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Human trafficking and criminal proceedings in Portugal: discourses of professionals in the justice system

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Abstract

Since the adoption of the UN Trafficking Protocol in 2000, the predominant approach to combat human trafficking has been based on the criminalization of traffickers in conjunction with a concern for victims’ protection. However, few empirical studies considered the effectiveness of those measures, which makes it difficult to understand why criminal cases of human trafficking generally result in few convictions. In Portugal, recent legislative changes have made the legal framework on human trafficking more comprehensive, inclusive and convergent with European directives. The effects of the implementation of those legislative changes on investigation and prosecution are still overlooked. The present study analyses the discourses of justice system professionals that concern the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking. It examines and identifies the factors that, in their perspective, block the recognition of the typifying elements of the crime of human trafficking and create obstacles to the prosecution and conviction of those crimes. Our findings suggest that legislative advances recognized by the participants need to be accompanied by other changes, some of a more systemic nature and others that are more specific. An efficient criminal procedure should include better legal phrasing of the means of evidence of human trafficking that is supported by objective instruments for this to be considered valid; the centralization of proof that the testimony of the victim has to overcome; specialized professional training of an ongoing nature; an efficient cooperation between the various law enforcement agencies at the national and international levels, with public prosecution services and magistrates; a greater clarification of the condition of the special vulnerability of victims and an informed perspective regarding the global nature of the phenomenon of human trafficking, one that is also sensitive towards the victim (e.g., in relation to the victims’ vulnerability, illegal status, and their difficulties in terms of social and cultural integration).

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Notes

  1. The crime of slavery, provided for in art. 159 of the Penal Code, states that: “a) those who reduce another person to the state or condition of a slave; b) sell, assign or acquiring person or get hold of it with the intention of keeping it in a situation referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be punished with imprisonment from 5 to 15 years”.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre, University of Minho, and supported by the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The authors also thank Eunice Seixas for technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Marlene Matos, Mariana Gonçalves & Ângela Maia

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  1. Marlene Matos
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  2. Mariana Gonçalves
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  3. Ângela Maia
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Correspondence to Mariana Gonçalves.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Matos, M., Gonçalves, M. & Maia, Â. Human trafficking and criminal proceedings in Portugal: discourses of professionals in the justice system. Trends Organ Crim 21, 370–400 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-017-9317-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-017-9317-4

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