This page presents an introduction to and analysis of the dilemma. It does so through the integration of real-world scenarios and case studies, examination of emerging economy contexts and exploration of the specific business risks posed by the dilemma. It also suggests a range of actions that responsible companies can take in order to manage and mitigate those risks.
"How does a company ensure there is no association with human trafficking in its operations or supply chains when these extend into areas where trafficking is common in terms of the procurement of people, their transportation or their use as labour?"
Trafficking is not a straightforward human rights challenge for companies to address. The sectors in which companies are likely to come across this issue directly - such as transportation, tourism and hospitality - are relatively limited.
In part, this is due to the fact that the majority of human trafficking relates to sex work. Nonetheless, companies may come into indirect contact with human trafficking via their supply chains, where it is often associated with child and/or forced labour - as well as unscrupulous labour providers.
The dilemma for business is how to address human trafficking responsibly - and respect international conventions and national laws relating to human trafficking - given the often illegal and hidden nature of the issue. While business can take relatively clear steps to ensure its own workforce is free of trafficked persons, this is much harder when managing suppliers - particularly when they are a second or third tier supplier in remote areas with relatively weak regulation.
Even where human trafficking is successfully identified, remediation will not always be straightforward given the vulnerability of victims, the circumstances that resulted them in being trafficked in the first place, and the alternatives that trafficking victims face following 'liberation'.
As a result, companies need to take a multi-faceted approach, often in cooperation with expert government, NGO and UN bodies, in order to ensure they are able to navigate these challenges responsibly and effectively.
In August 2008, family members of 12 men killed in Iraq by insurgents brought a claim against Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), in which they alleged that KBR's Jordanian sub-contractor, Daoud & Partners trafficked the men into the country under false pretences from Nepal. A thirteenth man was allegedly held in Iraq for more than a year and made to work in a warehouse under the supervision of KBR. The Plaintiffs claimed KBR had been party to Daoud & Partners' trafficking activity.
This case study demonstrates how human trafficking can be introduced into the company supply chain via business partners, and how victims can be mislead into conditions of forced labour despite promises of legitimate work opportunities.
In October 2007, Gap Inc. launched an investigation into media allegations of child trafficking within its supply chain in India. The company found that a small proportion of a single order placed with one of its vendors had apparently been subcontracted to an unauthorised subcontractor. This was done without Gap Inc.’s knowledge or approval. It was also in direct violation of the company's agreement with the vendor under Gap Inc.'s Code of Vendor Conduct.
This case study demonstrates the difficulty posed by extensive and/or complicated supply chains over which companies do not necessarily have strong oversight - as well as the damaging effect of even limited company contact with incidents of human trafficking.
West Africa accounts for approximately 70% of the world’s cocoa output, meaning the region forms part of the supply chain for the significant majority of confectionary companies, reportedly including companies such as Cadbury, Nestlé and others. The cocoa is generally grown on smallholdings and reports indicate that a significant number of children are involved in the cultivation of the crop in these settings. The informal nature of employment facilitates the trafficking of children; many are confined in conditions tantamount to slave labour. In 2007 this revelation prompted considerable media interest and demands from activist groups such as Stop the Traffik that action was taken to address the issue.
This case study demonstrates the challenge that can be posed to an entire sector as a result of potential association with human trafficking, as well as the often complex social, economic and cultural contexts that often underpin human trafficking in developing countries.
Human trafficking is defined under the relevant Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime1 as: "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." This can be distinguished from the smuggling of willing and voluntary migrants, which does not necessarily entail human rights violations.
In its Trafficking in Persons Report 2009, the US Department of State lists eight major types of trafficking, including trafficking related to:
According to the UN.GIFT and EHTN! Campaign e-learning course on human trafficking (hosted by Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/humantrafficking/) the three main ways in which companies can become involved with this issue are:
Traffickers' use of a company's products, facilities or services in the process (e.g. the transport of trafficking victims via international airlines, shipping companies and others in the transportation sector)
According to a spokesman from the Asia-Pacific regional office of the International Organisation for Migration, for example, the majority of victims are trafficked from East Asia to destinations across the world by air travel. Victims - many of whom are women and girls destined for sexual exploitation - are reportedly tricked into travelling voluntarily having been promised jobs. The fact that they only realise their true situation on arrival at the destination country makes it difficult to identify victims at airports and during the transportation process.3
Through the exploitation of trafficking victims within a company's supply chain (e.g. the use of forced labour by suppliers or sub-contractors)
In September 2009, for example, the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) urged the Indian government to crack down on child traffickers following the recent release of 94 trafficked bonded child labourers in India. The ITGLWF said the children were trafficked from Bihar and forced into labour, including embroidery work. At the time of their release they had been working 16 hours a day for months on end without pay. The children were found to be working, eating and sleeping in cramped, poorly-lit and poorly-ventilated rooms in high temperatures.
A report from Human Rights Watch Are You Happy to Cheat Us?4 notes that in Russia, migrant workers are trafficked into the relatively unregulated construction sector through the confiscation of their passports and a range of physical and administrative threats. According to the World Bank, about 40% of migrant workers are employed in the building sector. Typical source countries include those post-Soviet states without visa regimes with Russia.
Utilisation of personnel supplied by third party agents (domestic or overseas), over which the company has limited oversight (e.g. labour brokers whose unscrupulous treatment of workers amounts to trafficking).
In March 2009, for example, operators of a labour leasing company in the US, Giant Labor Solutions, were indicted5 in Kansas on charges of racketeering and trafficking. The trafficking charges related to the company's alleged practice of threatening foreign workers with serious harm and of cancellation of their visas (which had in any case been obtained fraudulently by the company) unless they performed the work assigned to them. Furthermore, it was claimed the company did not pay regular salaries, charged for a wide range of unreasonable or unexplained fees and charged exorbitant rents for sub-standard accommodation in which workers were required to reside.
This allegedly resulted in a situation of debt bondage. The company reportedly had labour contracts with clients in the hotel, casino and construction industries in 14 US states. The situation is more complicated with respect to the employment by companies or their suppliers of people who have been illegally smuggled into a country. Whilst this may involve a company in potential legal breaches (where it is directly employing trafficked persons), it is unlikely to breach the human rights of such persons unless such employment (by the company or its suppliers) involves:
The UN Global Compact, International Labour Organization (ILO) and UN.GIFT March 2009 Private Sector Survey on Human Trafficking found that the issue was relevant to 50% of company respondents, with 8% of company employees indicating they dealt with human trafficking on a daily basis.6 UN.GIFT has also published a guide, Human Trafficking: Everybody's Business, which further examines how human trafficking relates to business.
In its Combating Forced Labour: A Handbook for Employers & Business, the ILO identifies the following as sectors in which human trafficking (and associated forced labour) is a serious problem:
Although the developing world accounts for many victims of trafficking, its often transnational nature means that there are strong links with destination countries in the developed world. For example, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)'s Trafficking in Persons: Analysis on Europe report found that in France, trafficking victims were employed involuntarily in the following sectors: construction (35%), garment industry (19%), agriculture (18%), hotels and catering (15%), commerce (5%), services (3%) and others (5%). According to the UNODC: "This trend suggests that trafficking for forced labour is likely to exist in other countries in the region, although it is currently undetected."8
For further and detailed information, see the ILO's Combating Forced Labour: A Handbook for Employers & Business, which provides comprehensive guidance for companies.9
Examples of scenarios companies might face when operating in emerging economies include:10
Bangladesh: Bangladesh is simultaneously a source and transit country for human trafficking. A significant proportion of trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers and are often subjected to forced labour and debt bondage working environments. Many children are physically or fraudulently coerced into labour, as well as commercial sexual exploitation, and some are sold into bondage by their parents.
Key trafficking destinations from Bangladesh include Pakistan and India. Trafficking from Myanmar to Thailand via Bangladesh is also thought to be increasing. While large numbers of women and men voluntarily migrate for work to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, some find that illegal fees imposed by employment agencies subject them to bonded labour situations. Others are induced into forced labour through fraudulent job offers.
Brazil: Brazil is a source country of people trafficked internally and internationally for commercial sexual exploitation. It is also a source country for males trafficked internally for forced labour. Internal trafficking of rural workers for forced labour is a serious problem that predominantly affects the agricultural sector. According to the US Department of State, more than 25,000 men are subjected to slave labour – commonly via promises of good pay by local recruiters. This typically occurs on cattle ranches, sugar-cane plantations, logging and mining camps, and large farms producing corn, cotton, soy, and charcoal for pig iron.
Men are increasingly being trafficked for forced labour on sugar cane plantations. Sugar cane is used for the production of ethanol, electricity and food. According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), internally trafficked children are forced to work in the agricultural sectors, as well as in mines and charcoal production.
China: Forced labour - and forced child labour in particular - is a serious problem, particularly amongst the most disadvantaged castes. China is a source, transit and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labour. The UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) noted in 2008 that Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are the main source provinces, while Fujian, Guangdong, and Shangdong are the main destination provinces.
Although the majority of trafficking occurs internally, international trafficking is increasing. Both women and men are trafficked throughout the world at great personal expense, and are then forced into commercial sexual exploitation or exploitative labour in order to repay trafficking debts. According to the US Department of State, women and children are trafficked into the country from Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Viet Nam, Romania and other locations for forced labour, marriage, and sexual slavery. Forced labour is also a significant challenge within penal institutions.
India: India is a source, destination, and transit country for victims trafficked for forced labour and sexual exploitation. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, women and children from particular castes are particularly vulnerable. In the introduction to its 2008 Draft Protocol on Trafficked or Migrant Labour, the Ministry of Labour noted "an increasing trend of migration and trafficking of children for labour in different parts of the country".
According to the US Department of State, internal debt bondage may be the primary trafficking issue, with victims forced to work in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery factories. Anti-Slavery International notes that boys are also trafficked from Bihar in West Bengal and Nepal for bonded labour in embroidery workshops in New Delhi. At the international level, there is evidence of labour trafficking amongst the significant numbers of Indians who migrate willingly to the Middle East, Europe and the US to work as domestic servants and low-skilled labourers (for example through debt bondage).
Indonesia: Indonesia is a major source of domestic and international human trafficking victims. Domestically, women and children are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation and forced labour in domestic service, agriculture, mining, fishing and in the cottage industries. Internationally, Indonesians are trafficked to Malaysia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Singapore, among other countries, for economic and sexual exploitation.
Many victims became vulnerable to trafficking during the process of becoming migrant workers. A number of unauthorised recruiting agents and companies, known as PJTKIs, reportedly operate like trafficking rings, luring workers into debt bondage, involuntary servitude, and other trafficking situations.
Mexico: Mexico is a major source, transit point and destination for human trafficking victims. The majority of victims of human trafficking are subject to sexual exploitation, although trafficking for forced labour is also frequently recorded, particularly in factories or the agriculture sector. The majority originate from poor rural regions and are trafficked to urban, border and tourist areas. Central Americans, especially Guatemalans, have been subjected to agricultural servitude and labour exploitation in southern Mexico. Mexican men, women, and boys are also trafficked into the US for forced labour, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Nigeria: Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for the human trafficking of women and children for the purposes of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. Children are reported to be subject to internal trafficking for forced labour in agriculture, domestic service, street vending, sexual exploitation and hazardous labour. UNICEF, for example, estimates that 5,000 Beninese children have been trafficked to Ogun State for forced labour in granite mines. Nigeria is a source country for children trafficked for farm work, street vending, and work as mechanics, divers, domestics and waitresses.
Pakistan: The country is a significant source, transit and destination country for domestic and international trafficking. In particular, it is reported to be a destination country for women and children from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. Women and children from rural areas are also trafficked to urban areas for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. In some cases families sell their children into servitude or believe they are marrying their children off or sending them for legitimate employment.
Philippines: The Philippines is primarily a country of origin for trafficking victims - though it is also a destination and transit country. Many victims migrate overseas in the pursuit of work - for example to the Gulf, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Palau, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan and Turkey - where they are subject to conditions of forced labour.
In August 2009, for example, the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment arrested a suspected trafficker and prevented the transportation of six women to Saudi Arabia to work as domestic helpers - despite a preventative suspension imposed on such arrangements by the Philippines Overseas Employment Authority.
Internally, women and children are often trafficked from poor rural areas to urban areas for commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour. Migrant workers are often subject to violence, threats, poor living conditions, non-payment of salaries, and withholding of official documents.
Russia: Russia is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking victims. The ILO reports that supplying victims for labour is the most predominant form of trafficking. Moscow is a major destination for men and women trafficked within Russia, and from former Soviet countries, for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour.
Large numbers of men, particularly from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine are trafficked into Russia for forced labour in the construction, textile and food industries. Men and women from Central Asia and the Ukraine are also reportedly trafficked to the Russian Far East for forced labour, including in the fishing industry.
Turkey: Victims are generally trafficked to and through Turkey for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and, to a lesser degree, forced labour. This includes men from Central Asia, who are reportedly trafficked into the country for forced labour. Turkish children are also believed to be trafficked within the country for forced labour. Typical source countries include Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Romania, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Indonesia, and Morocco.
Viet Nam: Viet Nam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour, mainly overseas but also internally. According to the US Department of State, destination countries include China, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan. The US Department of State reports an element of complicity amongst some government-licensed labour brokers.
A 2007 government decision to regulate labour brokerage fees was designed to counter an increasing number of workers being charged up to 165 million Vietnamese Dong (US$10,000) for the opportunity to work abroad. Such arrangements result in workers having to remain overseas for several years in order to recover such a fee. In June 2008 the government revoked the licenses of 16 labour export companies who were violating the law in relation to labour based trafficking.
Risk posed to business by trafficking – whether they are directly involved or indirectly complicit through their supply chain – include the violation of national civil and/or criminal legal requirements. This may result in custodial sentences, fines and/or civil claims.
Sanctions related to trafficking are particularly grave in situations where a company has knowingly assisted or benefited from trafficking. Any legal actions are likely to affect staff morale, the ability to attract and retain talent, operational efficiency, cash flow and management focus. They are also likely to require potentially costly remedial actions.
An example of this can be found in the 2008 suit brought against Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) in the US regarding the alleged trafficking of 13 Nepalese men into Iraq. The action was brought under federal trafficking law and the Alien Tort Claims Act. The Plaintiffs claimed the men - 12 of whom were killed by insurgents - were initially recruited to work in hotels and restaurants in Amman, Jordan. However, their passports had been seized on arrival into Jordan by KBR's sub-contractor Daoud & Partners. They were then reportedly trafficked to a US military camp but were killed by insurgents en route. The 13th man who arrived at the US camp separately was then allegedly made to work for 15 months in the camp under KBR's supervision. The Plaintiffs claimed that Daoud & Partners and KBR were both responsible for the trafficking.
Even if a company does not face legal sanction, it may face serious reputational consequences if it is somehow implicated in human trafficking. Even if unfounded, these claims may have equal – or even greater – potential to harm the interests of the company via reputational damage.
Consequences can include brand contamination due to the psychological or emotional association of the company with what can be considered a particularly exploitative and distasteful practice that generally involves vulnerable people. This can be particularly damaging when the issue is taken up by activist groups who are often adept at using media and consumer pressure on companies they are seeking to influence.
Tarnishing of the corporate image in this way can result in:
In 2008, for example, US activist group The National Labour Committee (NLC) published a report, The Toyota You Don't Know11, in which it claimed foreign guest workers from China and Viet Nam were trafficked to Japan for a range of purposes, including making auto parts for companies that supplied Toyota. The report claims that a surge in foreign guest workers in Aichi Prefecture, home to Toyota and the country's auto industry, was linked to Toyota's "ten year plan to slash the price it is willing to pay its auto part suppliers." The NLC says that under current immigration practices, migrant workers have their passports removed, are not covered for by Japan's labour or minimum wage laws for their first year and are subject to deportation if they change their assigned jobs or housing.
In August 2009, the NLC published a report, US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement Stumbles, accusing the Israeli-owned Musa Garments factory in Jordan of employing workers in inhumane conditions and charging the company with human trafficking. According to the NLC, 132 of the employees were from Bangladesh, 49 from India and 27 from Jordan. According to the Haaretz newspaper, the report prompted workers' rights group Kav La'Oved to plan a demonstration in Tel Aviv outside the shops that reportedly sold clothing from the factory.
In April 2010, the NLC published a further report, Dirty Clothes, in which it accused retailers Nygard, Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Walmart of sourcing clothes from the International British Garments factory in the Ad Dulayl Industrial Park, Jordan. The report claims "1,200 guest workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India - 75% of whom are young women - have been trafficked to Jordan, stripped of their passports and held under conditions of indentured servitude". The report says that the factory is owned by multi-national security services company G4S (Group 4 Securicor).
In November 2005, activist group Equality Now wrote an open letter to international travel agents Thomas Cook, urging a halt to reported tours of the red light district of Amsterdam. Equality Now claimed that more than 80% of women in prostitution in the Netherlands are victims of trafficking. Thomas Cook responded that the tours were introduced by its specialist Thomas Cook Signature arm in response to requests from visitors and indicated that it would not cancel the tour. Equality Now followed this statement with a further open letter in June 2006, urging an end to the tours.
Administrative, legal and procedural measures put in place to prevent trafficking - whether public or private - may also have cost implications for business as a result of business interruption, administrative requirements imposed by authorities and/or precautionary procedures (whether internal or external).
For a company to ensure it is responsibly addressing human trafficking within its own operations and supply chains, it should first look to comply with relevant national laws on this and related issues such as forced labour. Where national laws are set lower than international standards on human trafficking, then a company should strive to meet these higher standards.
Where appropriate - companies can also consider engaging in human rights due diligence to a level commensurate with the risks of human trafficking within its operations and supply chain, as well as its ability to impact positively on human trafficking issues in order to discharge its responsibility to respect human rights. This might include conducting impact assessments and social audits to gauge the likelihood and nature of human trafficking within its operations or supply chain.
In addition, the ILO's Combating Forced Labour: A Handbook for Employers & Business provides a range of comprehensive guidance for companies, including "10 Principles for Business Leaders to Combat Forced Labour and Trafficking".12 These include:
The Handbook also provides a dedicated section on 'Tips for Taking Action', offering practical means by which these Principles can be implemented.
Other specific actions for responsible business might include:13
If operating in a high risk sector or region, a company should consider implementing specific policies to prevent and respond to human trafficking violations in line with international standards and best practice. These should specifically address the different forms in which trafficking can manifest itself, including forced labour, bonded labour, forced child labour and debt bondage amongst migrant workers.
Any policy should be supported, where appropriate, by a full suite of anti-human trafficking procedures to ensure continuous improvement. These might include, for example, procedures relating to implementation, monitoring and reporting.
According to a Private Sector Survey on Human Trafficking by the UN Global Compact, the ILO, and UN.GIFT, around 60% of surveyed companies had policies in place that addressed human trafficking.14
It might be recommended that a company ensure that the terms of human trafficking policy are reflected in contracts with suppliers and subcontractors in the form of legal conditions, or through its Supplier Code of Conduct. These stipulations would ideally be supported by a meaningful system to check that business partners are not contravening company policy.
This might include, for example:
It may be advisable that a company work with third-party specialists (NGOs, international organisations and consultants) to educate management and staff regarding the identification and prevention of human trafficking. This should be focused on personnel that are more likely to come into contact with the issue, including for example:
Training should focus on issues such as:
Where relevant and possible, such training should be extended to suppliers, contractors and other business partners. Where it is considered to be particularly necessary, the company should consider making training a condition of contract.
Internal training is likely to be particularly important for companies in the transport and hospitality industries, where employees are likely to come face to face with trafficking on a regular basis. Reflecting this, both Carlson Companies and Accor train their staff on the identification of child sex tourism in the hospitality sector.
To responsibly address human trafficking, a company might implement or support awareness raising amongst:
Campaigns might take the form of, for example, community meetings, posters or radio broadcasts. In some cases they can be highly targeted, for example at ports of entry into the relevant country or at workplace facilities. Ideally (i.e. for maximum impact and cost effectiveness) initiatives should be carried out in collaboration with other stakeholders including public bodies, NGOs and other companies (see below).
Where appropriate and feasible, work with peer companies and external specialists to develop sector-specific certification standards.
These might include, for example:
The advantage of sectoral partnerships is that they allow companies to pool their resources and exploit the economies of scale offered through joint action against a common challenge. This is particularly important in the case of sectors in which human trafficking is perceived to be a particular problem – for example in the hospitality, travel, agriculture and other sectors. Many companies have a significant amount to lose if their sector becomes tainted by association with human trafficking – even if they are in no way complicit in this human rights abuse.
For example, The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism is an industry driven responsible tourism initiative developed in collaboration with ECPAT International, funded by UNICEF and supported by the UNWTO. It requires members to commit themselves to six criteria:
Members, which include Kuoni, Radisson, Park Inn, Accor, Carlson Marketing and Park Plaza, report on their meeting of the above criteria, and collectively maintain a Good Practice Database through which they can share knowledge and experience.
A company may choose to develop and/or join multilateral partnerships with public bodies, peer companies, unions, NGOs and other interested stakeholders to address human trafficking through:
The advantage of multilateral partnerships is that they can deliver a high degree of legitimacy and shared expertise, due to the involvement of different actors. This - as well as the additional resources that can be provided by multilateral partners - can potentially magnify the impact and publicity of company programmes to address human trafficking.
A key example of multilateral collaboration can be found in the January 2006 Athens Ethical Principles, an initiative to get a wide range of businesses to commit to helping eradicate human trafficking.
The Seven Ethical Principles of the Athens Action Plan include the following:
According to the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. The ILO estimates that there are at least 12.3 million adults and children in forced labour, bonded labour, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time. Approximately 2.4 million people are forced into labour through human trafficking.15
A total of 161 countries – in every continent and level of development – are reported to be affected by human trafficking, whether as a source, transit and/or destination country.
There are concerns that the current economic situation could exacerbate the challenge of forced labour due to an increase in economically vulnerable people and tighter cost margins. Forced labour is closely linked to trafficking, which has raised concerns that this too will intensify due to the global economic downturn.
According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), sexual exploitation is the most commonly identified form of human trafficking (79%), followed by forced labour (18%). However, trafficking for forced labour is believed to be less frequently detected and reported than trafficking for sexual exploitation. The UNODC says this may be due to the relatively recent criminalisation of trafficking for forced labour in many countries, public perceptions that trafficking and sexual exploitation are effectively one and the same thing, and that sexual exploitation tends to be more visible - and thus more easily detected - than forced labour.
Trafficking linked to forced labour forms a significant proportion of reported cases in West Africa - and in some countries in that region, all reported cases. Likewise, trafficking linked to forced labour appears to be more prevalent in certain countries in Western and Central Europe, as well as Eastern and Central Asia, where it accounts for around 35% of victims.
According to the Maplecroft Trafficking Index 2012, the 10 highest risk countries (all of which are considered to present an 'Extreme Risk') are:
| Cambodia | Cameron |
| China | DR Congo |
| Guatemala | India |
| Mexico | Myanmar |
| North Korea | Pakistan |
The Trafficking in Persons Protocol16 requires that trafficking is criminalised in domestic legislation. It also requires the criminalisation of:
Despite the scale of the challenge, prosecutions by national authorities are relatively rare. According to global figures provided to the US government, in 2008 there were 5,212 recorded prosecutions for human trafficking, and 2,983 convictions. Of these, 312 prosecutions were for labour trafficking, as were 104 prosecutions.
According to the UNODC, 80% of the 155 countries covered in their Global Report on the Trafficking of Persons have introduced a specific offence on trafficking in persons into their legislation. A total of 57% of countries reported at least one human trafficking prosecution.
The US Department of State ranks countries according to the meeting of minimum standards under the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act 2003. There are 17 countries that are classified as not fully complying with these standards and which are not considered to be making significant efforts to do so ("Tier 3" countries). These include Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe.
According to UNODC (and based on a restricted survey of 61 countries) the demographic makeup of victims is as follows:
Human rights that are typically subject to violation as a result of human trafficking include:
Right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay (UDHR, Article 24): Trafficked persons are likely to have little or no say with respect to their terms of employment. Traffickers are likely to extract the maximum value from them - whether in terms of time, labour or selling price - without any legal restriction. In many cases this will necessarily involve a denial of this right.
Right not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman and/or degrading treatment or punishment (ICCPR, Article 7): The nature of human trafficking means it is very likely to involve the use of force, threats or other forms of coercion - including psychological and emotional. By its very nature, human trafficking involves an abuse of power in which this right is likely to be violated.
Rights to liberty and security of person (ICCPR, Article 9): Trafficked persons are likely to experience physical coercion and/or wrongful imprisonment during the trafficking process. While, for example, lower-level physical coercion or containment may fall short of violating ICCPR Article 7, it would nonetheless infringe on a person’s liberty of person.
Right to freedom of movement (ICCPR, Article 12): Trafficked persons are likely to face restrictions on their movement in order to ensure their efficient exploitation by their abusers. Traffickers may use direct physical restriction, threats of violence, or psycho-emotional abuse in order to prevent victims leaving their control. Alternatively, they may use financial or administrative restrictions (such as the withholding of pay or passports) in order to effectively prevent movement.
Right to freedom of association (ICCPR, Article 22): Employers who knowingly use trafficked persons are very unlikely to allow them freedom of association, as their employment is fundamentally based on exploitation, coercion and a denial of their basic working rights. This right will not necessarily be violated where an employer has unknowingly engaged a trafficked person.
Rights of protection for the child (including protection from sexual and economic exploitation) (ICCPR, Article 24): Children form a significant proportion of trafficking victims, and many are subject to sexual or commercial exploitation. Trafficking still takes place if a child's parents have given their permission for their transfer.
Right not to be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour (including sexual and economic exploitation and trafficking) (ICCPR, Article 8): The exploitative nature of trafficking mean that victims are particularly vulnerable to slavery, servitude or forced labour - whilst sexual and/or economic exploitation is integral to the practice.
Right to an adequate standard of living (including access to adequate food, clothing, housing and water) (ICESCR, Article 11): Many different aspects of trafficked person's lives remain under the control of traffickers - including their working and non-working lives. Because of the exploitative nature of such relationships, the disempowerment of trafficking victims and the motivations of traffickers, victims' standards of living are likely to be severely compromised.
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Maplecroft in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact
