Human trafficking is global issue, which involves the transfer or movement of victims of human trafficking across borders of states, with both domestic and international implications in terms of law and policy. As human trafficking is a transnational issue, where victims are transferred from one to the other state, the effectiveness of the state’s institutions and laws in preventing human trafficking from its state or preventing its territory from becoming a conduit for human trafficking is an important issue. involves transfer of victims from one to the other state, it becomes difficult for the state to make effective laws or policy with respect to prevention of the incidence of human trafficking (Pati, 2011). However, states have been constrained in their effective responses against human trafficking as noted by Roza Pati:
“The dehumanization of individuals, which it so often entails, takes place within and outside the borders of one state and one legal system. When trafficking occurs within a single state, the government of that state can address the issue comprehensively and effectively within its borders. However, when any element of the process relates to a foreign state, be it the nationality of the victim or the state in which the victim is temporarily crossing during his or her trafficking passage, not only is the control of the state over this activity legally and factually limited, but the victim is also put in a precarious position” (Pati, 2011, p. 82).
The precarious position that the victim of human trafficking is put in because of transnational nature of the trafficking is a challenge to both the victim as well as the state as noted above. The victim is in a precarious position when he is transferred from one to the other state not allowing him to get protection or remedy against his situation in any state. The states as well are constrained when the issue transcends their own borders. Due to this nature of the problem of human trafficking, there are often difficulties for any state to control or prevent human trafficking (Pati, 2011). The multi-jurisdictional nature of the offence itself is a challenge to the entire criminal justice process of the state.
Another problem involved in human trafficking is the nature of the victimology. Usually, the victims of human trafficking are the vulnerable populations, such as, children and young women as well as children and women who are already victims of abuse (MacKinnon, 2012). Moreover, human trafficking is also a form of slavery and slavery itself has been declared as a crime against humanity (Chibuike). Human trafficking has been equated with slavery because the victims of human trafficking are subjected to this without their consent and then made to work in the sex industry or employment market in conditions that are reminiscent of slavery (Chibuike). Victims of human trafficking are also exposed to diverse types of violence by their handlers (Chibuike). Around the world, people who are victimised by human trafficking may number around 12 million people per year as per the report of the Trafficking in Persons Report (2010). The majority of these people are women and children who may have consented to being transported from one to the other country in hope of gaining employment opportunities, but were forced into prostitution or forced labour (United States Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2010, p. 373).
The meaning of human trafficking has been subject to some disagreement amongst scholars. The definition of human trafficking that is accepted internationally is that which is provided in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) also called as the Palermo Protocol. Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or the use of force or other means of coercion, of abduction or fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” In this context, exploitation take on different forms and may include forced labour, sexual exploitation, removal of organs and body parts, use for criminal activities, use for begging, forced marriage, illicit adoption and the forced induction for armed conflicts.
Human trafficking has increased due to a number of reasons, such as, globalisation, and opening of global underground or black markets that sell illicit products and services. As far as facilitation of human trafficking is concerned, Transparency International report (2011) claims that corruption is the most effective factor for facilitating human trafficking as it facilitates trafficking by weakening the effectiveness of the laws of the country that are enacted to prevent or punish human trafficking. This may be a justified argument because in many cases traffickers would be requires to pay-off police officers, judges or any public officials so as to ensure that they are able to conduct their operations without attracting the legal system’s sanctions. This essay intends to shed a light on the issue of human trafficking as a global problem, and then explore the International Law and human trafficking, followed by explaining the relationship between this phenomenon and corruption particularly in Nigeria, and concludes that corruption plays a crucial role in the pervasive of trafficking in person.
In Nigeria, corruption is an endemic problem, especially in the police, with there being both contextual and personal factors responsible for corruption. Conditions of service, poor remuneration, greed, absence of accountability perpetuate the conditions for corruption (Oluwaniyi, 2011). There is also a ‘get-rich-quickly’ syndrome, common to Nigerian social life, which affects police, bureaucrats, and politicians, which are responsible for higher rates of corruption in the Nigerian police, as well as politicians (Oluwaniyi, 2011).
Human trafficking is now a global issue because as a crime it is transnational in nature. In 2001, there were more than 2 million people who were trafficked every year, the majority of these people being females who were forced into slavery, prostitution or beggary (Ayua, 2001). Today, human trafficking is considered to be the second most lucrative illicit business in the world, with trade in narcotics being the most lucrative (Galeotti, 2014). The profits from human trafficking are estimated to be approximately 10 billion dollars a year (Galeotti, 2014). Clearly, the organised crime syndicates that are involved in this illicit trade are capable of bribing officials as they do have the economic resources. This raises the possibility for corruption and exposes a possible link between human trafficking and corruption.
Victims of human trafficking have been subjected to forceful transfer to locations all over the world, particularly to Western Europe, the Middle East, Japan, North America and Australia (Agbu, 2003). Human trafficking is one of the most profitable illicit businesses in the world as per the Interpol (UNESCO, 2010). Due to the organised crime syndicates being largely involved in human trafficking, it has been difficult to control the activities as the crime syndicates are both rich and powerful, hence able to bribe officials in different countries that are on the trafficking route (Irogbe, 2013 ). Countries like Mexico and Colombia have seen the organised crime syndicates being able to conduct their illicit activities with impunity. It may also be noted that for many of these countries, organised crime syndicates are also involved in drug trade, kidnapping people to be drug carriers, organ trade and they use their victims of human trafficking for these illicit purposes as well (Hawley, 2010). The United States remains an important destination and transit country for the victims of trafficking, leading to the American Congress successfully passing the Act of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000 (Agbu, 2003).
Anomie theory by Merton (1957) can be used to explain the possible links between human trafficking and corruption. Anomie theory has been used to explain the increase of crime in the society on the premise that absence of norms or unclarity of norms in a society increase the conditions that are conducive to the increase in crime (Bernburg, 2002). In such societies, the rules are developed on the goals that are collectively sought by the members of the society, and these achievement of these goals determine the success of the individual (Bernburg, 2002). The society provides the blueprint for success and this blueprint also provides the rules through which success is to be achieved (Bernburg, 2002). Within the society, some people are able to achieve these goals with legitimate means while others may choose illegitimate or illicit means for achieving these goals (Bernburg, 2002). In other words, if one of the collective social goals within the society is to achieve wealth or status, some may be able to achieve these goals with legitimate means, while others may choose illicit means for achieving these goals. It is here that a gap is created which may be used by those who seek wealth by choosing corruption.
With respect to human trafficking, anomie theory can help explain how traffickers may prey on people by promising them money and success and then luring them into sex rings (Hook, Gjermeni, & Haxhimeri, 2006). Literature indicates that women from low socio-economic families may be lured into trafficking or sex rings by promises of better opportunities (Hook, Gjermeni, & Haxhimeri, 2006). For people from the lower income backgrounds, it may be easier to be lured into human trafficking and sex rings because of the problems that they face with homelessness, poverty and economic deprivation, which creates an anomie in their lives that is preyed upon by the organised crime syndicates or traffickers (Barner, Okech, & Camp, 2014; MacKinnon, 2012).
Anomie can also be used to explain the potential for corruption in societies that make the achievement of wealth an important collective goal, but does not provide adequate avenues for achieving that kind of wealth. For the police officers and other authorities that are involved in anti-trafficking measures, the lack of good salaries, or greed for more money as created through anomie, may be a significant factor for increasing the link between corruption and human trafficking.
Corruption is a difficult term to define as it has complex connotations, and involves many varieties of behaviour (Graaf, et al., 2010). Corruption has been defined within the framework of institutional economics and the rational choice model in terms of principal and agent problem, wherein the agent makes a rational choice to be corrupt for maximising self-interest (Hellmann, 2017; Rose-Ackerman, 2010). The main actors in this are bureaucratic officials, government ministers, and public servants (Rose-Ackerman, 2010, p. 48). This model will provide the basis for defining corruption for the purpose of this essay as the corruption of the bureaucratic officials, government ministers, and public servants, such as police and its link with human trafficking. Human trafficking is fuelled by globalisation, and globalisation has specific links to growth in police corruption (Buttle, Graham Davies, & Meliala, 2016).
In the case of Nigeria, literature indicates that there is a high level of police corruption as well as corruption in the political leadership, which has led to the normalisation of corruption in the country (Oluwaniyi, 2011). The Lagos State for instance, has the worst reported cases of police corruption in Nigeria, whereas other areas in Nigeria are also corrupted (Oluwaniyi, 2011). Specific factors that may be responsible for corruption in the police forces are poor conditions of service, low remuneration levels, and lack of accountability (Oluwaniyi, 2011). The factors exacerbate the conditions within which corruption is perpetuated (Oluwaniyi, 2011). With relation to anomie specifically, there is a ‘get-rich-quickly’ syndrome in Nigeria, which also impacts the police mentality as well as normalisation of the greed in the society. Amongst the personal factors responsible for corruption in Nigeria, greed to gain extra income is one of the factors that may be the most important factor for increase in corruption in the police forces (Oluwaniyi, 2011). With respect to the anomie theory, it may be explained that the low salaries given to the police forces, and the goals of getting rich quickly, are not compatible. This may lead to some police officers or personnel to become corrupt. Therefore, such police personnel may be involved in the taking of bribes from the traffickers or organised crime syndicates that are involved in human trafficking in Nigeria.
The Nigerian police service conditions have also been found to be stressful and research indicates that the responsibilities and work stress are not proportionate to the incomes of the police personnel (Oluwaniyi, 2011). The lower ranked Nigerian policemen are also not provided adequate accommodation facilities, which may also be a reason for their giving in to corruption so that they are better able to provide a decent standard of life to their families (Oluwaniyi, 2011). This may be a reason why corruption in Nigeria may be an endemic problem.
Nigeria has also found to have corruption in political leadership and this impacts the governance as well as social perceptions towards corruption (Oluwaniyi, 2011). Research has suggested that the concept of personal accumulation and gain through public office, is a concept that has largely come to be accepted as part of political life and leadership (Oluwaniyi, 2011). Thus, endemic nature of corruption in Nigeria is also because of systemic corruption in political and other social institutions in Nigeria. In other words, endemic corruption in the Nigerian society and the high toleration of corruption by the society means that political and social insitutions themselves have become corrupt.
To summarise this section, it may be said that Nigeria depicts poor conditions of service and remuneration in Nigerian police forces, depicts lack of accountability in the police forces, and a greed to gain extra income, which is not unique to the Nigerian police alone and has become a part of the social conceptualisation of goals. In order to achieve these goals of self-enrichment, corruption may be a method that is adopted by both the police forces as well as the political leadership in Nigeria. This may have definite implications for the human trafficking sector as those who are involved in this illicit business may be able to bribe the police as well as other authorities in order to carry on their illicit business in Nigeria.
Agbu (2003) finds a definite link between trafficking and corruption in the Nigerian context and he notes that the “business of trafficking in humans is today organized loosely by groups that are also involved in weapons and narcotics, colluding with government officials in dozens of countries. There is very little doubt, that it is a lucrative business and may be one of the most difficult to combat” (p. 2). (Agbu, 2003). In the context of Nigeria, research shows the collusion of government officials with traffickers. There is also evidence of law enforcement officers having become part of the syndicates that are involved in human trafficking (Agbu, 2003). For instance, in Bosnia, Human Rights Watch showed evidence of visa and immigration officials visiting brothels for free services and not taking any action against the traffickers who had doctored documents for the victims of trafficking forced to work in these brothels (Agbu, 2003). In 2001, a former Nigerian police officer and 50 others were arrested by Guinean authorities for their involved in a trafficking racket (Agbu, 2003). These incidents show the involvement of the police officers and other government authorities from Nigeria in the human trafficking rings. It is also pertinent to note that there is evidence on how some members of the Nigerian police shirk their duties under the law by investigating the traffickers and counselling the victims of the human trafficking rings:
“Whilst the link between procurers of victims within Nigeria and their external collaborators has not been properly established, it has been revealed that the Nigerian Police, instead of counselling and enhancing the rehabilitation of the victims, further aggravate the predicament of these women by subjecting them to persecution and extortion while they are in holding cells” (Agbu, 2003, p. 8).
The above observation indicates that there is a definite evidence of some policemen from Nigerian police not providing counselling to the victims of human trafficking who may be deported from other countries and may be held in the holding cells in Nigerian jails; instead, these women are subjected to persecution and even extortion by the police. This statement is an indictment of the police in the sense that instead of taking action against the traffickers, the police subjects the victims to harassment. This may be so because there are deeper links between the police and the traffickers.
Human trafficking being a global problem, international law has responded to this problem by enacting of certain instruments that are aimed at creating measures that can prevent or punish the crime of human trafficking. However, as with most international instruments, the enforcement of these measures are in the domain of the domestic governments and the law. In this context, corruption can come in the way of enforcement of international instruments that are meant to target human trafficking as well.
This section of the essay is divided into two sections, the first discussing the instruments of international law that are related to human trafficking and the second related to the enforcement of the measures.
“‘Trafficking in persons’ shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs” (Palermo Protocol, Article 3(a)).
As per the definition of human trafficking in Article 3(1) above, the term is wide and includes many aspects of trafficking. One of the important underlying theme of the crime is the use of force or fraud and deception for the purpose of exploiting the victims of human trafficking. Such exploitation may include sexual exploitation, slavery or removal of the organs. Also relevant is the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air. Both the Protocols were developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with the aim of strengthening the ability of the international law to combat the illicit crime of human trafficking. In support of enforcing these instruments, the UNODC established the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) in 2007. The Palermo Protocol is in particular very significant development as it was adopted by the UN General Assembly, making the definition of human trafficking in the Protocol to be the most universally accepted definition of human trafficking (Dewey, 2008, p. 37).
It is not surprising that the international community has taken note of human trafficking and has responded to it because human trafficking has relevance for human rights as well as the criminal justice system. The European Court of Human Rights has also noted the many serious social, human and legal costs of human trafficking in a landmark case (Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, No. 25965/04 , 2010). In this case, the crime of human trafficking was recognised as a form of slavery (Gallagher, 2010, p. 188).
There are other cases on human trafficking that are decided within international instruments that may be mentioned here as this gives us the idea of the universally accepted definition of human trafficking as a form of slavery. One of these cases was decided by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) in which the tribunal considered that human trafficking was slavery and forced labour (Prosecutor v. Kunarac, Kovač and Vuković Judgment, Case No. IT-96-23-T & IT-96-23/1-T, 2001). In fact, the Kunarac, Kovač and Vuković has been considered to be important to the interpretation of the European Court of Human Rights as well (Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, No. 25965/04 , 2010). The approach of the international tribunal as well as the European Court of Human Rights points at the universalization of the definition of human trafficking in the Palermo Protocol (Vilt, 2014). Human trafficking is considered to be akin to slavery because of the physical and psychological control that is exercised by the trafficker over the victim of human trafficking, which may be control over the movement and physical environment of the victim as well as taking measures for preventing or deterring escape (Vilt, 2014).
The enforcement of the international law is to be done within the states themselves. This much was also observed by the European Court of Human Rights, wherein the court held that the obligation of the states was to conduct full and effective investigations into all areas of human trafficking, including recruitment, and exploitation of the victims (Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, No. 25965/04 , 2010). These obligations are applicable equally to all states that may be involved in human trafficking as being the origin states, transit states, or destination states (UN OHCHR). Therefore, the first point to be noted is that states are themselves responsible for ensuring that they have created proper structures and mechanisms to respond to the challenges of investigating and preventing human trafficking from their territory or any related activities, such as transit, from their territories (UN OHCHR). The question is whether the Nigerian government has created any such mechanisms for the prevention and investigation of human trafficking needs to be considered in greater depth here.
In Nigeria, efforts around the controlling of human trafficking are made by both the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the government. The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has been established by the government and does some work in this regard. Apart from this, there are other organisations like the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), and the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), both of whom are involved in the area of social activism regarding human trafficking in Nigeria and also helping the victims of human trafficking in Nigeria.
Due to the link between human trafficking and corruption, the efforts made by the government to combat corruption are also important. The important measures in this context are the Corrupt Practices and Economic Crime Draft Decree of 1990, the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, and the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) (Agbu, 2003). These measures are important in the sense that they are related to the direct combat of corruption by the government of Nigeria.
Despite these measures taken by the government, it is seen that there are gaps within which it becomes possible for human traffickers as well as police and other authorities to indulge in this criminal activity (Huntley, 2014). The issue of human trafficking in Nigeria has been highlighted by the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) who has noted that Nigeria leads the African nations in human trafficking (Huntley, 2014). It is a matter of concern that apart from the usual purposes of prostitution, beggary, servitude, and forced labour, human trafficking in Nigeria is also linked to “baby harvesting,” which is a forced process by which women victims of trafficking are made to harvest or carry babies that are then sold in the illegal international adoption market as well as domestic adoptions (Huntley, 2014). UNESCO reported the first cases of baby harvesting related to the Nigerian human trafficking syndicates in 2006 (Huntley, 2014). One of the famous cases of baby harvesting in Nigeria involves a doctor who was caught running a “baby factory” in 2008, which was disguised as a maternity and social welfare home (Huntley, 2014). Teenage girls who had been trafficked were forcefully impregnated by the doctor and confined in the facility against their will (Huntley, 2014). The babies who are born to these girls were sold to third parties (Huntley, 2014). While it may be argued that such incidents indicate that there is complicity of the police because the police turn a blind eye to such activities; it is also to be noted that in many such cases, the facilities have come to attention because of the investigative work done by the police. For instance, police raided the Cross Foundation in 2013 as a “baby factory,” which sold babies to third parties (Huntley, 2014). In such cases, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), which is the Nigerian state agency fighting human trafficking, has been approached by the police but in one such incident, the agency claimed that it did not have jurisdiction over the case and referred the case back to the police (Huntley, 2014).
Raids by the police has also led to the exposure of other such baby factories in Nigeria. For example, 26 teenage girls were rescued by the Nigerian police in May 2013 from a baby factory, owned by an infamous trafficker, “Madame One Thousand” (Huntley, 2014). These girls were victims of traffickers and Madame One Thousand had medical doctors working for her. This exposes the level of corruption in the society where doctors are also involved in the human trafficking business. This case indicates a situation where the police are not corrupt and are actually raiding the premises run by doctors who are involved in the trafficking business. However, this case indicates a situation where the corruption is shown to be endemic and spread in professions like medicine. This reflects on the social conditions as well because these girls are from poor families or are victims of kidnappings and abductions and then forced into baby harvesting.
In Nigeria, human trafficking is both internal, that is, trafficking within the state, as well as international, that is, trafficking beyond Nigeria (Duru & Ogbonnaya, 2012). The geographical dynamics of Nigeria are responsible for a lot of internal trafficking, and in this corruption plays an important role (Duru & Ogbonnaya, 2012). Internal trafficking has increased significantly within Nigeria in the past few years and communities like Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Imo, Benue, Niger and Kwara are particularly susceptible to trafficking (Duru & Ogbonnaya, 2012). These are rural communities and the members of these communities are vulnerable victims who are exploitated by traffickers for domestic work, farm labour and prostitution (Duru & Ogbonnaya, 2012).
Corruption perpetuates crimes like human trafficking because it allows gaps in the system that is there to prevent such crimes. There are two ways in which corruption can aid trafficking as explained by the anomie theory: police and state authorities can be corrupt and have personal greed for more money, which makes them corrupt and turn a blind eye to traffickers; and those who are from poor backgrounds and want to earn money may be lured into trafficking by the promise of money. Those who join criminal syndicates may also be influenced by the idea of making quick money. At the same time, police and other authorities may also be greedy and impacted by the get rich quickly syndrome, which makes them more corrupt. In this situation, where corruption becomes endemic in a society, crimes like trafficking of humans can occur more frequently and with greater impunity because the enforcement of the laws and measures for prevention of such crimes is lax. Therefore, it is possible for corruption in a society to lead to increase in human trafficking crimes as is seen in the case of Nigeria. It can be said in conclusion that corruption fuels human trafficking in Nigeria and perpetuates the conditions in which human trafficking can continue. Here, corruption does not only mean corruption by police or other authorities but a general condition which can also be seen in the civilians or professionals like doctors. In Nigeria, corruption by doctors have led to opening up of baby factories that are fuelled by human trafficking. Therefore, there is a close link between corruption and human trafficking.
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