Human trafficking is expensive and difficult to police. Today, the trade in
human beings is underground and requires new, expensive police training and
infrastructure to fight.12 In addition, the process of rehabilitating a survivor of
human trafficking is long, difficult, arduous and expensive. 3 The physical and
psychological effects of human trafficking are severe. Accordingly, there is a
growing body of literature and political will towards recognizing prevention as
the end goal. Politicians, academics and advocates are highlighting the
importance of preventing people from becoming victims of trafficking in the first
place.14
Anne Gallagher, a leading academic in the area of human trafficking, notes
that prevention measures address the causes of human trafficking and are
generally considered to focus on factors that: (1) increase vulnerability of victims and potential victims;
(2) create or sustain a demand for the goods and services produced by
trafficked persons; and
(3) create or sustain a culture where traffickers can operate with impunity.'5
The focus of this paper is on the first category of prevention measures:
factors that increase vulnerability of victims and potential victims.
A. Root Causes of Trafficking
Trafficking thrives when governments fail to protect and promote people's
civil, political, economic and social rights.16 The former Special Rapporteur on
Violence Against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, explains: "In the absence of
equal opportunities for education, shelter, food, employment, relief from unpaid
domestic and reproductive labour, access to structures of formal State power,
and freedom from violence, women will continue to be trafficked."17
Although not all victims of trafficking are poor, uneducated, unemployed or
otherwise vulnerable, effectively addressing the factors that make the majority of
potential trafficking victims vulnerable would likely reduce overall trafficking
numbers.