Human Trafficking: Not A Crime?
In 2007, UNODC busily gathered information to create it’s first report on current global responses to human trafficking issues. They had the resources and, international access. It was, a laudable use of funds. Until it wasn’t.
The original study included 155 countries and was the first to gather and assess data on both local legislations and, international enforcements. As step towards a global solution to combat human trafficking, it has been growing moss ever since. This stone stopped rolling.
While there is an increased awareness of the issue, via social media and “victim stories” the primary issues still remain unaddressed. Fractured legal responses in accepting/defining human trafficking as a crime. And, legitimate, linked and enforceable international laws to confront it.
Commenting on the 2007 report, Antonio Maria Costa (Executive Director of UNODC) noted “many governments are still in denial. There is even neglect when it comes to either reporting on or prosecuting cases of human trafficking”.
Neglect and denial from governments? There is a whiff of a very rotten red herring here. Not even a Starbuck Double-Shot Expresso Goats Milk Latte can make sense of this. Any rational brain would do a WTF caffeine loop before crashing.
15 years (and billions of dollars) later, we are rocking in the same boat, in the same murky sea. To date, we lack a legitimate, global legal enforcement system against human traffickers and inter-related crimes. Ok, you get to say WTF, again.
To date, despite their very impressive titles, the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, (related protocols: 1) UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons and 2) UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air /2003) lack the global authority to enforce their directives. Like red, Italian traffic lights, they are “merely a suggestion”.
If this sounds all very high-level and complicated, let me simplify. There is no international, enforceable legal system to combat and stop human trafficking.
Protocols are general agreements to address particular concerns, not laws. Further, any country can sign a Convention or Treaty with all the fanfare of a Hollywood red carpet event, but without actual “ratification” it’s all pretty political confetti. In the real world, they have as much power as a kitten taking on a Pitbull terrier.
Interestingly, human trafficking enforcements are in direct contrast to the International Hague Convention on Kidnapping. This legal convention, unburdened by legitimate, legal objections, will happily chase an absconding parent around the world, fully funded by governments. Contrarily, human traffickers are free to “do business” in negligible fear of international legal reprisals. Interpol prefers chasing kidnapping parents rather than traffickers. They are floundering novices in the crime world and easier to catch.
The value of a trafficked life is based on current market trends, not unlike Wall Street stock shares. The two have a lot in common. Big business opportunities and calculable profit margins. An early 2014 report estimated illegal profits from human trafficking/slavery to be over 150 billion per year. Forward 8 years, to an economic and environmental crisis and “profits in these shares” have tripled. Add in the twisted relationship with drug cartels, and presto, it’s a double bonus for shareholders.
We must, in understanding this murky market acknowledge that on both sides of the fence, the money is extremely green. Neon level green. Billions are spent across the dark, global economic market of “trafficking” through the buying and selling of lives.
Equally, governments are spending billions more either “fighting” human trafficking or, in “supporting” victims. You might say, misery is a money machine and the individual lives; shredded, collateral damage.
Bridging the nefarious gap between so-called official “rescue and support” efforts are the non-profit organizations and, private individuals. Gathering flotsam lives. Literally, drops in the global seas of trafficked humanity.
Every year, millions of dollars and euros flow for new “research” projects re-evaluating this crisis. Again and, again. We know it’s a crisis, re-confirming the obvious is, well - obvious. Perhaps there is a better use for funds?
In a 2005 report, Newcomb noted common flaws and issues regarding the use of anti-trafficking funds. These included; an aversion to risks (a general leeriness about funding new ideas- because the old ideas are working so well..) and highly increased amounts of money being spent on marketing or so-called “awareness raising”. Further reports indicate primary and continuing issues in anti-trafficking programs are; in-efficiency, in-effectiveness, limited impact and sustainability. Ouch.
Which bring us, like carousel riders, back around again, dizzy and missing that not-so-shiny Brass Ring. The law.
Localized, conflicting legal systems, perceptions and, definitions. Is it a crime? (That one simply floors me in this day and age.) If so, is it a “serious crime”, like say, murder? Or simply an annoying misdemeanor/ slap on the wrist event? These basic questions continue to plague efforts to create any level of international cooperation to sustainably address human trafficking. The lack of cohesive legal enforcements continues to cripple any real effort to stop this global crisis. Which begs the question- how much is a life really worth?
If we cannot even agree, legally, that human trafficking/slavery is a crime- how the hell do we even create laws to address it? Local or, international? Ok, you get to say WTF, again...
In May 2022, (This year Folks!) California voted Down Senate Bill 1042 legally defining human trafficking as a “violent crime”.
Previous and, current California law defines human trafficking as a “non-serious” and “non-violent” crime. (I hear you! WTF?! Again. It’s getting repetitive) ... New York had its elite East Coast, Henry Epstein political crowd to satiate. One might surmise California is still calculating the cost of denying “services” to its Hollywood moguls and tech bosses.
If the US, a world leader and “democratic” country, (in the throes of slavery reparation discussions), cannot agree internally, that this is a violent, serious crime with heavy, legal ramifications, what does that broadcast to the world?
Without a global, legal definition and enforcement system to combat human trafficking- the hard truth is- it is here to stay and, grow. Events including the war in Ukraine, the environmental crisis and increasing poverty will fuel the trend. Women and children will continue to pay the price for ineffective governments, ineffectual legal systems and corrupt politics.
Bottom line, a human life has a monetary value. Whether it is designated by a government formulae for insurance companies or, your local, corner trafficker. Money talks louder than human misery.
And, currently, there are enough “In God We Trust” global greenbacks busily greasing political and Wall Street agendas. Money, conversely, and effectively undermining legitimate attempts to create an international legal enforcement system against human trafficking. Is it a crime?
Lady Justice, you are blind and bound. Trafficked, like a slave.