The human rights approach has a subtle but profound difference: the
"victims" of human trafficking are seen instead as individuals with inalienable
rights simply by virtue of being human. The importance of the human rights
framework in the human trafficking discourse should not be ignored. Bruch
notes that, "[t]hough the law enforcement approach has been the dominant
framework at the international level," the human rights approach has become
increasingly influential in past decades.33 Indeed, the international human rights
community was the primary international actor with respect to the issue of
human trafficking before the creation of the Protocol. Further, many human
rights advocates decried the fact that the Protocol is administered by with a law
enforcement approach as being inappropriate. 4
It is easy to see how human trafficking can be re-conceptualized as a human
rights issue. Human trafficking is widely recognized as modern-day slavery.35
While this characterization is not without dissenters, 36 there is consensus that the duty to eradicate slavery "attracts no principled dissent."37 Hathaway points
out that the human right to not be enslaved has been recognized by the
International Criminal Court as an erga omnes norm, which he explains as "an
obligation owed by states to the international community as a whole."3 8
The violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination inherent in trafficking
implicate many other well-recognized human rights contained in a plethora of
widely ratified human rights instruments. Coomaraswamy notes that:
States have a duty to provide protection to trafficked persons pursuant to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers
and Members of their Families... the Slavery Convention, the Supplementary
Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and
Practices Similar to Slavery, and International Labour Organization Conventions
No. 29 concerning Forced Labour and No. 105 concerning the Abolition of Forced
Labour.