d) Understanding human trafficking: the first challenge in the fight against this scourge

Understanding the definition, constituent elements and contours of human trafficking is fundamental to combating this crime:

  • To prevent trafficking

  • To prosecute traffickers

  • To identify and protect victims

  • To form public-private partnerships between governmental bodies and civil society (e.g. NGOs, FBOs, academia, media, etc.)

 

In practice, it is essential that the definition of trafficking be enshrined in all national legal instruments and that it be understood and implemented by all.

 

Despite almost universal ratification (which demonstrates a commitment to fight against human trafficking) this criminal conduct is often little or poorly known by the general public – who are unable to detect or even report potential cases of trafficking – but also by the various professionals who may come into contact with victims. Criminal justice practitioners are no exception, as the IOM World Migration Report 2022 reminds us: victims are poorly identified, trafficking cases are not always tried as such, traffickers are sometimes not tried for this crime or even acquitted because of a misunderstanding of trafficking.

 

In France in particular, the number of human trafficking offences is low because of a poor knowledge of this offence/crime by the police and Gendarmerie services. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie – through a report by the Swiss National Councilor Mathias Reynard – notes that “the definition [of trafficking] being complex, it is likely that practitioners choose to retain the qualifications with which they are most familiar, such as pimping, recourse to prostitution, or unworthy working or housing conditions”. While these crimes may be relevant, they should not be chosen in place of trafficking, but rather in addition to it.

 

 

The French Circular of January 22, 2015 on criminal policy in the fight against human traffickingsummarizes: “Some jurisdictions and investigating departments traditionally prefer, in matters of sexual exploitation, the incriminations related to pimping to those of human trafficking. They seem to be simpler to handle and the qualification of trafficking in human beings appears to be a seperateoffence, even though it is complementary. As illustrated by numerous cases tried […] the combinationof the qualification of trafficking in human beings with other qualifications has favored a criminal response encompassing, in France and abroad, all criminal actors.”

 

Some of the most common misconceptions that inhibit a proper understanding of the reality and severity of trafficking include:

 

  • The idea that human trafficking is exclusively a crime related to the sexual exploitation of women. On the contrary, despite the predominance of this form of exploitation, situations are plural and certain forms of trafficking, such as labor exploitation of men, women, young girls and boys, are constantly increasing, or even predominant, in certain geographical areas or for certain profiles.

  • The UNODC’s Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2020 (Map 2) highlights this reality and show that in Africa, forced labor is the predominant form of trafficking, while in South America, the sexual exploitation of women is predominant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human trafficking is not limited to transnational crime. See in particular Article 2 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings:

 

Article 2: “This Convention shall apply to all forms of trafficking in persons, whether national or transnational and whether or not connected with organized crime.”

 

Human trafficking is often understood too narrowly, which has a serious impact on the identification and protection of victims, and on anti-trafficking efforts more broadly.


 Trafficking should also not be understood too broadly, at the risk that some forms of crime are incorrectly included or that the serious nature of this crime is diluted.

 

Beyond understanding the definition, it is necessary to understand how trafficking can be part of migration. Displaced persons, migrants, and refugees often face discrimination, poverty, and administrative difficulties. As such, they are made particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. Offers of transport, accommodation, and work can easily lead to exploitative situations and constitute trafficking (II/A. c. Link between trafficking and migration).