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Abstract
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Response to ATR Debate Proposition: 'Prosecuting trafficking deflects attention from much more important responses and is anyway a waste of time and money'
How do we define success in the fight against trafficking? In the news media and in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, the answer always seems to highlight the same narrow list: increased penalties, arrests and prosecutions. But even as these strategies receive the most attention and glory, they take our focus away from those who should be centred in the conversation--the victims and survivors. Ignoring their needs guarantees we will never end human trafficking. Criminal prosecutions are not the most important part of anti-trafficking work, and their prioritisation is moving us away from ever meaningfully addressing the problem.
While in the United States, law enforcement agencies use the rhetoric of 'victim-centred' approach, prosecutions are, by their very nature, not victim-centred. Prosecutions ask us to focus our time, attention and resources on the trafficker or other third parties, and the victim often becomes little more than a tool for that purpose. And while the trafficker may receive a long prison sentence, this outcome does nothing to help the person victimised find housing, or stable employment, or reunite with their children. For those leaving a trafficking situation, this often means returning to the conditions which made them vulnerable in the first place. So while one trafficker may be in jail, the next one will be there to take advantage of vulnerabilities that still persist.
To compound this, the process of prosecution often further harms the victims. Recounting traumatic events to numerous attorneys, case managers, and a jury can re-open wounds and re-traumatise victims who wish to move on with their lives. Prosecutors and investigators may ask victims to interact further with the trafficker to get needed information, or to delay applications for other remedies so as not to detract from the criminal case. At best, a successful prosecution might bring a sense of justice to the individual, and in rare instances can bring settlement to compensate for financial harms. At worst, it can re-open emotional wounds or even put victims in further danger....
Language: en |