The Fall of Human Rights: The Rise of Modern Servitude

In the past few years, the international community has been steadily alarmed by the growing phenomenon of human trafficking and the emergence around the conceptualisation of ‘modern slavery’. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis will be focused on addressing the issue of ‘modern slavery’ as the umbrella term for human trafficking, while also analysing the negative effects that the former’s uncritical and general definition has on the legislative responses to human trafficking offences and slavery-like practices, and the ineffective efforts in providing protection for the victims. Following a preliminary introduction on the topic, the first section introduces the problem by identifying its historical roots, when slavery and human trafficking were not condoned legally, but pursued free of sanctions meeting the general consensus, both socially and politically, in the practicing countries. Thereafter, the focus is shifted to the unaccomplished disposition of the main objectives embodied in the abolitionism movement, established as the most predictable consequence with the foundation of the Enlightenment, through a political and economic revolution driven by rational dissenters. This assessment will be useful in providing the proper context for the meticulous analysis of the current international anti-trafficking and slavery legal frameworks, and the blurring epistemological boundaries between the two practices. The second section investigates the causes behind the wording of the first legal definition of trafficking in persons given by the UN Trafficking Protocol, following the emergence of the ‘white slavery’ phenomenon, and it proceeds to present the various forms the crime is carried out, while focusing on vulnerable groups of people, such as women and children, which are the most affected and the ones in constant danger. The general wording of the Palermo Protocol has a detrimental impact on identification and protection of potential victims of trafficking in persons, and such observation will be supported by the doctrinal analysis of the international legal response and framework, with consequent analysis of the definitions elaborated in order to address the phenomena, and the existing academic literature analysing such issues. The study is concluded by highlighting the limitations in facing every form of exploitation, given the blurred line between slavery and trafficking practices within the modern slavery narrative, which contribute to endanger the victims and to foster new ones, while not providing effective protection for those who have been already rescued.