Transnational Crime Assignment Sample
(A Study on Human Trafficking in the UK)
Introduction
Transnational crimes cause great challenges to the countries’ rules of law, protection of human security and rights as well as social and economic development. These criminal activities are threatening as these undermine the quality of people’s lives by threatening their security. The present report is going to explain a serious transnational crime, human trafficking and the UK legislation along with international agreements related to this crime. Human trafficking is a major issue in the UK, as recent in 2020, 4946 children have been included by the “National Referral Mechanism” as they were victims of human trafficking (National Crime Agency, 2021). This study will shed light on the regulatory framework of the nation to combat this problem.
Human trafficking as a transnational crime
Human trafficking is viewed and considered as a component of transnational crime as it usually involves recruiting or taking people from their original country and being transported to a foreign country (Lee, 2013). This category of crime drives the exploitation of people for forced labour (United Nations, 2021). Victims of this crime experience myriad devastating psychological effects, while post-traumatic stress is also common. Even after strong legislation and rules, the UK has been failing to completely control the cases of human trafficking. The incident in Essex is notable and such crimes have been increased during the covid-19 pandemic (BBC, 2021; BBC News, 2021). In 2019, 17 people arrested in London in thw case of human trafficking (Ben Quinn, 2019). The ‘European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’ has reported that the UK has violated the European Convention on Human Rights, and an immediate response is required from the UK government to control such criminal activities (Keith Ditcham, 2021; National Crime Agency, 2021).
UK legislation related to human trafficking
In the past five years, a number of foreign and domestic victims have been exploited in the UK by human traffickers. Myriad legislation has been formulated to control and restrict criminal activities. In the UK, the primary legislation against human trafficking involve the “Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015”, “Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015”, “Human Rights Act (article 4)” and others. “Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015” makes provision about the crime of human slavery, trafficking, servitude, and forced labour. It also includes a provision about sentencing along with victim support and reducing activities related to offences (Legislationline, 2015).
“Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” has also been formulated to make provisions about human slavery, trafficking as well as other various forms of exploitation (Legislationline, 2015). Moreover, it is mentioned in the UK “Human Rights Act (article 4)” that the legislation does not allow compulsory or forced labour and no one can be held in servitude or slavery. This is how these provisions are against the criminal activities of human trafficking and the UK government takes necessary steps against such activities based on these legislations.
The ‘Modern Slavery Act’ was formed in the UK in 2015 also categorised human trafficking a serious criminal activity and traffickers are also punished as per the provision of this act (UK Legislation, 2021). This Act has replaced offences like human trafficking under “Sexual Offences Act (2003) section 59A” and “Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 section 4”. Victims of human trafficking sometimes take major risks for giving evidence and the UK legislation allows prosecutors to consider the range of available measures to protect the victims, who are giving evidence. Moreover, in the “Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA)” under section 17(4), a victim of human trafficking, who has suffered from sexual exploitation, is automatically deemed to be “intimidated” (CPS, 2020).
International agreements and conventions related to human trafficking
The “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)” is a well-recognised international law on human trafficking. Various offensive activities that are directly related to human traffickings such as servitude, slavery, forced labour and all are prohibited by this law. The United Nations (UN) launched a set of protocols in 2000 for preventing, suppressing and punishing human trafficking and around 177 countries signed it. In 2005, the “Council of Europe Convention on Action” against human trafficking was a robust step (United Nations, 2021). Moreover, the UN has also been working to increase awareness about human trafficking among people. In 2008, the UN collected 1.5 million signatures from people to end human trafficking and Steve Chalke was appointed as GIFT Special Advisor to provide guidance about Community Action to stop human trafficking. However, throughout the process, the UN identified that only international conventions cannot stop trafficking. Therefore, the UN planned for starting freedom along with other two projects, “Active Communities against Trafficking (ACT)”, and “Chocolate Campaign”.
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has initiated “GLO.ACT” by partnering with UNICEF. This is a global action or an initiative at the international level aiming to address and prevent trafficking. Different components of GLO.ACT assist countries to develop effective responses against smuggling and trafficking (United Nations, 2021). ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’ or (UNODC) has developed “Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking”, which provides legal, monetary, and humanitarian aid to the victims of human trafficking through different civil society bodies, and various governmental and inter-governmental bodies (iPleaders, 2020; United Nations, 2021). In addition to that, the “Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)” is another remarkable convention that tends to mitigate the issue related to human trafficking, slavery and it also prohibits slave trades and slavery. The “United Nations Convention against Traditional Organised Crime” also aims to prevent and address human trafficking.
Conclusion
It can be concluded after completing the discussion that human trafficking is a serious threat worldwide. Overall cases of human trafficking have been increased significantly in the UK, so the government needs to implement the rules and laws properly to control these criminal activities. There are various laws are applicable in the UK against human trafficking and at the same time, there are myriad international agreements and conventions, where the UN plays an important role. Nonetheless, the UN has identified that only conventions cannot stop this crime but people need to be more aware of it.
References
BBC News, 2021. Covid pandemic may increase people trafficking says charity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58920152
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
BBC, 2021. Human trafficking. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c77jz3mdmr3t/human-trafficking
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
Ben Quinn, 2019. Seventeen arrested in London in human trafficking crackdown. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/14/seventeen-arrested-in-london-in-human-trafficking-crackdown
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
CPS, 2020. Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Slavery. [Online]
Available at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/human-trafficking-smuggling-and-slavery
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
iPleaders, 2020. International laws against child trafficking. [Online]
Available at: https://blog.ipleaders.in/international-laws-child-trafficking/
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
Keith Ditcham, 2021. Human Trafficking: The UK Needs to Improve Its Response. [Online]
Available at: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/human-trafficking-uk-needs-improve-its-response
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
Lee, M., 2013. Human trafficking. s.l.:Routledge.
Legislationline, 2015. Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015. [Online]
Available at: https://www.legislationline.org/download/id/7403/file/UK_human_trafficking_exploitation_Act_Northern_Ireland_2015_en.pdf
[Accessed 12 November 2015].
Legislationline, 2015. Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. [Online]Availableat:https://www.legislationline.org/download/id/7405/file/UK_Human_trafficking_exploitation_Scotland_Act_2015_am2017_en.pdf
[Accessed 12 Novemver 2021].
National Crime Agency, 2021. 38 arrested as national law enforcement drive targets child traffickers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/38-arrested-as-national-law-enforcement-drive-targets-child-traffickers#:~:text=In%20the%20year%20ending%202020,%2C%20labour%2C%20and%20sexual%20exploitation.
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
National Crime Agency, 2021. Modern slavery and human trafficking. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/crime-threats/modern-slavery-and-human-trafficking
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
UK Legislation, 2021. Modern Slavery Act 2015. [Online]
Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/section/2/enacted
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
United Nations, 2021. First Person: Human trafficking, migrant smuggling, still significant threats in Asia. [Online] Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1099652
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
United Nations, 2021. ‘Harbouring’ explained: New publication analyses act of people-trafficking.[Online]Available at: https://news.un.org/en/audio/2021/10/1103802
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
United Nations, 2021. HUMAN TRAFFICKING. [Online]
Available at: https://news.un.org/en/tags/human-trafficking
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
United Nations, 2021. Prevention, Prosection and Protection – Human Trafficking. [Online]
Available at: https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/prevention-prosection-and-protection-human-trafficking
[Accessed 12 November 2021].
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