Labour Exploitation in Human Trafficking Law

The 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime provides the first internationally agreed definition of the human trafficking. However, in failings to clarify the exact scope and meaning of exploitation, it has created an ambiguity as to what constitutes exploitation of labour in criminal law. <br>The international definition's preference for an enumerative approach has been replicated in most regional and domestic legal instruments, making it difficult to draw the line between exploitation in terms of violations of labour rights and extreme forms of exploitation such as those listed in the Protocol. <br><br>This book addresses this legal gap by seeking to conceptualise labour exploitation in criminal law.

Sex trafficking, victimisation and agency: The experiences of migrant women in Malaysia

<p>Malaysia has criminalised sex work. However, its geographic location, porous borders and proximity to major trade and traffic routes have ensured a growth in sex trafficking activities. As a result, the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’ and the ‘United States Trafficking in Persons Report’ have categorised Malaysia as a destination, transit and source point for sex trafficking in Asia. In response to such categorisations, Malaysia has ratified the (Palermo) ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children’ and structured its anti-trafficking laws around prosecution, protection and prevention (referred to as the ‘3P’ policy). This thesis shows that the enforcement of victim-protection policies is carried out in contradictory ways in Malaysia. Trafficked women are portrayed as victims in need of care and protection, but also as individuals who have violated immigration laws and engaged in ‘immoral’ acts. This results in state practices that (re)victimise women through policing, immigration and court processes which are often deeply stressful, traumatising and violent. Punitive practices – including ‘state and rescue’ operations and long-term detention – have been legitimised and branded as ‘victim protection’. In this context, the thesis argues that current policies and practices represent a continuing form of violence against migrant women in Malaysia. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, the thesis draws upon the stories of twenty-nine women who have been arrested and detained on the basis of their sex trafficked status as well as the perspectives of twelve anti-trafficking professionals involved in delivering the 3P policy. In doing so, the thesis shows how women are subject to prolonged victimisation at the hands of both traffickers and state authorities. However, it also provides an understanding of the ways in which ‘sex-trafficked’ women exercise courage, strength and resiliency in the face of the continuing harms against them. By demonstrating the nuances of agency throughout women’s migration experiences, the thesis challenges the stereotypical understanding of an ‘ideal’ victim of trafficking – commonly linked to images of passivity, weakness and worthiness. By providing an insight into women’s experiences of sex-trafficking and state ‘protection’, the thesis develops a more nuanced account of agency. Thus, the thesis argues that the state’s prevention of sex-trafficking as well as the protection of trafficked women cannot be progressively advanced without a fuller appreciation of women’s dual ‘victim’ and ‘agent’ identities. The thesis explores the implications of these findings on developing ‘anti-sex trafficking’ policies towards women in Malaysia.</p>

Sex trafficking, victimisation and agency: The experiences of migrant women in Malaysia

<p>Malaysia has criminalised sex work. However, its geographic location, porous borders and proximity to major trade and traffic routes have ensured a growth in sex trafficking activities. As a result, the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’ and the ‘United States Trafficking in Persons Report’ have categorised Malaysia as a destination, transit and source point for sex trafficking in Asia. In response to such categorisations, Malaysia has ratified the (Palermo) ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children’ and structured its anti-trafficking laws around prosecution, protection and prevention (referred to as the ‘3P’ policy). This thesis shows that the enforcement of victim-protection policies is carried out in contradictory ways in Malaysia. Trafficked women are portrayed as victims in need of care and protection, but also as individuals who have violated immigration laws and engaged in ‘immoral’ acts. This results in state practices that (re)victimise women through policing, immigration and court processes which are often deeply stressful, traumatising and violent. Punitive practices – including ‘state and rescue’ operations and long-term detention – have been legitimised and branded as ‘victim protection’. In this context, the thesis argues that current policies and practices represent a continuing form of violence against migrant women in Malaysia. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, the thesis draws upon the stories of twenty-nine women who have been arrested and detained on the basis of their sex trafficked status as well as the perspectives of twelve anti-trafficking professionals involved in delivering the 3P policy. In doing so, the thesis shows how women are subject to prolonged victimisation at the hands of both traffickers and state authorities. However, it also provides an understanding of the ways in which ‘sex-trafficked’ women exercise courage, strength and resiliency in the face of the continuing harms against them. By demonstrating the nuances of agency throughout women’s migration experiences, the thesis challenges the stereotypical understanding of an ‘ideal’ victim of trafficking – commonly linked to images of passivity, weakness and worthiness. By providing an insight into women’s experiences of sex-trafficking and state ‘protection’, the thesis develops a more nuanced account of agency. Thus, the thesis argues that the state’s prevention of sex-trafficking as well as the protection of trafficked women cannot be progressively advanced without a fuller appreciation of women’s dual ‘victim’ and ‘agent’ identities. The thesis explores the implications of these findings on developing ‘anti-sex trafficking’ policies towards women in Malaysia.</p>

Status of Implementation of the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol 20 Years after the Palermo Convention

The fight against human trafficking is still one of the most important and demanding challenges for the United Nations. The international community has made significant progress in combating this criminal phenomenon. This has translated into an overall increase in the number of countries with a proper anti-trafficking legislation and an increase in the number of victims detected and traffickers convicted. Twenty years after the adoption of the Protocol, this paper aims to review the progress accomplished and assess future prospects.

Rethinking Global Governance: The replication of “joined-up government” on the global scale in the prevention and combatting of trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation

<p>The paper discusses the Blair Administration’s policy of “joined-up government” beginning in Britain in 1997. The paper then moves to the international sphere to discuss various anti-slavery instruments focusing on the trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The paper identifies global coordination efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. In particular, the establishment of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons in 2007 provides a prime example of such efforts. The paper then describes how the policy of joined-up government has been replicated the global scale. The paper names this phenomenon “globally joined-up governance”.</p>

Rethinking Global Governance: The replication of “joined-up government” on the global scale in the prevention and combatting of trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation

<p>The paper discusses the Blair Administration’s policy of “joined-up government” beginning in Britain in 1997. The paper then moves to the international sphere to discuss various anti-slavery instruments focusing on the trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The paper identifies global coordination efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. In particular, the establishment of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons in 2007 provides a prime example of such efforts. The paper then describes how the policy of joined-up government has been replicated the global scale. The paper names this phenomenon “globally joined-up governance”.</p>

HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN INDONESIA, THE DIALECTIC OF POVERTY AND CORRUPTION

After thirteen years of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons implemented, it still unable to release Indonesia from cases of trafficking in persons. Indonesia, is not only as primarily a source country in the trafficking process, but it is also used as a destination and transit country. And which is very terrible, all provinces (34 provinces) in Indonesia are the origin and destination of trafficking in persons and the victims are mostly experienced by women and children. The most common forms of trafficking are for forced labour and sexual exploitation as women, children and men are moved domestically and across international borders. They are exploited in the sectors of the fishing and fish processing industry, construction; plantation, oil palm plantation, mining and manufacturing. The poverty factor is considered to be the main trigger for prospective Indonesian workers. Another thing is because of natural disasters which are also vulnerable to human trafficking. In addition, endemic corruption among government officials contributes to the vulnerability of trafficking in persons, especially in the travel, hotel and labour recruitment industries. The phenomenon of globalization is one of the factors in the spread of contemporary (modern) issues, which affected to human trafficking. Advances information technology, are opportunities for the expansion of crime networks, both national and transnational (across borders). The borderless world maks cross-cultural social integration, people move around freely without any obstacles, causes various modes of crime to emerge, such as human trafficking.