3. "to alleviate the factors that make persons... vulnerable to trafficking
such as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity"
What is the ordinary or normal meaning of "to alleviate the factors that
make persons vulnerable to trafficking"? To "alleviate" is to make a problem or
suffering less severe: to allay, soothe, ease mitigate, or relieve.56 The ordinary
meaning of the verb "to alleviate" falls short of "to fix" or "to solve"; it is rather
an action that seeks to lessen or mitigate, rather than eradicate.
The problem that States Parties must seek to make less severe, are "the
factors that make persons... vulnerable to trafficking." At this stage of the
inquiry, it is important to remain true to the spirit of the ordinary meaning rule,
and avoid importing any normative arguments about what ought to count as a
factor that makes a person vulnerable to trafficking.
A "factor" is a circumstance, a fact or influence that contributes to a result,
the result here being vulnerability to trafficking.57 The provision uses factors in
plural, signifying that there are more than one circumstance, fact and/ or
influence that make a person vulnerable to trafficking. The provision gives
examples of the types of factors that should be considered: "such as poverty,
underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity." By providing a list of the types of
factors that the States Parties consider make persons vulnerable to trafficking,
they have shed light on the types of measures that this provision is meant to
mandate.