The human rights approach recognizes that human trafficking is a violation of rights and views the trafficked person as someone in need of protection and services rather than as a criminal. A human rights approach to trafficking means putting victims at the centre of anti-trafficking policies by prioritizing the protection of their rights. Human Rights-oriented approach to trafficking stands on the notion that human trafficking is both a cause and effect of human rights violations in many societies. As the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson alleges, “trafficking is a cause of human rights violation because it violates fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, the right to dignity and security, the right to just and favorable conditions of work, the right to health, the right to equality and the right to be recognized as a person before the law (UNHR, 2002). It is both a consequence and effect because it is rooted in poverty, inequality and discrimination.
Published in Chapter:
Disproportional Influence and Vulnerability Infringement in Human Trafficking: Ethico-Economic Implications
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-9282-3.ch006
Abstract
Human trafficking occurs within the context of widespread objectification and commodification of persons as “products” in economies in which they have little power and sometimes few options for self-determination and self-sufficiency. In both labor and sex trafficking, there is a power imbalance where the trafficker possesses the economic power to treat the trafficked as a commodity and also takes control of all the profits. In the transaction, it is obvious that there is no element of consent, voluntariness, pleasure, or personal desire of the victim. This explains why trafficking in human beings is a ruthless, cynical, and multi-layered form of exploitation where traffickers profits by victimization and make turnover from the adversities, distress, and vulnerability of the trafficked persons. This unscrupulous business practice is such an intricate problem embedded majorly in poverty, marginalization, and ideas of subordination. Human trafficking has legitimized a brand-new element into capitalism which has supplemented slavery, status inequality, and disrespect to human dignity.