Introduction to Trafficking in Persons for Legal Aid Providers

According to international law, trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by the threat or use of force, deception, or other means, for the purpose of exploitation. This definition is outlined in Article 3 of the UN Trafficking Protocol. The protocol identifies several key elements of trafficking, including means, purpose, and acts. Means refer to the methods used to recruit, transfer, harbor, or receive persons, such as the threat or use of force, deception, coercion, or abuse of power. Purpose refers to the exploitation of individuals, which can take many forms, including sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, begging, and the removal of organs. Acts refer to the specific actions taken to recruit, transfer, harbor, or receive persons, such as recruitment, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons. The UN Trafficking Protocol also highlights the special situation of children, who are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Children may be trafficked for a variety of purposes, including forced labor, sexual exploitation, and begging. In contrast, migrant smuggling is defined as the procurement of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident, in order to obtain a financial or other material benefit. This definition is outlined in Article 3 of the UN Migrant Smuggling Protocol. Migrant smuggling involves facilitating the illegal cross-border movement of individuals for profit, whereas trafficking in persons involves moving, buying, selling, transferring, or harboring individuals through deception, force, or other means, for the purpose of exploitation. Recruiters, exploiters, transporters, and others who assist traffickers, transfer, harbor, or receive trafficked persons, or knowingly utilize the services of trafficked persons, are considered perpetrators of human trafficking. These individuals may use various tactics to recruit and exploit victims, including the threat or use of force, deception, coercion, or abuse of power. Victims of human trafficking are individuals who are recruited, transferred, harbored, or received through the threat or use of force, deception, or other means, for the purpose of exploitation. Victims may be subjected to a range of abuses, including sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, begging, and the removal of organs. Children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and may be exploited for a variety of purposes.