In the area of prevention, critics have again condemned the
UN Trafficking Protocol for being too general in its language. Its
initiatives, they claim, "are phrased in the UN's best, programmatic,
non-obligatory style.... There is no reference to the acknowledged root causes of trafficking. '4' These critics, however, fail
to consider that trafficking often has different causes in different
global regions. To make an international standard acknowledging
only one cause of trafficking would be to turn a blind eye to the
numerous distinct factors that influence trafficking globally. Not
mentioning specific root causes gives states freedom of initiative
to research and combat trafficking in a more local and focused
context.