CORRUPTION

Lessons Learned by NGOs in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
Organizations working against TIP
There are several different groups working against TIP. These include celebrities such as Liam
Neeson, journalist Nicholas Kristof, and Ricky Martin. It also includes state governments and law
enforcement, international bodies such as Interpol, as well as intergovernmental organizations, such
as the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations. The Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) plays a particularly large role. NGOs play a big role from community groups, to regionallybased
organizations, such as Chab Dai in Cambodia, the National Freedom Network in South Africa,
and Project Respect in Australia. It also includes organizations such as such as the Global Slavery
Index, Stop the Traffik, Amnesty International, and Save the Children.
Each of these groups faces difficulties in addressing TIP. Criticism in relation to celebritization of
the issue has been attributed to a lack of substantive results and to an imbalanced focus on sex
trafficking over other types of TIP (Haynes, 2014). National legislatures and law enforcement have
not made significant strides toward halting the flow of slaves, despite widespread implementation
of and support for United Nations-mandated legislation (UN.GIFT, 2010; UNODC, 2009). Likewise,
the UN as an intergovernmental body has been limited in its effectiveness. The vulnerability of such
bodies to outside pressure is highlighted by the recent example of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki
Moon dropping action against the Saudi Arabian military for its activities in Yemen, after Saudi Arabia
reportedly threatened to cut funding to UN programs (Sengupta, 2016). This can present an issue
where exploitative labor practices form an essential part of a country’s economy.
A major problem for states attempting to address TIP is its transnational nature. Transnational
organized crime is challenging to address, even in close alliances. With no unified intelligence, police
or border force, tracking the movement of people across lengthy borders is difficult, as seen during
the height of the European “migrant crisis” in summer 2015. These difficulties are compounded by the
presence of organized criminal networks, which have systems to transport victims across borders.
International Affairs Forum
Additional problems include the lack of public awareness (human trafficking as something that
happens in other places, rather than in one’s own country); lack of trust in law enforcement,
particularly among people trafficked from countries with different laws or police cultures (a person
expecting police to be subject to bribery by traffickers is unlikely to identify themselves as a victim.
This belief is exacerbated and used by traffickers to control their victims. Additionally, victims may
believe they will be arrested as prostitutes. There are also cultural issues, as perpetrators from
eastern and sub-Saharan Africa use victims’ belief in witchcraft to control their behavior and prevent
them seeking assistance. Language issues are common and concordant problems in identifying
victims, as victims may be trafficked to somewhere they do not speak the language and be unable
to seek assistance. Likewise, sex tourists to Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, or Latin America
may not be able to identify a person as trafficked, or communicate it to law enforcement if they do. 2
Furthermore, the lack of supply chain controls among international and transnational businesses and
the simple fact that victims of TIP may be physically trapped and thereby inaccessible. There has also
been a dearth of successful prosecutions against perpetrators (UNODC, 2009).
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