Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper explores the meaning of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in English law. Under the definition of human trafficking in the United Nations Trafficking Protocol of 2000 the victim’s consent is not relevant to establishing the offence where one of the prescribed means is used to secure the victim’s participation in the trafficking enterprise. It is not, therefore, terminologically possible to be a consenting trafficking victim under the terms of the Protocol. Indeed, the consensual, yet illicit, transportation of individuals across national borders is properly labelled people smuggling. The paper demonstrates how English law has framed the offence of trafficking for sexual exploitation in a way which permits of the possibility of a trafficking offence being committed where none of the prescribed methods to obtain the victim’s compliance have occurred. English law thereby blurs the distinction between trafficking and smuggling. After drawing comparisons with other jurisdictions, it emphasises the importance of terminological precision in an area where the nature and extent of any post-rescue treatment or support provided to the victim may well depend on how they have been labelled by law enforcement agencies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The overall goal of this investigation is to better understand how clandestine systems and processes are developed and maintained, in relation to the trafficking of women for prostitution. While there has been little research that directly examines the organization of traffickers, several bodies of research of analogous socio-legal and critical criminological phenomena are relevant. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of trafficker’s involvement within the trafficking business. Personal dimensions of the trafficker, reasons traffickers enter the business including their perceptions and how they justify their involvement will also be discussed. Then, based on their involvement, how do they construct their social and economic reality? How do they justify their actions and roles as a trafficker? Specifically, we will focus on how these traffickers make sense of their positions within the illegal market of sex trafficking. Utilizing semi-structured qualitative interviews with traffickers, the goal of this research is to understand the trafficking phenomenon from the standpoint of those individuals who support, reproduce, and actively work to sustain it. Future research directions and policy implications are also discussed.

Jennifer K. Blank, MA*
MASIE-Minorities and Survivors Improving Empowerment
Volunteers of America Regional Corrections Center

Emily I. Troshynski, Ph.D. Graduate Student
Department of Criminology, Law & Society
University of California – Irvine


* Corresponding author

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The U.S. State Department estimates that human traffickers bring between 14,500 and 17,500 persons into the United States for various avenues of exploitation including involuntary servitude and forced prostitution. The impact of human trafficking on states such as Texas and California is alarming. Texas estimates that one in five persons trafficked into the U.S. have traveled through the state. A California study documented several cases labor and sex exploitation including unpaid Thai welders living in squalor and smuggled teenaged Indian young girls used in a prostitution ring. States such as California and Texas have come to the realization that human trafficking has local and international implications. States struggle to prosecute traffickers and must rely on federal prosecution of trafficking enterprises. International cooperation with local law enforcement is essential in combating trafficking especially in the sex trade.



Thousands of women and children trafficked into the U.S. are forced into prostitution. Women who are forced to work in the sex trade fare worse than other trafficking victims. Women working as prostitutes suffer from trauma, depression and anxiety. A coordinated response from the international, federal and state law enforcement is needed. Traffickers should be likened to sex offenders and have restricted civil liberties such as residence, travel and occupation. Traffickers who specialize in the exploitation of young boys and girls should be treated as sex offenders since they procure children for prostitution. Once a trafficker is prosecuted, an international database should be maintained to track the whereabouts of the trafficker as the U.S. has done with sex offenders. An international trafficking registry would have a deterrent effect.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper discusses ongoing research on the nature and extent of human trafficking to New York City. The paper presents challenges encountered by law enforcement and service providers working to protect victims of trafficking and increase prosecution of the perpetrators of this hard-to-identify crime that is often defined as modern-day slavery. As local law enforcement officers around the country are increasingly involved in immigration enforcement, the paper also considers the role local police do or could play in identifying victims of human trafficking.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: The current understanding of human trafficking is still emerging in the criminological literature. One approach to analyzing human trafficking was the tier placement system used in the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. The U.S. Department of State had developed a classification system that allowed for the placement of countries with a significant prevalence of human trafficking on a progressive tier scale based on the minimum standard requirement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, this study identifies various governmental efforts of countries to eliminate trafficking. Second, the use of sanctioning is addressed and whether the threats of sanctioning have been implemented appropriately and effectively. The results of this study indicate the validity of the TIP report and its effectiveness as a policy.