Human Trafficking in Transnational Criminal Law Professor Rob Currie Schulich School of Law Halifax, NS

“Modern Day Slavery” One of the leading organized crime enterprises on earth 800,000 people trafficked across borders per year (lowball estimate) ◦ 80% are female ◦ 50% are children ◦ Majority forced into prostitution/sexual slavery

Human Trafficking in Law What human trafficking is not ◦ Slavery: “chattel” slavery, exercising all of the rights of ownership over a person ◦ Migrant smuggling: procuring illegal entry of people into a country, in order to obtain a material benefit (usually money)  but often linked to human trafficking

Human Trafficking in Law Human Trafficking Protocol to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) – 124 party states UNTOC is “framework” convention Obligation on countries to criminalize organized crime offences and also Protocol offences

Human Trafficking in Law Article 3 – Use of terms For the purposes of this Protocol: (a) “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; (b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; (c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; (d) “Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.

Human Trafficking in Law 3 elements: ◦ A) an action (eg recruitment, transportation) ◦ B) a means used to carry out the action (eg threat/use of force, coercion, abduction) ◦ C) exploitation (eg prostitution, forced labour, removal of organs)

Regional Human Trafficking Treaties Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings ASEAN Declaration Against Human Trafficking Inter-American Convention on Trafficking in Minors Africa: regional strategies and initiatives