Keywords

1 Introduction

This chapter attempts to discuss how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have addressed human trafficking and the problems that are yet to be worked on. Generally, human trafficking is regarded as a form of modern slavery and a global issue. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), it has been detected in 148 countries (UNODC 2021, p25). People are trafficked regardless of age, gender, and domestically and globally. As it causes harmful damage to physical and psychological aspects, it is considered one of the most serious violations of human rights. In the Seventy-Third Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Agenda Item 29, ‘Trafficking in Women and Girls’,Footnote 1 addressed human trafficking as one of the most important issues to be included in the SDGs: ‘recognising the importance of a revitalised global partnership to ensure the implementation of the 2030 agenda’.Footnote 2

Currently, the people’s movement has expanded into a wider scope, and human trafficking has become more complicated. Thus, the international society must work together. Hence, this paper aims to discuss how human trafficking is defined today, how the international society has addressed it until now, and the ways SDGs can improve its work. Today, UNODC is responsible for addressing human trafficking in the United Nations (UN), citing Goal 5, ‘Gender Equality’; Goal 8, ‘Good Jobs and Economics’; Goal 10, ‘Reduced Inequalities’; Goal 16, ‘Peace and Justice’; and Goal 17, ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ of SDGs regarding human trafficking. To examine how the UN has combatted it, this paper examines several cases related to the goals: gender and violence, mobility of people and vulnerability, and implementation and partnership.

2 Definition of Human Trafficking

2.1 Perspectives for Understanding Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is considered one of the most serious violations of human rights as it is a crime to exploit other human beings. In 2000, the UN adopted the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised CrimeFootnote 3 and the protocols, specifically, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children.Footnote 4 In this protocol, human trafficking earned its definition, and the international community agreed on a common recognition for this crime. The protocol defines human trafficking as ‘the recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation’.Footnote 5

The aforementioned protocol offers several important features. For example, the application of legal action extends to domestic cases of human trafficking along with those detected transnationally (OHCHR 2014, p. 3). Human trafficking was discussed mainly from the perspective of an international crime because in most cases it involved crossing national borders. However, the number of domestic cases, such as cases where victims are taken from rural areas to urban areas, and minor victims, has increased recently. Hence, it is difficult for international society to understand the situation. Nonetheless, the protocol extended legal application to home and abroad. This enables the international community to intervene legally and closely observe the situation.

Although human trafficking and migrant smuggling are different, they are often considered the same due to several similarities such as transfer process and transportation type. Moreover, both crimes treat human beings as commodities. However, the definition of human trafficking in the protocol contributed to clarifying the difference between the two (OHCHR 2014, p. 3). First, ‘migrant smuggling involves the illegal, facilitated movement across an international border for profit. While it may involve deception and/or abusive treatment, the purpose is to profit from the movement, not the eventual exploitation as in the case of trafficking’ (OHCHR 2014, p. 3). As aforementioned, human trafficking is described as a crime with the intention of exploiting persons. In other words, whether a trafficked person is a migrant, and may be smuggling a migrant, human trafficking principally involves the exploitation of victimised persons. In summary, migrant smuggling can be defined as an activity that focuses on the movement of crossing an international border rather than the exploitation of persons.

Therefore, the core elements of human trafficking are composed of acts, means, and purpose. First, the acts are the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a person. Second, the means include the threat or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power, or position of vulnerability. Finally, the purpose is to exploit. As the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) explained the terms used in the definition as: ‘terms such as ‘receipt’ and ‘harbouring’ mean that trafficking does not just refer to the process whereby someone is moved into situations of exploitation. It also extends to the maintenance of that person in a situation of exploitation’ (OHCHR 2014, p. 3).

2.2 Victims of Human Trafficking

This section attempts to describe the victims of human trafficking and how they can be visualised. In today’s world, anyone can be a target, regardless of age or gender. According to the data in 2018, the detailed victimisation rate is as follows: sexual exploitation accounted for 50%, followed by labour exploitation with 38%, and other forms of exploitation with 12% (UNODC 2021, p. 11, 16). In the survey, criminal activity, begging, forced marriages, baby selling, and removal of organs are considered other forms of exploitation. Regarding the economic sectors that trafficked victims engage in, domestic work, construction, fishing, agriculture, catering, street trading, garment, mining and so on are reported. Among them, in domestic work, the majority of victims are women, and they are entailed in sexual exploitation, violence by their employers, and physical and psychological exploitation. Notably, in many cases, victims suffer several forms of exploitation with one combined with others.

Regarding the detected worldwide victims of trafficking by gender, men account for 20%, women 46%, boys 15%, and girls 19% (UNODC 2021, p. 31). Regarding victimisation of women, 77% were sexually exploited, 14% were victims of labour exploitation, and others accounted for 9%. The details regarding men were: 17% were sexually exploited, 67% were victims of labour exploitation, 1% were trafficked for organ removal, and others accounted for 15% (UNODC 2021, p33). Among the trafficked children under 18 years of age, 72% of the girls were sexually exploited, followed by labour exploitation with 21%, and others with 7%, whereas 23% of the boys were sexually exploited, 66% were victims of forced labour, and others accounted for 11% (UNODC 2021, p. 33). In summary, sexual exploitation is a major purpose for trafficking among women and girls.

Surveying the breakdown by region of detection shows that the percentage of women is generally higher. For example, the regions where the number of female victims is conspicuously higher are: South Asia (3340 women and 857 men); East Asia and the Pacific (2871 women and 1253 men), North America (5735 women and 1196 men), South America (2358 women and 850 men), and Sub-Saharan Africa (1307 women and 659 men) (UNODC 2021, p. 31).

However, each region constitutes features that distinguish it from the others. South Asia presents a characteristic feature of a higher percentage of female victims of trafficking. By comparing it with that of children under 18 years of age, the number of detected trafficked boys was higher: 1874 boys and 1573 girls (UNODC 2021, p. 31). These boys were engaged in forced labour. In other words, they were victims of child labour. Outside of South Asia, the regions in which the number of boys is higher are Western and Southern Europe (2465 boys and 1073 girls), and North Africa and the Middle East (223 boys and 181 girls). In these, it has been reported that boys are involved in other forms of exploitation, such as criminal activity and begging (UNODC 2021, p. 17, 31).

Regarding the age of detected victims, the gross national income (GNI) of the countries the victims reside in is lower, and the victimisation of children under 18 years of age tends to be a higher percentage. For instance, in high-income countries, 86% were adult victims and 14% were children under the age of 18 (UNODC 2021, p. 10). However, in the lower-middle-income countries, 63% were adult victims and 37% were children under 18 years of age, which is higher than that of high-income countries. Finally, in low-income countries, 50% were adults and minors, equally (UNODC 2021, p. 10). Notably, there is a tendency for trafficked persons to be sold from countries with lower economic standards to those with higher economic standards.

2.3 Trafficker and Transportation

Among the offenders of human trafficking who underwent any judicial process such as enquiry, arrest, prosecution, or conviction, men accounted for 60% (UNODC 2021, p. 37). To cite the details by gender, 67% were men and 33% were women of 9429 persons who were questioned. Among the 7,368 prosecuted persons, 64% were men and 36% were women (UNODC 2021, pp. 36–37). Among the 3553 convicted persons, 62% were men and 38% were women (UNODC 2021, p. 36–37). Furthermore, among the 104 surveyed nationalities of convicted people: 74% were locals, 18% were foreign nationals within the region of conviction, and 8% were foreign nationals of other regions.

According to reports across the world and the research results by the author, there is a variety of traffickers at different social levels: brokers visiting villages, people involved in the brokers’ network, parents including foster parents and step-parents, relatives, and friends, criminal organisations such as gangs, and multinational recruitment agencies.

There are two types of organisational structures at different levels, according to the travel distance. One, the opportunistic association of traffickers. This is trading on relatively a smaller scale between individuals. Two, organised criminal groups, a part of an international criminal organisation. For instance, in the opportunistic association of traffickers in Cambodia, where the author conducted research on human trafficking, many cases were committed by individual traffickers. Sometimes, a single trafficker is responsible for transferring a victim from the village they live in to the destination. There are cases wherein two or more traffickers are involved in selling and buying victims. Specifically, traffickers stay in contact with each other and work out a plan: the first one takes a victim to meet the second trafficker, and the second one accompanies the victim to another trafficker or destination. This is common when crossing a national border. UNODC describes it as an opportunistic association of traffickers (UNODC 2021, p. 13, 41). Organised criminal groups are subdivided into two types: governance and business-enterpriseFootnote 6 (UNODC 2021, p. 13, 41). A criminal organisation is involved in many cases of human trafficking when crossing a national border. Human trafficking is known as an international crime, with cases detected in many countries.

3 Human Trafficking and Literature Review

In the past, women and girls accounted for 80% of the total victims of human trafficking. For instance, in 2004, 74% of all adult victims were women and 10% were girls, totalling 84%, whereas adult men and boys accounted for 13% and 3%, respectively, totalling 16% (UNODC 2021, p. 16, 32). Hence, as the majority of victims are women and are, generally, forced into sexual exploitation, research on human trafficking is conducted from ‘violence against women’ perspective.

Earlier studies have dealt with the human trafficking of women regarding sexual exploitation from a feminist perspective. Leading researchers include: Barry (1979), who examined the nature of human trafficking of women in the sex industry from the gender perspective, and Truong (1990) offered an analysis of the relationship between labour migration and the sex industry. Barry made a significant contribution to the study of forced prostitution among women and defined ‘sexual slavery’ as any situation in which women are unable to escape against their will, including international human trafficking, forced prostitution, forced marriage as a custom, and sexual exploitation inflicted by a husband on a wife (Barry 1979).

With the rise of the feminist movement, the UN framed the concept of violence against women. Consequently, this led to the evaluation of human trafficking-related to violence against women. Following an international stream, in 1993, the UN adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. In the Declaration, ‘violence against women’ is defined as ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private’ (The Elimination of Violence against Women 1993). In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, adopted the Beijing Platform for Action. The platform declared human trafficking as a form of violence against women and a serious violation of human rights.

After the late 1990s, Parallel to the increase in child trafficking to exploit them for sexual purposes, the number of detected younger girls increased. Consequently, the situation admitted an argument regarding whether it was necessary to separate sexual exploitation of women from child sexual exploitation. For example, Truong, studying the human trafficking of women from the perspective of the migrant population, argues that sexual exploitation of women should be discussed regarding gender rather than age because sexual exploitation of women is derived from gender-based roles in the international system (Truong 1990).

Discussions on this issue from the feminist perspective was followed by another from the perspective of children’s rights. O'Grady (1992)and Lim (1998)base their arguments on the necessity of separating the sexual exploitation of adults from that of children. They argue that adults exercise their right to self-determination so that the matter can be discussed by separating free will from forced prostitution. However, when children are exploited for sexual purposes, it is a crime, regardless of the right to self-decision. Ennew (1986) explains that if sexual exploitation, or prostitution of women and children is addressed without considering the significance of age, it is likely to fail in perceiving the power dynamic based on age and the parent–child relationships.

Considering the mechanism of human trafficking, several points are common between the sexual exploitation of women and children. Nonetheless, as the human trafficking system has become more subtle and complicated, there are various difficulties in detecting and identifying the situation. The sexual exploitation of women and children needs further consideration with discussions are based on only sex as the main point. However, Brush (2004) opened a way for further discussion.

Following the diversity in forms of victimisation in human trafficking, the focus has broadened from sexual to labour exploitation. From this period the UN started using ‘forced migration’ in their reports. Moreover, the International Labour Organization (ILO) also applied the term ‘modern slavery’ to human trafficking in the reports, featuring labour exploitation as a central subject. In the forms of human trafficking victimisation, sexual exploitation accounted for an overwhelming majority (79%), while forced labour comprised 18% in 2006Footnote 7 (UNODC 2021, p. 16). Detected trafficking victims of sexual exploitation decreased to 56%, whereas labour exploitation increased from 18 to 38%, and other forms accounted for 6% in 2012 (UNODC 2021, p. 16). According to the latest statistics in 2018, sexual exploitation accounts for 50% of the total detected victims, while labour exploitation was 38%, and other forms accounted for 12% (UNODC 2021, p. 16).

As the patterns of exploitation of human trafficking are diversifying, the percentage of detected male victims is increasing. For example, in 2004, it was 16% (Men 13% and Boys 3%). However, the data from 2018 show that trafficked men increased to 35%, including boys.

There are several reasons for active discussion concerning the situation of migration regarding human trafficking. First, detected victimisation exhibited a wide variation. Second, due to smuggling, there is an increase in the entry of undocumented immigrants, including asylum seekers, from developing to developed countries. Finally, the circumstances which unauthorised immigrants face in the country they reside in have several similarities with those displayed in human trafficking, such as working conditions and forms of exploitation. In other words, the situation of unauthorised immigration has many common points with the core elements of human trafficking. Thus, it is difficult to decide the legal status and qualifications that should be granted to undocumented workers. Currently, trafficking victimisation is conspicuously mixed in migration flows and hence, careful consideration is required to distinguish trafficked victims from other forms of migration.

Common examples from 2013 include many people attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a boat from Africa and the Middle East heading towards EU countries. The journey was made in inhumane conditions at the risk of their lives. Due to situations like these, international organisations such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) have worked closely to protect victims of human trafficking. This cooperation is consolidated by the finding that in recent years trafficked victims were detected among refugees. Generally, the risk of being targeted by human trafficking increases when people have difficulty asking for support from their communities and suffer due to cultural and social isolation.

As the number of refugees increased, mixed cases were identified in which the conditions of human trafficking, smuggling, undocumented immigrants, and refugees overlap. Thus, this makes it difficult to produce legal certification for the status of the concerned persons. Hence, UNHCR launched a ‘10 points Plan in Action’ in 2016 updated to promote certification and protection of trafficked victims as part of a mixed migration movement (UNHCR 2016). Furthermore, in 2020, the UNHCR updated the Framework on Developing Standard Operating Procedures for the Identification Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking, with a remark on its cooperation with IOM in encouraging the certification and protection of trafficked victims (UNHCR and IOM 2020).

4 Treaties and Other Instruments for Human Rights

In this section, a general survey of current international treaties concerning human trafficking is discussed. It is considered one of the worst forms of human rights violations because victims’ rights are deprived, and human beings are objectified as commodities and put into a state of servitude. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) takes human rights violations due to human trafficking into serious consideration, and defines the situation as human deprivation with a lack of the 13 rights that are fundamentally necessary. The rights declared by OHCHR include: the right to liberty and security; the right not to be submitted to slavery, servitude, forced labour, or bonded labour; the right not to be subjected to torture and/or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment; the right to be free from gendered violence; the right to freedom of association; the right to freedom of movement; the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; the right to just and favourable conditions of work; the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to social security; and the right of children to special protection (OHCHR 2014). As the lack of these rights is described as human deprivation by OHCHR, it can be stated that human trafficking can deprive victims of almost all fundamental rights for life. As human trafficking makes undue profits at the cost of the exploitation of victims’ human rights, it is human rights violation.

In international human rights law, debt servitude is prohibited. Moreover, Convention No. 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour of the ILO stipulates for the ban on debt servitude, explaining it with the terms such as ‘slavery, child sexual exploitation, forced marriage, enforced prostitution’ (OHCHR 2014, p5). However, many trafficked victims are forced into debt bondage because they are required to bear the travelling cost and pay for commissions and fees of false accounts. Due to this, they have no alternative but to be exploited as debt slaves. Human trafficking is detected in many parts of the world. Hence, international treaties are not sufficient for victims to gain due protection.

Before the Trafficking Protocol in 2000 several international treaties and laws concerning human trafficking were established. These include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers, and Members of their Families (1990). Regarding the circumstances of trafficked victims and their rights, other treaties related to human trafficking are International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966). Among the aforementioned treaties, two treaties that the international society has referred to in addressing this issue is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art.35). This is partly because these international treaties have the power to protect victims’ human rights comprehensively.

Although the international community relies on treaties concerning human trafficking, it is difficult to highlight the conditions and carefully examine trafficked victims with limited treaties. Over the past decade, when problems of human trafficking became more severe, the international community considered it seriously. To improve the situation, it acted together and launched treaties and instruments.

The treaties and instruments are: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000), the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000), Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union (2000), and the treaties in place when the Trafficking Protocol was signed in 2000. Along with international agreements, regional treaties were also included: Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for prostitution (2002) by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; Article 5, and Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and Council on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims (2011).

Nonetheless, these international agreements and instruments cannot be expected to exercise a full binding force. To complete the treaties, guidelines were set forth to produce concrete measures against human trafficking on an international scale. Although they are non-treaty, they serve as a supplement to treaties. Important principles include Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Rights to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, the UNICEF Guidelines on the Protection of Child Victims of Trafficking, Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons, ASEAN Practitioner guidelines, and the UNHCR Guidelines on international protection: Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees to Victims of Trafficking and Persons at Risk of Trafficking. Hence, the international community promoted the prevention of human trafficking by signing treaties to protect human rights. However, it cannot be positively stated that the protection of human rights is respected in all circumstances regarding human trafficking. It is essential to consider how legal protection can be reached at the grassroots level, and what plans can be made on a realistic basis.

5 Human Trafficking and SDGs

In the global indicator framework for the SDGs and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,Footnote 8 UNODC, the central organisation responsible for human trafficking, included five goals of the SDGs, specifically, those related to trafficking in person: goals 5, 8, 10, 16, and 17.Footnote 9 All the 17 goals of SDGs have their ‘goals and targets’ which accurately explain the actions taken to fulfil the aims of each goal. The ‘goals and targets’ are further subdivided into ‘indicators’. They serve as a way to show the degree of achievement of each goal to understand how the situation is developed and the facts concerning the goal are found. In Table of the Appendix, this paper describes the details of the goals and targets, which UNODC has considered as relevant to human trafficking.

5.1 Gender and Violence

Human trafficking is an important global issue. Many SDGs, those relevant to gender and violence, address it. It is an urgent issue as mentioned in the ‘UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women in the thematic’ (A/HRC/14/22).

Goal 5 of the SDGs defines human trafficking as ‘violence against women’. As aforementioned, 65% of all victims are women and girls and sexual exploitation accounts for 77% of the forms of victimisation among women (UNODC 2021, p. 31, 33).Footnote 10 Moreover, the Global Act, a special project of human trafficking by the UN as part of SDGs, explains that ‘recognising victims of sexual violence among smuggled migrants and victims of trafficking (at the hands of organised criminals or others), is a key criminal justice response to this form of violence’ (GLO.ACT 2021, p. 13).

Regarding human trafficking as part of violence against women, [Target 5.2] of Goal 5 of Gender Equality states: ‘Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual, and other types of exploitation’. Moreover, Goal 16 of Peace and Justice states: ‘End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children’ [Target 16. 2]. The target designates human trafficking connected with violence as an issue that should be immediately and fairly addressed, which is essential for achieving human security and peace.

It is necessary to carefully observe the victimisation of human trafficking created by a combination of gender-based discrimination and violence. As seen in cases identified in a community or a rural village, gender-based discrimination worsens the vulnerability of a person in an economic and social plight. It is rooted in gender codes embraced by society. Gender-based discrimination affects various conditions in which trafficked victims are involved: ‘Prevention, Protection and Prosecution’, known as the 3Ps of human trafficking; ‘Partnership’, which is added to the former three, making up the 4Ps; the situation that trafficked victims are faced with in their communities; and revictimisation. A study by the author showed that gender codes aid in discriminating against trafficked victims (Shimazaki 2021). OHCHR also states that there is a close relationship between gender-oriented discrimination and human trafficking victimisation regarding the international human rights law, emphasising the necessity of taking action from the gender perspective.Footnote 11

Human trafficking is identified at various levels, from a country to a region, a community, and a rural village. Generally, some people are unaware that they practise gender-based discrimination against trafficked victims. They may be described as those who judge a person arbitrarily by gender-oriented stereotypes, prejudice, and cultural norms. To take radical action against human trafficking regarding violence against women, it is necessary to develop an awareness of gender-based discrimination. Therefore, measures against human trafficking must inevitably include those against gender-based discrimination and prejudice from various perspectives.

5.2 Mobility of People and Vulnerability

Human trafficking is closely connected to migrant labour. Generally, when a person is in a socially and economically vulnerable position, it increases the risk of being trafficked. Before being trafficked, people in need turn to migration as a means of earning a livelihood, aiming for cash income. However, from the beginning, they lack money, so they have no alternative other than taking less reliable transportation. Hence, they are forced to choose a means of mobility entailing a more serious risk of being targeted by human trafficking. Eventually, the circumstances are likely to force them into the exploitation trap (Shimazaki 2021). As it is necessary to address this situation by considering the relationship between poverty and social inequality, the action proposed in Target 8.7 of SDG’s Goal 8 can be applied: ‘Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour’.

Regarding migrant labour, women are generally exposed to a higher risk of being trafficked than men. This suggests that women are more vulnerable to social and economic vulnerability, which is a condition that places a majority of them in a marginalised position. Thus, the situation should be examined regarding the improvement of this economic system. Hence, this can be considered, specifically, in association with Target 10.7 saying ‘Facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies’ of Goal 10 of ‘Reduced inequalities’.

However, freedom of mobility should be secured. When people who are vulnerable to social and economic disadvantages travel, various systems to prevent human trafficking need to be built and provided by the concerned governments: the registration system of immigration, the issuance of work visas, and the disclosure of employment information. Today, human trafficking is detected in many parts of the world. Therefore, it is an international society that holds the responsibility for creating a prevention system against crime on a global scale. As Goal 17 proposes to ‘strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development’, an international partnership for solving human trafficking is important.

5.3 Implementation and Partnership

Among the goals of SDGs related to human trafficking, Target 17.9 from Goal 17 proposes to ‘enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation’. By considering the target of Goal 17, the international community must establish a system to protect the rights of trafficked victims as part of prevention measures. A human rights-based approach is essential for the smooth operation of the system. In other words, the human rights system will function effectively to protect the rights of trafficked victims. Several factors underlie human trafficking: poverty, gender, personal educational background, labour, migration, discrimination, prejudice, a lack of legal protection, violence, exploitation, and international crimes. The mechanism of human trafficking is complicated in structure because several factors are combined and affect each other reciprocally.

When the prevention of human trafficking is considered from the human rights perspective, the international society needs to supervise if the fundamental rights are respected in any circumstance at different levels, such as in a community, a region, and a country. Thus, all the concerned institutions, from the governments to international organisations and NGOs need to work together to maintain constant supervision over the protection of human rights. It is also necessary to add the human rights-based approach into the legal framework regarding the international human rights law to consolidate legal protection for trafficked victims. At present, human trafficking cases are detectable in various parts of the world, home, and abroad. Specifically, trafficking of persons crossing a national border is on the rise, which increases the difficulty of addressing the situation by a single nation. Hence, if domestic and international laws are combined, it will help to produce effective legal protection for victims and legal action applicable to the crime.

OHCHR emphasises that a human rights-based approach should be framed into measures against human trafficking according to the international human rights laws in the national, regional, and international responses. It explains: ‘A human rights-based approach identifies right holders,Footnote 12 their entitlements, and the corresponding duty bearersFootnote 13 and their obligations. This approach works towards strengthening the capacities of rights holders to secure their rights and of duty-bearers to meet their obligations; and core principles and standards derived from international human rights law should guide all aspects of the response at all stages’ (OHCHR 2014, p. 8).

In 2020, the UN established the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the United Nations Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking, as part of international cooperation in human trafficking and the creation of the human rights system in the international community. In association with SDGs, this was followed by the establishment of The Global Action against Trafficking Persons and the Smuggling of MigrantsFootnote 14: Asia and the Middle East (GLO.ACT Asia and the Middle East).

6 Concluding Remarks

In this chapter, human trafficking was primarily discussed by referring to the relevant goals and targets of SDGs to clarify how they worked on the problem from viewpoints they had adopted. Human trafficking is considered modern slavery as victims are caught in a state of exploitation and deprived of their rights. Trafficking in person has several immediate and effective causes, such as poverty, gender, individual educational background, health problems, mobility of people, labour environment, economic inequality between regions and countries, and violence. This crime is a result of these factors combined in a complicated manner.

The trafficked victim analysed in this chapter is a person in the most vulnerable position in society. Overall, the incidence of human trafficking is concentrated in developing countries. Specifically, it demonstrates a tendency to traffic people from a developing country. In many cases, the person is sent to an industrialised or a more developed country compared to the one in which the person is targeted for trafficking. Regarding finding and implementing them, the main points are as follows: educating the public on the mechanism of human trafficking, empowering those who are in a socially and economically vulnerable position, increasing public awareness about gender-based discrimination, and maintaining the system of providing legal protection for trafficked victims. Finally, cooperative activity among members of the international community is crucial for preventing trafficking.

It would be meaningful to state that every goal and target of SDGs is relevant to human trafficking because they aim to create a better environment through the improvement of a deprived one by giving importance to human rights entitled to everyone. It will be more effective in putting an end to the human trafficking if all the goals and targets of SDGs are incorporated into preventive action against the crime.

Human trafficking needs to be addressed on a global scale and from various viewpoints related to a wide range of social problems. Therefore, measures framed based on various perspectives will increase the effectiveness of prevention. In other words, it is instructive to consider human trafficking from a cultural, social, and economic perspective when working on a solution and implementing it.

Today, victimisation of human trafficking is detectable in almost all parts of the world, and anyone can be a trafficked victim regardless of age or gender. From this perspective, human trafficking is not an issue that can be ignored. It should be discussed in the context of human rights and the significance to the community, which the other chapters study closely. To conclude, it can be interpreted that considering individual well-being leads to a decrease in the incidence of trafficking in person because addressing human trafficking is addressing the problem of human rights.