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The new UN Trafficking Protocol

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Janice G. Raymond at University of Massachusetts Amherst
Janice G. Raymond
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Abstract

The new Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, is a wide-ranging international agreement to address the crime of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, on a transnational level. It creates a global language and legislation to define trafficking in persons, especially women and children; assist victims of trafficking; and prevent trafficking in persons. The trafficking in persons protocol also establishes parameters of judicial cooperation and exchanges of information among countries. Although the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children anticipates accomplishing what national legislation cannot do on its own, it is also intended to jumpstart national laws and to harmonize regional legislation against the trafficking in women and children.This article summarizes the key points of the new trafficking in persons protocol, the debate over the definition of trafficking, which was the most contentious part of the Protocol, how the Protocol is being interpreted, and its implications for regional and national policy against human trafficking. The article also addresses the connections between prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation, arguments of those who would dispute these connections, and policy and legislative trends in countries that are seeking to legalize/regulate prostitution as “sex work.”
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... Por una parte, para el feminismo radical, hablar de explotación sexual refiere a las víctimas de una opresión basada en el sexo -mujeres prostituidas-y de hombres proxenetas y consumidores. Argumentan que el consentimiento de las prostitutas no es argumento suficiente para justificar los comercios sexuales (MacKinnon, 1993;Raymond, 2002Raymond, y 2004Jeffreys, 2008). Por otra parte, para las feministas 1 pro-sexo y activistas pro-trabajo sexual, hablar de comercio sexual remite a trabajadoras(es) de un giro incomprendido por tradiciones morales que culpabilizan el derecho de vender el acceso al cuerpo, aunque haya desigualdades sociales relevantes (Lamas, 2016;Agustín, 2008b). ...
... El modelo encuentra un respaldo legal en la Convención de 1949 contra la trata de personas con fines de explotación sexual y en el Protocolo de Palermo 4 del año 2000: uno de los aspectos más relevantes de ambos -y que las asociaciones pro-trabajo sexual buscan eliminar-es que el consentimiento de las personas prostituidas es considerado irrelevante en la identificación, diagnóstico y persecución del crimen de trata y explotación sexual de personas. En la elaboración del protocolo de Palermo intervino Janice Raymond (2002), para quien el consentimiento de la persona explotada sexualmente (mayormente mujeres) es indiferente en el cargo de responsabilidades y culpabilidades en el delito de tráfico de personas. ...
Agencia, zonas grises, explotación sexualAgency, Gray Areas, Sexual ExploitationAgencia, zonas grises, explotación sexualAgencia, zonas grises, explotación sexualAgencia, zonas grises, explotación sexual
Article
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Grey areas, conceptualized by Primo Levi in the context of the Nazi extermination camps, are moral ambivalences that make it difficult to assign responsibility or blame between victims, accomplices, and oppressors. Claudia Card took up the concept for her paradigm of atrocity, an ethical model able to identify and confront evils in institutions and social practices. From this viewpoint, I analyze the stance of radical feminism in challenging prostitution. The agency of women vulnerable to sexual exploitation confronts asymmetry and their lack of options, while the gray zones built by oppressive institutions materialize complicities. Faced with the questioning of the pro-sex work movement, radical feminism could go beyond the strictly punitive penalty to johns and pimps, and add a policy aimed to address the sex and gendered evils that, despite their name, are built by class and race oppressions as well.
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... • According to Article 3(a) of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol, trafficking in persons is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation [13]. ...
... d. Kidnapping through warfare: This is also referred to as the "gun-slave cycle" [13]. It was an agelong method of capturing people for slavery and enslavement. ...
Twenty-First Century Slavery: A Psychosocial Exploration of Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, and Enslavement in Africa
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Full-text available
  • Oct 2023
This paper seeks to investigate human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and enslavement as global phenomena, public health concerns, gross violations of human rights, and crimes against humanity and the state. The twenty-first century slavery revolves around illegal control, including forced labor, debt bondage, forced marriage, slavery and slavery-like practices, and human trafficking. Thus, SDG Targets 5.2 and 8.7 stipulated that immediate and effective measures should be taken by all concerns to eradicate forced labor- end modern slavery, human trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation, as well as to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor among others. The desktop approach was used to identify the varied forms of these menaces and their perpetrators. A wide range of secondary sources of data in peer-reviewed and edited conference proceedings, workshop proceedings, and published articles in local and international journals were consulted to obtain an in-depth appreciation of the problem being investigated. The paper further highlighted the psychosocial effects of human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and enslavement. The article concludes with recommendations for ending all forms of slavery in the global community in line with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
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... This lack of definition is linked to the conflicting agendas of the agencies and organizations concerned with "trafficking" and it has prompted efforts to develop tools for more harmonic interpretations of the concept of human trafficking (see Jordan, 2002;Raymond, 2001). These have not limited the variability and subjectivity of the operational definitions of trafficking, however. ...
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  • Oct 2024
The article explores the (de)mobilization of the “trafficking victim” identity among Brazilian sex workers and the benefits that the counter-trafficking apparatus offers to Brazilian migrant women exploited in the sex market. In doing so, it considers their experience as much in their country of origin, Brazil, as in Portugal. Drawing on findings from ethnographic research, the article highlights the occasional and unstable mobilization of the “victim” label as a form of defense against the counter-trafficking apparatus, rather than as an instrument of recognition of rights that can substantially benefit Brazilian migrant women in the sex market.
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... Dilihat dari kondisi global sejauh ini, perlahan-lahan isu perdagangan manusia mulai dianggap sebagai salah satu isu hak asasi manusia yang paling luas dan cukup menantang dalam mempengaruhi komunitas global saat ini. Berdasarkan dari data Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (PBB), mereka menyebutkan bahwa terdapat kira-kira sekitar empat juta orang dipindahkan atau diperjualbelikan baik dalam negara maupun dari satu negara ke negara lain (Raymond 2002). Salah satunya adalah negara-negara yang berada di kawasan Asia Tenggara. ...
Kejahatan Transnasional: Kerjasama UNODC Dalam Menangani Masalah Perdagangan Manusia di Indonesia
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2022
This paper discusses the cooperation carried out by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in which there are efforts to overcome the problem of transnational or transnational crime. In addition, UNODC also cooperates with Indonesian state actors by making policies, especially in the crime of human trafficking. The author uses a theory, namely institutional liberalism, which includes discussing international relations issues, especially those involving human trafficking, which will involve international organizations in it to help solve them. There is an international forum held by UNODC, namely a forum that supports World Day Against Trafficking. In addition, use the Indonesia Country Program Indonesia as a working strategy used as a guideline for the Indonesian state by UNODC. Everything that has been implemented by UNODC in Indonesia, from theory to strategies of international organizations that can be said to have been running effectively. However, it is very important that the implementation has not seen significant internal factors, namely from Indonesia's own efforts in overcoming the problem of human trafficking.
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... The inclusion of key words particularly prostitution and demandwere taken as a chance to present an interpretation of the UN Trafficking Protocol as a document that favours the criminalisation of male purchasers of commercial sexual services. A leading member of CATW soon produced a "Guide to the New UN Trafficking Protocol" (Raymond 2001) that delivers insight into the radical feminist interpretation of demand. Raymond highlights the demand paragraph (9.5) and discusses it in a section entitled "Combat the trend to legalize/ /regulate prostitution as work". ...
The Concept of Demand in Relation to Trafficking in Human Beings. A Review of Debates since the late 19th Century
Book
Full-text available
  • Jun 2015
The 2000 UN Trafficking Protocol has obliged states to discourage demand that fosters exploitation that leads to trafficking. Fifteen years later, there is still no shared understanding of what demand means in the context of debates on trafficking in human beings (THB). The terms “trafficking” and “demand” display a lexical and referential ambiguity. This paper provides a history of the occurrence and usage of the concepts “trafficking” and “demand” in the context of debates on trafficking and explores the different meanings and understandings attached to these terms in past and present debates.The paper covers debates on trafficking in human beings since the 1860s and shows that terminological confusion was and still is a constant feature of these debates. The term abolition referred initially to the abolition of state regulation and not – as it is understood in the present-day debates - to the abolition of prostitution. The term trafficking is introduced in past and present debates with a confusing diversity of meanings, referring to the kidnapping of girls for the purpose of prostitution, fraudulent procurement of unsuspecting women for prostitution abroad, procurement of consenting women for prostitution, abetting of irregular border crossing or fraudulent abetting of irregular migration with the purpose of exploiting migrants after arrival andother issues. The term demand was introduced in past and present debates and has a diversity of meanings. It can refer to the biological drive of males, to a demand generated by a system of state regulation of prostitution, to a demand of brothel owners and pimps, or to a demand of male clients to purchase commercial sexual services.Thus, when the issue of demand is raised in debates of trafficking, the meaning attached to the term in a communication context is usually not clear; and the same speaker can often use the term demand rather metaphorically with changing meanings. The paper shows that terminological confusion is effect and cause of ongoing and unsolved controversies about the legal handling of prostitution.The paper shows how the issue of demand originally entered the UN Trafficking Protocol and how subsequent attempts failed to develop an authoritative definition. Although debates are characterised by terminological ambiguity, even the claim that a definition is a necessity is denied. Conceptual confusion hampers mutual understanding, prevents reasonable dispute and undermines the capacity to develop policy approaches which effectively provide protection from trafficking and exploitation.The paper closes with the observation that the controversy surrounding the meaning of demand in the context of anti-trafficking efforts has the effect of raising attention to deal more directly with the issue of exploitation.
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Legal Protection of Indonesian Citizens Who Are Victims of Human Trafficking in Myanmar
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2025
This research examines the legal protections available to Indonesian citizens who are victims of human trafficking in Myanmar, focusing on the alignment of Indonesia's domestic laws with international standards. Specifically, it scrutinizes the harmonization of legal protection for witnesses and victims of human trafficking under Act Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons with the protocols established by United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, particularly its supplement, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, and Children. The study adopts a legal research methodology using a comparative law approach to analyze domestic and international legal frameworks. It investigates how well Act Number 21 of 2007 integrates the provisions of the UNTOC, noting areas of strong alignment and aspects that require further enhancement. The research finds that while Act Number 21 of 2007 is largely in sync with the UNTOC, it falls short in incorporating specific provisions for the special needs of trafficking victims, such as psychological support, housing, and rehabilitation services. The findings highlight significant steps taken by the Indonesian government to protect its citizens from human trafficking but also underscore the need for a more comprehensive approach that includes provisions for the unique needs of victims. The study advocates for amendments to the national legislation to fill these gaps and suggests a more robust framework for international cooperation to combat human trafficking in the region effectively.
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Traffic in Women
Chapter
  • Feb 2007
Traffic in women denotes the practice of transporting women away from their home to a distant location where they are coerced or forced into work or prostitution in slave‐like conditions to the profit of their traffickers. Some 2–4 million women are trafficked annually. Women typically are lured into initial cooperation through the deceitful promise of employment at better wages than available in their home area. Traffickers target impoverished regions with few employment opportunities and transfer women to more affluent areas with a market for their labor or sexual services. Some victims are sold into trafficking by relatives or fellow villagers. Most fall prey to criminal organizations with extensive international networks which profit greatly from this lucrative trade. In many regions, legal businesses participate in trafficking under the guise of tourism or entertainment. States profit through taxes on these businesses, and corrupt officials benefit from bribes to protect the industry. In some areas, military installations and peacekeeping operations provide a customer base for trafficking. The international community has responded to trafficking with a Protocol calling on states to enact laws to criminalize all involvement in traffic in women. Heads of state have labeled this growing practice a new slave trade requiring concerted international action.
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Sexual Offending in Southeast Asia
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In this chapter, the literature on the prevalence, nature, and offending dynamics of sexual offending in Southeast Asia is synthesized, and cultural values and norms related to sexual offending are discussed, followed by penal codes of different Southeast Asian countries. Two Southeast Asian violent sexual offenses in Indonesia and Malaysia are summarized—i.e., the Indonesian serial child murderer and the Malaysian serial sexual offender in Singapore—to provide greater clinical context to the diverse nature and offending patterns of sexual offenders in Southeast Asia.
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International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime
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this report will predominantly focus on trafficking in women. Moreover, information on trafficking in children to the United States is limited. It is also necessary to treat trafficking in adult women and children separately as children receive different kinds of rights and protections than adults, both internationally and domestically. Children also generally exercise less decision-making control to fully exercise their rights.
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Unpublished Paper on Swedish Legislation of Prostitution. Publication forthcoming
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Ekberg, Gunilla, 2001. Unpublished Paper on Swedish Legislation of Prostitution. Publication forthcoming. Contact gs.ekberg@telia.com.
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