Defining Human Trafficking And Identifying Its Victims

Description: Trafficking in human beings has become a major international concern in the last two decades. Trafficking has been subjected to intense political debate and ambitious legal regulation on international, regional and national levels. Although much has been done to eradicate trafficking and to protect the victims, an increasing number of critical voices are emerging: the efforts to deal with human trafficking have proved to be more ineffective than anticipated. This book seeks explanations to why anti-trafficking strategies and activities appear to be so futile, and what should be done better for them to achieve their goals with more success. Besides the academic audience, this study is written for legal practitioners, who might come across human trafficking in their work.

Contents: Chapter I Introduction 1. Trafficking in Human Beings - A Topical Issue 2. Fundamentals About and Critique towards the Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 3. Research Design and Structure of the Present Study Chapter II Consent and Vulnerability in Prostitution and Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation: Debates and Definitions 1. Introduction 2. Contradictory Positions on Prostitution 3. Developments in the International Law: From the Campaigns Against "White Slave Traffic" to the 1949 Convention and Beyond 4. Prostitution and Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation in the EU law 5. The Current International Definition of Trafficking in Human Beings and Its Relation to Prostitution 6. Conclusions Chapter III The International Legal Framework against Human Trafficking: From the Overemphasis of Law Enforcement to the Protection of the Victim's Human Rights 1. Introduction 2. The UN Organised Crime Convention and Its Protocols on Trafficking and Smuggling 3. The Council of Europe Convention on the Action against Trafficking in Human Beings: Added Value for the Protection of Trafficked Persons' Human Rights? 4. Comparison of the UN Trafficking Protocol and the CoE Trafficking Convention 5. Other Relevant International Legal Instruments against Trafficking in Human Beings 6. Conclusions Chapter IV Anti-Trafficking Strategies and Activities in Finland: Current Achievements and Future Challenges 1. Introduction 2. The Legal Framework of Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 3. The Application and Interpretation of the Penal Provisions on Trafficking at the Finnish Courts of Law: The Distinction between "Innocent" and "Guilty" Victims of Sexual Exploitation 4. Conclusions Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations 1. Introductory Remarks: "Invisible" Victims 2. Deserving Victims and Conditional Assistance 3. The Ambiguous Definition of Human Trafficking and the Restrictive Application and Interpretation of Criminal Law Provisions 4. Final Remarks Bibliography; Index.

Author Biography: Venla Roth, Ph.D. (2010) in law, University of Turku, is Senior Officer at the Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities, who also serves as a National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings in Finland. Roth has previously published extensively on law and trafficking in human beings in Finnish and in Swedish.