Publication date: 05.07.2024
active and purposeful military lawyer with more than 4 years of experience
Human trafficking as a crime in criminal law
Abstract
Human trafficking is a serious violation of human rights and one of the worst crimes that can be committed against humanity. This phenomenon has a global character and affects almost all countries of the world. The article examines the concept of human trafficking, its forms, causes and consequences, as well as legal aspects of combating this phenomenon in the criminal law of Ukraine and international law.Introduction
Human trafficking is a criminal phenomenon, which consists in the implementation of actions aimed at the exploitation of a person, with the use or threat of use of violence, deception, abuse of power or the vulnerable state of a person. This crime is becoming more and more threatening in the globalized world. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, about 4.8 million people become victims of human trafficking every year. The problem of human trafficking is multifaceted and requires a comprehensive solution at the national and international levels.
Concepts and forms of human trafficking
According to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, trafficking in persons is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or obtaining persons by means of the threat of force for the purpose of exploitation or its use or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or the use of bribery, in the form of payments or benefits, to obtain the consent of a person who controls another person.
The main forms of human trafficking are:
Sexual exploitation - forcing victims to provide sexual services, participate in pornographic activities, etc.
Labor exploitation - forcing victims to work in difficult conditions, in violation of labor legislation, receiving benefits from this.
Exploitation of children - involvement of children in various types of illegal activities, forced to beg, sexual exploitation of children.Organ harvesting - illegal harvesting and transplantation of organs of victims.
Causes and consequences of human trafficking
The main reasons for the spread of human trafficking are:
Poverty, unemployment, low standard of living in the victims' countries of origin.
Gender inequality and discrimination.
Armed conflicts, social instability.
Organized crime, corruption, imperfect legislation.
Demand for cheap labor and commercial sex.
The consequences of human trafficking are catastrophic both for the victims and for society as a whole. Victims are subjected to physical, psychological, and sexual violence, fall into debt bondage, and are stigmatized. Human trafficking contributes to the spread of infectious diseases, organized crime, corruption, and human rights violations. It causes significant damage to the economy and undermines social stability.
Combating human trafficking in criminal law
In Ukraine, human trafficking is recognized as a criminal offense according to Art. 149 of the Criminal Code. The sanction of this article provides for imprisonment from 3 to 15 years with or without confiscation of property. Qualifying features increase the punishment, for example, committing a crime against a minor or an organized group.
The international legal counteraction to human trafficking is based on the following key acts:
UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) and Protocol to Prevent and Suppress Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000).
Convention of the Council of Europe on measures to combat human trafficking (2005).
Directive 2011/36/EC of the European Parliament and the Council "On preventing and combating trafficking in persons, as well as on protecting victims" (2011).
These and other international documents oblige states to criminalize human trafficking, provide protection and assistance to victims, and conduct preventive measures. In Ukraine, the corresponding norms are enshrined in the Criminal Code, the Law "On Combating Human Trafficking", other normative legal acts.
Conclusions
Human trafficking is a gross violation of fundamental human rights and one of the most serious crimes of the 20th century. This problem is of a global nature and requires joint efforts of states, international organizations, and civil society to overcome it.Effective countermeasures against human trafficking require improvement of legislation, strengthening of criminal responsibility, provision of comprehensive assistance to victims, implementation of complex preventive programs. Only joint coordinated actions at the national and international levels can minimize the threat of crimes against humanity.
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