Reforming the Criminal Justice Response to Human Trafficking Victims and Offenders: An Introduction

Human trafficking is a burgeoning crime, which is often inadequately measured by researchers and misunderstood by policy-makers and the public (Dottridge, 2017; Fedina, 2015; Guilbert, 2017). At the most basic level, human trafficking is a crime driven by motives of financial gain, and accomplished through exploitive mechanisms of force, fraud, or coercion. Severe consequences are endured by individuals, and by society, because of those who perpetrate and facilitate human trafficking (Kloer, 2010). Perpetrators of human trafficking conscript and exploit youth in criminal enterprises, whether as drug mules or sex workers, who are often paid in drugs, if they are paid at all (Windle et al., 2020). Human trafficking breeds corruption and generates billions of dollars a year for organized criminal networks, thereby undermining economic prosperity, and destroying the social fabric of communities (Okubo & Shelley, 2011; Shelley, 2010). In addition to being considered a severe type of crime due its nature and consequences, human trafficking is also considered a crime with immense global reach. Estimates of the number of victims of human trafficking are precipitously increasing, with the latest estimates indicating that 50 million men, women, and children were victims of human trafficking or forced marriage in 2021 alone, an increase of 10 million from the same estimates in 2016 (International Labour Organization, 2022). No geographic area is exempt from human trafficking; it occurs in almost every country, every region, and every community (Shelley, 2010). Moreover, human trafficking is nonspecialized, meaning it takes many forms and victims are exploited in countless industries and trades. Victims are exploited by gangs funded by illegal drug sales and forced commercial sex, in the service businesses such as hotels or bars, in agriculture, production, construction, and mining. The annual profits from human trafficking are estimated at $99–150 billion from sex trafficking and $51 billion from labor trafficking (De Cock & Woode, 2014; May, 2017). By comparison, the popular store Target had a gross annual profit of just $31 billion in 2022. As a result of the deleterious and widespread impacts of human trafficking, in the past two decades international protocols and national anti-trafficking laws have authorized and directed law enforcement to protect victims and prosecute traffickers (Reid, 2021). Despite the unanimous condemnation of human trafficking as a violation of human rights, debates have arisen and continue to persist today over the adoption of a predominantly criminal justice response to address the problem. Arguments have been made against the strengthening of crime control responses to human trafficking and the overprovision of anti-trafficking legislation. Many consider these responses as simply a smokescreen created by moral crusaders. Concerns have arisen concerning the possible criminalization of non-offenders and even victims of human trafficking – who often are maliciously drawn into criminal activities while being exploited or deceived. Others are concerned that prioritizing a criminal response to human trafficking deflects attention from the underlying root societal causes of human trafficking such as poverty, war, discrimination, and collapse of the social welfare net. VICTIMS & OFFENDERS 2023, VOL. 18, NO. 3, 393–398 https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2023.2182856