Today’s post “Human Trafficking: A Human Rights Violation” was originally posted in 2016. The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking’s Momentum Campaign runs through December 18th. Find out how you can increase the momentum to end human trafficking today by visiting combathumantrafficking.org/momentum.

Human Trafficking: A Human Rights Violation

“Slavery was, in a very real sense, the first international human rights issue to come to the fore. It led to the adoption of the first human rights laws and to the creation of the first human rights non-governmental organization. And yet despite the efforts of the international community to combat this abhorrent practice, it is still widely prevalent in all its insidious forms, old and new.”

-Kofi Annan

Today is International Human Rights Day and so we at Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT) thought it relevant to examine trafficking through a human rights lens, one of our core values. Violations of human rights are both a cause and a consequence of trafficking in persons, making the promotion and protection of human rights particularly relevant to the fight against it. Various human rights violations occur at different stages of the trafficking cycle, including unassailable rights such as: the right to life, liberty, and security; the right to freedom of movement; and the right not to be subjected to torture and/or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment.

What human rights are most relevant to human trafficking?

• The prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status
• The right to life
• The right to liberty and security
• The right not to be submitted to slavery, servitude, forced labor or bonded labor
• The right not to be subjected to torture and/or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment
• The right to be free from gendered violence
• The right to freedom of association
• The right to freedom of movement
• The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
• The right to just and favorable conditions of work
• The right to an adequate standard of living
• The right to social security
• The right of children to special protection
• The right to an effective remedy
• The right to be protected from non-refoulement
• The right to seek asylum

Human trafficking originates where and when deprivations of human rights are prevalent. Root causes can include poverty, homelessness, structural or interpersonal violence, gender identity, insecurity related to armed conflict, or economic inequality.

Challenges for Survivors of Human Trafficking

Survivors of trafficking are also often subject to serious human rights violations at the hands of governments. Survivors experience utter isolation from support systems and are under constant control from one’s trafficker. Thus, when someone is able to leave or escape the trafficking situation, several complex factors can collide and make it difficult for survivors to meet their own basic needs. Such factors include:

• Distrust in systems
• Trauma
• Language or cultural barriers
• Physical safety.

Most governments’ policies give priority to detention, prosecution and deportation of trafficked persons for offenses related to their status, including violation of immigration laws, prostitution or begging. These policies further ‘victimize the victim,’ leading to additional human rights violations and vulnerabilities that ultimately may result in re-trafficking.

An International Human Rights Perspective

The human rights framework for trafficking draws upon international human rights standards, which have been normalized in a number of international treaties, covenants and protocols since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in 1948.  Other relevant international treaties include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) that proclaimed “no-one shall be held in slavery and servitude;” as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), which recognizes the right to work as well as to just and favorable working conditions.

Since December 2000, the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime serves as a legal framework for nation-state legislation across the globe. The Protocol is intended to ensure that trafficked persons are not treated as criminals but as victims, and therefore entitled to specific human rights protections. These include temporary resident status and temporary shelter, medical and psychological services, access to justice as well as compensation or restitution.

Treaties and other instruments particularly relevant to trafficking:

• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000 (Trafficking Protocol)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979
• Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, 2000
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, 1990
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966
• Council of Europe, Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, 2005 (European Trafficking Convention)

A Human Rights-Based Approach to Combat Human Trafficking

The Human Rights-Based approach requires that human rights are at the core of any anti-trafficking strategy, it seeks to identify and redress the discriminatory practices and unequal distribution of power that underlie trafficking. Human rights should be the priority as the anti-trafficking community facilitates the vital shift from the working paradigm of criminal sanction and immigration response to human rights promotion. Empowerment, self-representation and participation of those affected by trafficking are fundamental principles for a human rights-based approach. The participation of survivors should be active, free, and meaningful, empowering them to reflect their views in relevant policies and programs. The importance of the participation of ‘rights holders’ is recognized in a number of international instruments.

Support Anti-Trafficking Today!

One way the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking engages survivor voices in our work is through the Participatory Action Research (PAR) model. We include survivors and members of affected communities in all parts of our research design, data collection, and analysis phases of a given research project. Survivor voices have additionally informed our training and education curricula, and outreach approaches.

This year, Human Rights Day is marking, “70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being — regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages.”