3071-The political economy of new slavery

Christien van den Anker 31
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended
exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be
irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have
been used.
O’Connell Davidson, 2002, pp. 2–3
For a more detailed discussion of the new trafficking protocol see
Chapter 3 in this volume.
These new instruments still leave governments the space to approach
slavery from a law and order perspective, which may harm the victims
even further. Therefore, principles of justice would still be helpful to
guide practice when aiming to overcome barriers to effective implementation
of international law.
Broadly speaking the implications of the argument in the first part of
this chapter can be summarized into five principles that should guide
policy-making in combating contemporary forms of slavery:
1. respect for the rights of victims as starting point;
2. cosmopolitan impartiality (justice for all) as the basis for policies/
laws;
3. respect for the agency of victims;
4. the long-term goal of structural change to global capitalism;
5. the provision of support to develop viable alternative livelihoods.
The human rights approach defended by, among others, the United
Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (UNHCHR) (Jordan, 2002)
would satisfy the first three of these principles, but not necessarily the
last two. The perspective of long-term structural change in the global
economic system is not part of the human rights doctrine as it stands.
The provision of support to develop viable alternative livelihoods is part
of NGO practice and campaigns, for example for bonded and child
labourers, yet is not fully part of the agenda on trafficking.
I would like to use the remainder of this section, to outline some of
the implications of holding these principles when working towards
policies and action to end the practices of contemporary slavery. The
first principle (respecting the rights of victims) would, for example,
require governments to provide assistance for victims of trafficking
who are now being deported without help to re-establish themselves
at home, not taking into account the threat of violence in the home
country by networks of traffickers. By withholding victim support,