Magister Legum - LLM / This research is aimed at evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of the legal framework dealing with human trafficking in South Africa. To achieve this purpose, a comprehensive overview of the punishment, prevention of human trafficking in South Africa was looked into as well as victim protection. An overview of the history of slavery and an analysis of the modern conceptualisation of human trafficking indicate that human trafficking is a highly complex concept, and that there are various approaches to the understanding of the concept of human trafficking. There are various definitions of trafficking found in international instruments of which the most important has been identified as that contained in the Palermo Protocol. The definitions vary also because trafficking is closely related to the phenomena of migration, slavery and smuggling of humans. The study further identifies some significant root causes of trafficking The research concedes that although common-law crimes, statutes and transitional legislation can be utilized to challenge some trafficking elements, these offences are not comprehensive enough to amply deal with the crime’s complexities and provide only a fragmented approach to combating the crime. The study shows that South Africa has adopted specific legislation, namely the Trafficking Act. The research further establishes also that international, regional and sub-regional instruments on trafficking and related aspects of trafficking provide guidelines for developing effective strategies to deal with trafficking within the region. The counter-trafficking strategies as found in treaties, protocols, declarations and resolutions, which focus specifically on combating trafficking and those with a human-rights focus, obliges States to prosecute traffickers, protect those who are vulnerable to trafficking as well as those already trafficked and establish measures for prevention. This research further highlighted the importance of preventing human trafficking which starts with government but non- governmental organisations play a vital role in this element as well.

This study consists of a qualitative analysis on the subject of human trafficking in Canada. It is intended to explore the steps that have been taken to address the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementary Legislation to the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000c), also known as the Palermo Protocol, and examine Canada’s commitment to changing the international and domestic context in which human trafficking takes place. Through exploration of Canadian legislation, literature and prosecutions presented in Canadian courts between January 2005 and December 2011, this research aims to establish whether Canada has shown a commitment to ending and preventing the problem of human trafficking that is consistent with the Recommended Guidelines published by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (2002). A nominal coding scheme was used to show in basic terms the level of commitment Canada is showing toward combating the issue of human trafficking, both internationally and domestically. Results indicate that while Canada has met minimum standards by implementing anti-trafficking legislation in 2005 which is consistent with the Palermo Protocol, the country is falling short of commitments to combat human trafficking due to inadequate victim protection measures, lack of standardized data collection procedures and insufficient efforts to combat and prevent the root causes of trafficking.

This study consists of a qualitative analysis on the subject of human trafficking in Canada. It is intended to explore the steps that have been taken to address the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementary Legislation to the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000c), also known as the Palermo Protocol, and examine Canada’s commitment to changing the international and domestic context in which human trafficking takes place. Through exploration of Canadian legislation, literature and prosecutions presented in Canadian courts between January 2005 and December 2011, this research aims to establish whether Canada has shown a commitment to ending and preventing the problem of human trafficking that is consistent with the Recommended Guidelines published by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (2002). A nominal coding scheme was used to show in basic terms the level of commitment Canada is showing toward combating the issue of human trafficking, both internationally and domestically. Results indicate that while Canada has met minimum standards by implementing anti-trafficking legislation in 2005 which is consistent with the Palermo Protocol, the country is falling short of commitments to combat human trafficking due to inadequate victim protection measures, lack of standardized data collection procedures and insufficient efforts to combat and prevent the root causes of trafficking.

Explore the international protection accorded to victims on trafficking (VoT) under the Palermo Protocol and other instruments. Focuses on the African context and looks into the challenges faced in enforcing those protections under the domestic forum. Also investigates the adequacy of the legal protection granted to VoT under the Ethiopia legal framework in comparison to the international legal framework and to the Mozambique experience. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Mr Paulo Comoane, Faculty of Law, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Moçambique. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Human trafficking is the fastest growing and the third largest transnational crime. It is driven by the demand for commercial sexual services and cheap labour, and the ample supply of vulnerable people to exploit together with a prevailing system of impunity makes it a highly profitable crime. It imposes grave human rights violations upon its victims, and has devastating effects on society. A global agreement to combat human trafficking – the Palermo Protocol – was adopted by the United Nations in the year 2000. This global agreement provides a legal definition for human trafficking and requires states to take actions to prevent human trafficking, prosecute the perpetrators and protect the victims. Most states have joined this agreement and have made subsequent efforts to implement it. The Council of Europe has adopted a specific convention that even strengthens it. Despite the many efforts to combat human trafficking the number of victims continue to increase and the number of convictions remain low. Some scholars suggest it is because of the incomplete or lack of national implementations, while other scholars suggest the international legal framework is inadequate. The main purpose of this thesis is to examine whether the international legal framework is adequate to combat human trafficking, and to discuss strengthening options. It uses a classical analytical legal method that examines and analyses the most relevant international agreements. Conclusions are that the Palermo Protocol focuses mainly on prosecution, requires too little preventing and protecting measures, and has a weak compliance mechanism. Human rights treaties also address human trafficking but their weak compliance mechanisms make them ill equipped to compel states to act. To combat human trafficking, measures to prevent, prosecute and protect are all crucial, and such measures can probably best be enforced by strengthening all relevant legal areas (human rights law, labour law, migrant law, refugee law and humanitarian law) and engaging all parts of society.

Human Trafficking involves the various forms of coercion and force against millions of individuals all over the world into situations of unpaid labor, sexual exploitation, and organ sales. Attention to the phenomenon is relatively new and there is complexity both in how to address it and study it. When looking at human trafficking, issues of development, poverty, immigration, gender, international cooperation, social stigma, among others, are considered. The purpose of this research paper is to compare and analyze local law interpretations of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, or just "the Palermo Protocol", in a sample of countries who have ratified the international agreement. The countries selected for analysis vary from each other in how they stand as dominant "origins" or "destinations" of human trafficking and how well they do in eradicating the problem as categorized by the United States Trafficking in Persons Report (US TIP Reports) "Tier" statuses. Through asking a set of questions of each law, trends are revealed. The study found that local law documents used many elements from the Palermo Protocol to frame their documents; there were fewer differences than expected. The major differences were in how laws were integrated into the existing legal framework or if a comprehensive separate act was defined. Implications and the role of morality politics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are theorized. Many studies in this field are laden with ever changing statistics, very specific case studies, or material that speaks to how the situation is stigmatized. All contribute to deeper understanding, but by objectively looking at how the major international mechanism works at a local level we may inch towards learning more about how the issue continues to pervade globally.

This research aim was to investigate any gap in the international and national legal framework regarding sex trafficking and prostitution, as well as to identify areas for improvement to better protect victims. The research took on a feminist perspective to critique these laws and used Thailand's national framework for further research on how anti-trafficking and prostitution work on a national level. The feminist views come from feminist legal theory as well as radical feminism. Feminist theories are combined with existing literature, along with a qualitative method, legal analysis, and feminist legal method for examining legal frameworks addressing sex trafficking to find gaps in the field. Thailand was chosen due to it being a country with high problems with sex trafficking and prostitution. Thailand has also tried to combat these problems by implementing laws such as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2008 as well as The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act 1996. Thailand has also signed The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children which was relevant to this thesis.  In summary, legal feminists and radical feminists share many important perspectives about the gaps and improvements that need to be made in the international and legal framework concerning prostitution and sex trafficking. Some of the gaps are that laws fail to address the root causes of prostitution and sex trafficking, struggles with interpretation, and criticism like MacKinnon's claim that laws are fundamentally gendered and cannot be neutralized. furthermore, Thailand's anti-trafficking laws fail to recognize prostitution as trafficking, which criminalizes women in the industry. Rather than handling the demand side (those who pay for sex) the emphasis frequently tends toward prosecuting traffickers, while failing to address enough protection for victims. solutions for the gaps partly involve guidelines for Thailand's officers to easily identify victims.

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa empírica acerca do desenvolvimento do tema de tráfico internacional de pessoas e como essa atividade ilegal tem implicações nas políticas públicas de países das Américas. O tráfico humano foi abordado sob a óptica das relações internacionais com foco no papel da Convenção de Palermo e seu Protocolo Adicional. Buscou-se analisar como este tratado internacional influenciou a adoção de políticas públicas e na política penal de 13 países selecionados das Américas, sendo um dos objetivos da pesquisa o de descrever e avaliar o processo de compliance que os Estados desenvolveram com frente às normas globais vigentes. A hipótese do artigo é a de que com o marco regulatório que foi a Convenção de Palermo, a ONU harmonizou as normas jurídicas domésticas das nações da amostra. Foram realizadas análises comparativas entre as políticas públicas adotadas nos países da região das Américas, buscando demonstrar correlações entre a influência prévia do crime organizado na região e o comportamento dos países no desenvolvimento das políticas públicas. / This work aims to conduct empirical research on the development of international human trafficking theme and how this illegal activity has implications for public policies in the Americas. Human trafficking was approached from the perspective of international relations with a focus on the role of the Palermo Convention and its Additionals Protocols. It sought to analyze how this international treaty has influenced the adoption of public policies and penal policy of 13 selected countries in the Americas, been one of the research´s aims to describe and evaluate the compliance process that national states have developed to face the current global standards. The hypothesis of the article is that with the regulatory framework that was the Palermo Convention, the United Nations harmonized the domestic legal provisions of the selected nations. Comparative analyzes were performed between public policies adopted in the countries of the Americas region, seeking to demonstrate correlations between the prior influence of organized crime in the area and the behavior of countries in the development of public policies.

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa empírica acerca do desenvolvimento do tema de tráfico internacional de pessoas e como essa atividade ilegal tem implicações nas políticas públicas de países das Américas. O tráfico humano foi abordado sob a óptica das relações internacionais com foco no papel da Convenção de Palermo e seu Protocolo Adicional. Buscou-se analisar como este tratado internacional influenciou a adoção de políticas públicas e na política penal de 13 países selecionados das Américas, sendo um dos objetivos da pesquisa o de descrever e avaliar o processo de compliance que os Estados desenvolveram com frente às normas globais vigentes. A hipótese do artigo é a de que com o marco regulatório que foi a Convenção de Palermo, a ONU harmonizou as normas jurídicas domésticas das nações da amostra. Foram realizadas análises comparativas entre as políticas públicas adotadas nos países da região das Américas, buscando demonstrar correlações entre a influência prévia do crime organizado na região e o comportamento dos países no desenvolvimento das políticas públicas. / This work aims to conduct empirical research on the development of international human trafficking theme and how this illegal activity has implications for public policies in the Americas. Human trafficking was approached from the perspective of international relations with a focus on the role of the Palermo Convention and its Additionals Protocols. It sought to analyze how this international treaty has influenced the adoption of public policies and penal policy of 13 selected countries in the Americas, been one of the research´s aims to describe and evaluate the compliance process that national states have developed to face the current global standards. The hypothesis of the article is that with the regulatory framework that was the Palermo Convention, the United Nations harmonized the domestic legal provisions of the selected nations. Comparative analyzes were performed between public policies adopted in the countries of the Americas region, seeking to demonstrate correlations between the prior influence of organized crime in the area and the behavior of countries in the development of public policies.

Examines the situation of child victims through a human rights perspective and identifies the existing legal framework in the international and regional environment. Furthermore, this study seeks to raise awareness about the illegality and harmful consequences of all forms of child trafficking. Also discusses the necessity to take appropriate criminal as well as administrative action, at all levels, to effectively prohibit and penalise child trafficking. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Professor Julia Sloth-Nielsen of the faculty of Law, of the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM