Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol of 2000 which adds-on the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime gives the definition of trafficking of people as an international crime which entails recruiting, relocation or confinement of persons through illegal meansby using force, threatening the person, abducting them, deceiving or by misrepresenting facts primly for purposes of exploitation. The exploitation can be through enslavement, removal of organs, forced marriages, begging, and child soldiers among other activities for profit (Shelly 3).
Statement 1
The woman under the control of the pimp is vulnerable emotionally and psychologically due to the sensitive secret the pimp is using as leverage. The pimp is exploiting the psychological vulnerability of the woman to absolutely control her into submitting to sexual slavery. In the Kunaraccase by ICTY, it was held that having absolute control over a person can amount to trafficking. Due to the manipulation and the threat, any consent by the woman is meaningless, and thus, it can be concluded that she has been trafficked.
Statement 2
The landlord is indirectly taking part in the trafficking and can be termed as an accessory to the crime. He will be presumed to be facilitating the crime for failing to report the same to the authorities, yet he had the full knowledge of the illegal activities. Shelly (2010) avers that landlords have a legal duty to report any trafficking crime they suspect or do know is taking place within their premises.
Statement 3
The 15-year-old girl is a victim of human trafficking. She is under the age of 18, and as such, she has no capacity to give any form of consent as per the Human Trafficking Protocol. She meets the criterion of a human trafficking victim in that she is being exploited sexually by way of taking pornographic pictures which generate profit for the owner of the site.
Statement 4
The trafficking of human beings has been termed as modern day slavery. In the Rantsev V. Cyprus and Russia case, article 4 of the ECHR which outlaws enslavement, forced and compulsory labor was interpreted to encapsulate human trafficking under the contemporary context. For instance, like slavery, human trafficking involves the sale of persons devoid of their consent in a fraudulent fashion which is fraught with coercion to slave masters such as pimps who wield absolute control and commoditize them. Additionally, Article 4 of UDHR and Article 8 of ICCPR outlaw the practices.
Statement 5
Coercion to provide forced labor in one place so as to repay a debt amounts to human trafficking in that, the debtor is now being subjected to forced labor so as to repay an outstanding debt. There is an element of coercion and control in that the victim does not have the liberty to choose where to reside and the kind of work to do.
Works Cited
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 8.
Shelley, Louise. Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective. New York: Cambridge
The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and
Children (Trafficking in Persons Protocol), article 3.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 4.
