Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 02/2010

Strategies Against Human Trafficking: The Role of the Security Sector

Cornelius Friesendorf

September 2009

Austrian National Defence Academy

Abstract

Human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes of our time. Across the globe, millions of people live in slave-like conditions, generating billions of dollars in profit for their traffickers. Human trafficking undermines the security of states because it is related to organised crime and corruption, and because some traffickers deal not only in people but also in drugs, weapons, and other goods. But most obviously, trafficking violates the human rights of trafficked persons who are exploited, raped, and sometimes killed. The topic has been on the contemporary international security agenda since the late 1990s. Much progress has been made since: new laws have been created, awareness has been raised, government officials have been trained, and cooperation agreements have been struck between the various state and nonstate counter-trafficking actors. However, there are few signs that trafficking is diminishing. Instead, there are many signs that it is increasing.