (for example, returning victims home to a situation where they are likely to be re-trafficked) (Jordan, 2002). A broad range of human rights can be and are violated during trafficking, most notable being the violation of a person’s personal physical dignity, the right to personal freedom and security, and the principle of non-discrimination (Rijken, 2009). The Charter of the World Health Organisation holds that every woman, man, youth and child has the right to the ‘ highest attainable standard’ of physical and mental health, without discrimination of any kind[7]. Thus, from the perspective of a trafficked person, one of the most serious violations is the denial of the right to health. Almost all international human rights instruments cover trafficking in their mandate. ‘ Trafficking in human beings’ has been prohibited in article 5 on slavery and forced labour of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Further, article 6 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women explicitly states that States Parties ‘shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women’ (Rijken, 2009). Further, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 contain trafficking-specific provisions, though they are fairly terse and essentially couched in terms of a general prohibition. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography of 2000 (‘ Optional Protocol’) provides more elaborate regulation through the criminalization of a range of conduct related to trafficking. In general, a human rights based approach is said to be based on some core principles: universality and inalienability; indivisibility; interdependence and interrelatedness; non-discrimination and equality; participation and inclusion; accountability and the rule of law (Rijken, 2009). Human rights framework essentially places protection of the human rights of the victims at the central place and encourages the states to incorporate the protection of human rights of the victims in anti-trafficking interventions. Its major objective is to ensure that the human rights and dignity of trafficked persons and other vulnerable groups (to trafficking) are not undermined in war against trafficking. It specifically stresses that the trafficked persons should not be detained, charged or prosecuted for status-related offenses. Their right to freedom of movement should be respected by the state and other service organizations.

Trafficking as a Threat to Public Health or Public Health Perspective

Human trafficking is a global public health problem. Human trafficking gives rise to a range of health problems in individual victims, who often suffer from physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, and even death. Health can be affected throughout the trafficking process. The journey phase or the movement phase, when the victims is moved from one phase to another, may be associated with the acquisition or transmission of illness or disease as a direct consequence of the journey (Gushulak and Macpherson, 2000). Transportation is another health risk factor for such groups. Trafficking being an illegal or a clandestine issue, the victims may be carried, concealed, or hidden in conveyances, goods, or cargo and transported across borders. Transportation of this kind may subject the trafficked individuals to a variety of injuries and illnesses depending upon the type and duration of the journey. Physical injuries or death can result from falling from the conveyance or exposure to cargo (Gushulak and Macpherson, 2000). Trafficked victims are exposed to a range of health infirmities at the destination. They are prone to unregulated, unsafe, and dangerous working conditions. The unofficial or illegal status of migrants often precludes the application or enforcement of labor or employment standards. These risks may include exposure to occupational injuries, chemicals, and other toxic materials or the effects of sustained work in substandard surroundings, the consequences of which may be injury or death (Gushulak and Macpherson, 2000). Apart from the physical threat, risks of detection, detention and judicial censure, physical and psychological stress, give rise to host of psychological and mental issues in the victims (Zimmerman, Kiss and Hossain, 2009; Vlacho, 2005; Gushulak and Macpherson, 2000). Trafficking undermines public health by contributing to the spread of some other, less frequently mentioned diseases such as tuberculosis and scabies that are fostered by cruel working and living conditions (Vlacho, 2005). The health implications of trafficking extend not only to its victims, but also to those who come into their contact as victims become carriers and/or core transmitters of serious diseases (Eleni, 2011). It has been found that although the victims have limited accessibility to the public domain but the health care providers are one of the few professionals likely to interact with trafficked persons while they are still in captivity. One study found that 28 percent of trafficked women saw a health care professional while still in captivity. This represents a serious missed opportunity for intervention. Health care providers are in a unique position to identify victims of trafficking and provide important physical and psychological care to victims while in captivity and after (Dovydaitis, 2010). The expert assessment and interview skills can help in contributing to identification of victims in trafficking and, thus calls for intervention of the public health approach. The Public health approach to trafficking suggests that the governments should confront the problem of trafficking similarly to the health hazards such as smoking, community violence and highway fatalities. It seeks to identify and address the underlying causes of a particular public health issue confronting a population, with the goal of harm prevention or harm reduction. It suggests that approaching human trafficking from the public health perspective offers the prospect of addressing fundamental aspects of the problem, including its root causes (Todres, 2011). Likewise, the public health’s traditional emphasis on engaging all community stakeholders will add value at all stages in anti-trafficking efforts, from drafting of relevant laws and policies to implementation of prevention programs. Moreover, a public health approach will help increase our understanding of the dynamics of human trafficking and offer insights into the effective prevention, so that it is possible to develop strategies that will effectively account for the sufferings of millions of people and strengthening individuals’ and communities’ capacities to prevent human trafficking. The merits of combating trafficking through public health perspectives are more considerate than the legal perspectives. It is widely known that trafficking being a clandestine issue, is not easily visible and there are no reliable estimates barring few assumptions or speculations. Absence of actual figures or statistics disrupts the policy making or intervention measures. The dearth of reliable data on human trafficking highlights the value of public health’s emphasis on evidence-based research. Additionally, the public health’s prevention orientation would significantly advance anti-trafficking initiatives, which currently deal with the harm only after it occurs. It would help to reduce the vulnerability of individuals by focusing on the issues that make many individuals vulnerable to exploitation. Further, this approach aims at combating trafficking through targeting the root causes i. e. the factors which increase the susceptibility to trafficking in the first instance. This approach also goes beyond the criminal law’s narrow focus on the state-perpetrator dynamic to address community and population based impacts. It seeks to combat trafficking through interventions at the community level via involvement of all the relevant stakeholders.

Developing an Alternative Framework: The Family-Centric Approach

In the backdrop of the above findings, the present paper would bring to light a novel framework, hitherto being neglected in the trafficking debate. Human trafficking is an intricate phenomenon involving range of activities and multitude of actors involved and instigated by ‘ vulnerability’[8]at its root. It is to be noted that HT is not the product of external elements, its origin essentially lie in the family and the community of the individual. But sadly ‘ family’ as an essential component of vulnerability and its role in reintegration of the victims has been undermined. There exists limited literature on the role of ‘ families’ as a thrust into trafficking at the initial stage and rehabilitation and reintegration, post trafficking. Family is often described as a part of general pattern of vulnerability, for example, poverty, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, single motherhood, etc. act as a trigger and contributor to trafficking (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2012). Family is the basic building block of the society and plays a very important role in the socialization of an individual. The basic protective mechanism supplied by family is dramatically influential in the return and reintegration of the individual. It exercises two-fold functions: minimizing the vulnerability in the first place, and providing support mechanism post trafficking. Reintegration is to a great extent dependent on the familial relations as well as the larger social environment which is able to support and cope with victims of trafficking (Derks, 1998). Research shows that trafficked persons, who have family and friends, on return, generally choose to seek assistance from their own network (Nicola and Ruspini, 2009). Further, lack of normal family relations affects negatively the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of victims. If a victim comes back to the family in which nobody is waiting for her, or if she or he is totally lonesome and nobody takes care about her/him, it is much more difficult to carry out rehabilitation and reintegration (Fomina, 2006). The home environment exercise crucial influence in decisions about receiving assistance and support services post trafficking. In case of dependents with care needs at home and family, the victims have been found to be denied services which are provided to all family members, for the programmes do not include provisions for victim’s family members (Brunovskis & Surtees, 2012). In many cases, where the victims return bare hands without any funds back with them, to support the family, disappointment and friction between family members may arise (Brunovskis and Surtees, 2012; Brunovskis and Surtees, 2007; Derks, 1998). Sometimes families are found to decline the reunification of their survivor-members, under the influence of the community. In a study on sex slaves in South Asia, Brown (2006) discovered that the trafficked women are perceived as the destroyer of social prestige and identity (Chaulagai, 2009). Counseling can be an effective intervention strategy in this attempt. Besides, the victims’ parents must also be counseled about the needs of the victims through the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. It has been found that in the absence of the knowledge of ‘ what has happened’ or whereabouts of the victims at the place of destination, victims’ stressed behaviors can be confusing and hurtful and may lead to additional problems and tensions (Brunovskis and Surtees, 2012). Thus to conclude, family can play a crucial role in the successful reintegration of trafficking victims, but may also prove to be a constraint, in the absence of hormonal relationship amongst its members. Family must be given adequate attention in the rehabilitation schemes and policies. Undermining the role of family in anti-trafficking reintegration interventions may jeopardise the reunification process.

Conclusion

The criminal justice approach is more concerned with the prosecution of the culprits and less with the protection of the victim. Until recently, it basically followed a three-pronged framework focusing on the ‘ three P’s’ – prosecution, protection, and prevention – prosecuting traffickers, protecting trafficked persons, and preventing trafficking. In practice, however, these responses emphasize the prosecution of traffickers and, to a lesser extent, the protection of their victims. Thus, of late, legal jurisprudence approach to trafficking has given way to a victim-centered approach to trafficking (now the ‘ three R’s’- rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration) (Regmi, 2006). The 3R model has brought a paradigm shift in the state response and has promoted victim-centric response focusing on the welfare and protection of the victims. In order to prevent their further victimization and criminalization, it is recommended to treat victims of trafficking in accordance with international standards; to provide a wide range of psychological, legal, medical, and social assistance in disengagement from their slave-masters; and to aid them in returning home and reintegrating into their community. The human rights framework to trafficking provides better edge over the criminal law approach. Firstly, it provides better understanding into the victims’ perspective treating them as victims rather than as criminals responsible for violating national immigration laws and regulations, and promotes a victim-centred approach. The victim-centred approach helps to overcome the frustration and exasperation of the victims due to trafficking and empowers victims by restoring their dignity and self-worth. Further, the human rights framework provides deeper probe in the complex regime of human trafficking and may help find legal, political, economic and social solutions to combat trafficking. Modern trafficking operations are analogous to trade enterprises reflecting the local trade patterns. However, there cannot be an ideal universal model, in view of the existence of widespread variation between and within the region. An important correlation exists between the violation of human rights and the business models (Shelly, 2003). The supermarket model results in numerous violations of human rights including fatalities of those smuggled. The natural resource model involves grave human rights violation as its primary objective is profit maximization with little concern over the durability of the enterprise against the trade and development model where smugglers and traffickers have an interest in harbouring long term profits from victims. The public health approach can be another popular model of intervention. Trafficked persons must be given access to comprehensive, sustained, gender, age and culturally appropriate health care which focuses on achieving overall physical, mental, and social well-being. Health care should be provided with trained professionals in a secure and caring environment, on voluntary basis and in conformity with professional codes of ethics. Minimum standards should be established for the health care that is offered to trafficked victims. These standards should be developed through partnership between government, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions, and should be based on comprehensive evidence-based research and best practices. Human trafficking as modern day slavery is more than a legal or criminal justice issue. Multiple actors and numerous stakeholders are involved in various stages of trafficking. The trafficking being a transnational crime, the money laundered runs often from one continent to another, profits passing through large syndicates to small loosely organized local goons. Further, trafficking has differential repercussions for the state, individual and community. Thus, a unilinear approach to combat trafficking is not sufficient. An effective intervention requires a multidimensional approach to address the phenomenon which could target its perpetrators, protect the victims and address its root causes by involving all the stakeholders especially the families and the community, where from the vulnerability originates and must end at the same.

Notes: