Human Security or State Security - The Overriding Threat in Trafficking in Persons

Authors

Mohamed Y. Mattar, The Projection Project, John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies

First Page

249

Abstract

Trafficking in persons is a violation of human rights that mainly affects women and children. For this reason, it should be recognized not only as a crime against the state but as a crime against the individual that poses a threat to human security. This paper will inquire into how national legal systems take into consideration the concept of human security in designing the appropriate legal response to trafficking in persons. This paper will focus on the following issues: personal security and safety versus human security; the methods that can be employed by legislation to protect the rights of a trafficking victim; causes of human insecurity; trafficking in persons as a threat against the individual, not the state; recognition of all forms of trafficking; confronting all actors in the trafficking enterprise; and the involvement of NGOs and civil society in the fight against trafficking in persons. I will argue that understanding the real threat in cases of trafficking in persons affects the rules that a legal system must incorporate to combat the problem.

Recommended Citation

Mohamed Y. Mattar, Human Security or State Security - The Overriding Threat in Trafficking in Persons, 1 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 249 (2006).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/ihrlr/vol1/iss1/19