1. James Hathaway serves as a Board member for the United States Committee for Immigrants and Refugees, specifically as an Emeritus, as Counsel on International Protection. He serves as a Professor of Law, as well as Director of the Program in Refugee and Asylum Law at the University of Michigan (refugees, 2016). He has served in this capacity since 1998. Professor Hathaway’s basic job duties comprise the contribution of scholarly writing for legal publications, writing that is often used as reference material for common law senior courts (refugees, 2016).
2. This type of job entails a law degree, Professorship, scholastic publication, and extensive knowledge of the field of refugee and asylum law. In addition, other qualifications include involvement and affiliation with numerous refugee groups worldwide (refugees, 2016).
3. Ordinarily, this type of practitioners would come into contact with a human trafficking victim in a legal sense. That is, Professor Hathaway may never come into direct contact with a human trafficking victim, but might provide consultation or scholarly opinion to asylum groups and/or common law courts that would assist in the protection of the human rights of the trafficking victim (refugees, 2016).
4. In this person’s normal capacity, their responsibility entails that they look for legal violations of the rights of a human trafficking victim (refugees, 2106).
5. Professor Hathaway does a number of things that assist human trafficking victims. Most of his work focuses on legal consultation, and influencing the legal field through affiliations with human rights organizations, as well as being a powerful scholarly presence in the field of human rights for trafficking victims (refugees, 2016).
6. Professor Hathaway has regular contact with students, human rights organization leaders, non-governmental agency professionals, as well as officials in humanitarian efforts throughout the world (refugees, 2016).
7. Professor Hathaway has professional contacts all over the world, and has a great deal of legal expertise, which makes him an excellent asset to any human rights organization, specifically one that protects human trafficking victims. Thus, through his network, his legal counsel, and his legal writing credits, he has an enormous amount of influence – both directly and indirectly – with many Universities in countries with human trafficking concerns, including the Orient and the Middle East (refugees, 2016).
8. Although Professor Hathaway has enormous legal influence in the field of human rights, at the street level of human trafficking, his limitations are many. For example, many countries who violate international law do not care about legal protocols to begin with. Moreover, much of Professor Hathaway’s influence is felt indirectly, via scholastic contributions as an academician. Thus, he is not literally enforcing the international human rights laws he advocates to implement. Thus, there are serious limitations to the scope of his influence. In addition, as many human trafficking victims are at serious risk of injury or loss of life, individuals, especially in forced labor or sex slavery, are literally held against their will, and are too afraid to report violators of international law (Human Rights Commission, n.d.).
9. Indeed, there are practical obstacles that encumber the degree to which Professor Hathaway can assist victims. Again, many countries – especially under dire circumstances such as civil strife – do not bother to observe international law. Moreover, without enforcement of any sort, legal counsel to official does little to stop human trafficking, in the practical sense of the phrase.
References
Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). City and County of San Francisco. Retrieved 19 Jun. 2016 from http://sf-hrc.org/what-human-trafficking
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. (2016). Board Members. Retrieved 19 Jun. 2016 from http://refugees.org/about/board-members/
