The Fight against Human Trafficking - Essay Example

? The fight against human trafficking The fight against human trafficking Introduction Human trafficking has become a critical social problem worldwide. In developed countries several laws have been introduced for controlling the expansion of human trafficking but the results can be characterized as rather disappointed, if taking into consideration relevant reports and statistics. The literature published on this subject verifies the lack of effective mechanisms for facing the specific social phenomenon. This study aims to highlight the regulatory efforts made in regard to the control of human trafficking, especially in relation to women and young children. Particular reference is made to Canada, a country where human trafficking is well expanded, as also in other Western countries; a comparison is also made between Canadian laws and laws introduced in other countries in regard to human trafficking. Emphasis should be given to the following fact: human trafficking is a social problem with several aspects. A particular aspect of human trafficking will be explored in this study: human and sex trafficking. The existing literature helps to understand critical issues related to the topic under examination. Still, gaps have been identified that would require further study. Through this study the current status and performance of laws related to human and sex trafficking are presented and analyzed, as possible. Of course, as explained, in this study emphasis is given on the Canadian laws related to sex and human trafficking. However, these laws reflect the common law approaches to the specific social problem. Therefore, the study can be considered as an important tool for evaluating the effectiveness of Western regulators in preventing the expansion of human trafficking. In addition, the study offers a comparative analysis of the academic literature published in this field; this means that different aspects of the particular social problem are set under examination and potential solutions, for covering gaps and confront weaknesses, are easier to be identified. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Rules and laws focusing on human trafficking and sex trafficking Human trafficking can be characterized as one of world’s most severe social issues. The number of people trafficked worldwide annually has been estimated to 4 million (Drolet 2009). In US, in average, ‘14,500-17,500 people are trafficked annually’ (Berger 2012, p.524). Women and young children are the most common victims of human trafficking in US (Berger 2012). It has been also proved that sex trafficking is the key form of human trafficking in US (Berger 2012). According to the UN Trafficking Protocol, one of the most important regulatory frameworks related to human trafficking worldwide, human trafficking can be described as ‘the recruitment, transportation…. of persons by means of the treat or the use of force….’ (Berger 2012, p.534). Sex trafficking is a term used for showing the sexual exploitation of a person using force (Berger 2012). US regulators have developed the ‘US Trafficking Victim Protection Act (TVPA)’ (Berger 2012, p.535) aiming to increase their country’s effectiveness in fighting human trafficking. One of the most important problems that law regulators have to face when searching for effective legal schemes in order to control human trafficking and, especially sex trafficking, is the following: the involvement of certain social groups in sex trafficking can be interpreted using different criteria. For example, the supporters of the abolitionist approach claim that violence is an indispensable part of sex trafficking and that women involved in sex trafficking have no power to state their opposition (Berger 2012). From a different point of view, the ‘pro work advocates’ (Berger 2012, p.527) believe that women can persist to sex trafficking, at least in certain cases, and that their involvement in sex trafficking is not always imposed by others (Berger 2012). The creators of the US (TVPA) had to face a dilemma in regard to which of the above approaches should prefer when developing TVPA. Also, US regulators had to face the lack of clarity of the definition used by UN Trafficking Protocol in regard to sex trafficking. Indeed, the Protocol’s definition of sex trafficking has not been clear giving the impression that in the context of human trafficking ‘the voluntary sex work would be possible’ (Berger 2012, p.535). US regulators have included in TVPA a clear definition of sex trafficking so that the bond between sex trafficking and violence is clear (Berger 2012). At this point, the US law on trafficking, as being part of the common law on trafficking, can be characterized as more effective in controlling sex trafficking. As of the theoretical approach chosen for TVPA, this seems to be closer to the view of pro work advocates, as described above. More specifically, in the definition of sex trafficking included in TVPA reference is made to two criteria for considering an act as sex trafficking: the use of force and the existence of a commercial sex act (Berger 2012). This means that prostitution is not considered, per se, as an act initiated only because of the use of force. As a criminal activity, sex trafficking is not standardized. For example, the number of women acting as traffickers has been highly increased today, compared to the past (Denton 2010). Also, the terms of sex trafficking are not always clear. For example, in countries where laws do not define clearly sex trafficking, the control of the particular crime is made quite difficult (Denton 2010). In addition, the ‘industrialization of sex trade’ (Poulin 2003, p.38) as developed the last decades makes the fighting against sex trafficking even more difficult (Poulin 2003). 2.2. Human trafficking and sex trafficking in Canada In Canada the control of sex trafficking has caused certain criticisms. The reason is that local regulators seem to ignore ‘the domestic trafficking to which aboriginal girls are highly exposed’ (Sethi 2007, p.57). The research developed by Sethi (2007) has revealed that domestic trafficking in Canada is developed in different ways: it can be either imposed by a member of the family or by a third person, non-relative (Sethi 2007). The first case is quite common in families that face poverty (Sethi 2007) while the second case is related to the organized crime (Sethi 2007). The above two cases have been particularly related to aboriginal girls and women (Sethi 2007). Another aspect of sex trafficking, especially in regard to aboriginal girls, in Canada is the following: sex trafficking of this part of population in Canada seems to have specific geographical characteristics: the regions where ‘oil and mining businesses’ (Sethi 2007, p.60) are highly developed the sex trafficking of aboriginal girls is flourishing (Sethi 2007). Alberta is an example of such region (Sethi 2007). Also, when involved in sex trafficking, an aboriginal girl tends to move within a particular region, ‘in the form of a triangle, i.e. within an area sited between three cities’ (Sethi 2007, p.60). For sex trafficking geography has also the following meaning, at least when referring to Canada: there are places that are highly offered for identifying aboriginal girls who would be vulnerable to traffickers (Sethi 2007). In fact, it seems that sex traffickers prefer certain places as ideal for identifying aboriginal girls who are ‘vulnerable and naive’ (Sethi 2007, p.60): airports, schools and bars (Sethi 2007) are ideal places for traffickers to identify their victims. However, the exposure to the risk of sex trafficking can be irrelevant to place: for example, traffickers may identify their victims through the Internet (chat rooms etc.) or even in the workplace, as in the case of young girls who work as dancers (Sethi 2007). Despite the continuous expansion of sex trafficking in Canada, the level of cooperation between the non-governmental-organizations (NGOs) and the government is quite low (Stewart & Gajic-Veljanoski 2005, p.25). This phenomenon is reflected to the following fact: governmental organizations report an annual figure of trafficked women of about 800 while NGOs support that the women facing sex trafficking may be up to 16,000 (Stewart & Gajic-Veljanoski 2005). Due to the lack of effective cooperation between NGOs and the state, the control of sex trafficking in Canada has become extremely difficult. It should be noted that the role of NGOs in fighting sex trafficking is often underestimated; the case of the ‘Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)’ (Miles 2003, p.26) is an example of the above case. On the other hand, migrant women and young girls seem to face discrimination as of their protection from sex trafficking in Canada (Oxman-Martinez, Martinez & Hanley 2001b). The discrimination mentioned above is related not only to gender but also to race: migrants are less likely to be effectively protected against sex trafficking compared to natives (Oxman-Martinez, Martinez & Hanley 2001b). At the same time, reference should be made to the following fact: migrants often choose trafficking ‘as a tool for escaping dangerous regimes’ (Oxman-Martinez, Martinez & Hanley 2001). Canadian regulators would have to decide whether the terms for the entry of migrants to Canada should be reviewed: the introduction of laws that would justify the entry of migrants in case of threat against life should help the country to avoid massive entry of migrants, an activity that could not be fully supervised by the local authorities (Oxman-Martinez, Martinez & Hanley 2001). In general, Canada seems to underperform in regard to the fighting of sex trafficking, a fact that has been related to the reluctance of the country’s regulators to fully align the national laws with the international law on sex trafficking (Perrin 2006). 3. Narrowed topic of research The literature review developed for this study has proved that there are certain social groups more vulnerable to sex trafficking: women and young girls. The specific social groups are set under examination in this study as their exposure to sex trafficking risks has been proved to be quite high. Also, the research has revealed that the terms of participation of women in sex trafficking are not always clear: in cases where a confusion can exist as to whether a woman has participated in commercial sex acts by force or not, the traffickers may not be punished, since the specific activity will be considered as based on the woman’s consent. The terms under which sex trafficking of women and young girls is developed should be, therefore, extensively explored so that mistakes in evaluating the criminal aspects of this activity are minimized. The topic of the research will be further narrowed as of the geographic characteristics of the study: Canada will be used as a case study for exploring the effectiveness of laws in controlling sex trafficking. Comparison between Canada and the relevant practices followed by other states should be also developed so that the success of Canada in fighting sex trafficking to be made clear. 4. Research Questions Through the literature review developed for this study it has been made clear that there are two issues that would be further examined. The final research project should pay emphasis on two research questions: a) are the criteria used by regulators for developing laws referring to sex trafficking appropriate or not? b) Which are the key weaknesses of Canadian and international law in regard to the control of sex trafficking? 5. Forms of data The final research project will be based on two different forms of data: primary and secondary. Secondary data will be retrieved through the study of the literature published in the particular subject. However, the literature does not fully cover the issues that need to be explored through this study. Gaps in the literature cannot be avoided, a problem that can be resolved using primary data so that all aspects of the study’s key theme are made clear. Quantitative research will be used in order to gather the primary data required for the study. The quantitative research will have the form of survey. Members of NGOs focusing on the provision of support to the victims of sex trafficking will be asked to state their view in regard to a series of issues related to the specific subject. The survey will be developed through a questionnaire that will be sent to the chosen group through e-mail. 6. Ethical considerations As noted above the final research project will be based on quantitative research in the form of survey. The specific research tool is related to certain ethical considerations, such as the privacy of the participants and the security of personal data retrieved. On the other hand it would be quite important for the participants to be aware to all aspects of the research project, in which they will be asked to participate. A copy of the questionnaire that will be used in the survey will be submitted to the University before the beginning of the survey, i.e. before sending the questionnaire to the participants. In this way, the research methodology involved in the study can be granted an ethical approval by the University. If the research meets the above requirement, i.e. if such approval is granted, the alignment of the study with ethics would be secured. 7. Conclusion Confronting effectively the sex trafficking can be a major challenge for regulators not only in Canada but also worldwide. The reason is that the conditions of sex trade are difficult to be fully identified; in certain cases the consent of the women/ girls involved is presumed to exist, a mistake that can leave the traffickers unpunished. In other words, problems in the definition of sex trafficking can harm the effectiveness of laws focusing on this crime. Moreover, in Canada, as also in most countries, the resources available for informing young girls and women on the risks that certain places and activities can hide, in regard to sex trafficking, are limited. These two issues that will be analytically discussed in the final project are of key value for preventing the expansion of sex trafficking internationally. References Berger, S. M. (2012). NO END IN SIGHT: WHY THE "END DEMAND" MOVEMENT IS THE WRONG FOCUS FOR EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Harvard Journal Of Law & Gender, 35(2), 523-570. Denton, E. (2010). International news coverage of human trafficking arrests and prosecutions: A content analysis. Women & Criminal Justice, 20(1-2), 10-26. Drolet, J. L. (2009). Trafficking and the Global Sex Industry. International Social Work, 52(2), 257-258. Miles, A. (2003). Prostitution, trafficking and the global sex industry: A conversation with Janice Raymond. Canadian Woman Studies, 22(3), 26-37. Oxman-Martinez, J., Martinez, A., & Hanley, J. (2001). Human trafficking: Canadian government policy and practice. Refuge: Canada's Periodical on Refugees, 19(4), 14-23. Oxman-Martinez, J., Martinez, A., & Hanley, J. (2001b). Trafficking women: Gendered impacts of canadian immigration policies. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2(3), 297-313. Perrin, B. (2006). Falling short of the mark: an international study on the treatment of human trafficking victims. Retrieved from http://www.oas.org/atip/canada/Fallingshortofthemark.pdf Poulin, R. (2003). Globalization and the sex trade: Trafficking and the commodification of women and children. Canadian Woman Studies, 22(3), 38-47. Sethi, A. (2007). Domestic Sex Trafficking of Aboriginal Girls in Canada: Issues and Implications. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3(3), 57-71. Stewart, D. E., & Gajic-Veljanoski, O. (2005). Trafficking in women: the Canadian perspective. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 173(1), 25-26. Read More