In recent years the awareness of this growing, criminal trend
throughout the international community has risen and anti-trafficking
efforts have ratcheted up.1" One critical document that has
been produced at the international level is the UN Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women
and Children (Protocol), 1 as a supplement to the Convention
on Transnational Organized Crime (Convention). 2 However, despite
measures like the Protocol, this illicit activity has proven to be
indelible. Recently released data strongly suggest that though the
numbers of individuals rescued and perpetrators punished has increased,
the number of persons trafficked continues to rise steadily.
13 Current international efforts appear insufficient to stem the
tide and more needs to be done. This paper will take a fresh look
at key provisions of the recent Protocol in light of newly published
data on trafficking, and will explore possible modifications to the
instrument which may increase its effectiveness