The Human Rights Paradigm to Trafficking in Persons and the Challenge of Labor Rights
The past decade witnessed growing interest in the legal category of human trafficking in international and national law. Anti-trafficking laws and policies that proliferate around the globe are influenced predominantly by a transnational crime framework and a human rights framework to trafficking. Surprisingly, although human trafficking is defined in international instruments as an issue of labor exploitation, anti-trafficking policies are not informed by a labor rights framework. The article argues that the language and methods of human rights do not suffice to effectively counter human trafficking, and that for anti-trafficking efforts to become effective trafficking needs to be understood predominantly
