Measuring the Success of Counter-Trafficking Interventions in the Criminal Justice Sector: Who decides—and how? by Anne Gallagher and Rebecca Surtees
Global concern about human trafficking has prompted substantial investment in counter-trafficking interventions. That investment, and the human rights imperatives that underpin counter-trafficking work, demand that interventions demonstrate accountability, results and beneficial impact. How this can happen in practice is complicated and contested. This article, which considers success measurements with respect to criminal justice interventions, seeks to cut through the complexities presented by...
Read MoreHuman Rights and the New UN Protocols on Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling: A Preliminary Analysis by Anne Gallagher
In December 1998, the United Nations General Assembly established an intergovernmental, ad-hoc committee and charged it with developing a new international legal regime to fight transnational organized crime. In October 2000, after eleven sessions involving participation from more than 120 states, the ad-hoc committee concluded its work. The centerpiece of the new regime is the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, supplemented by additional treaties (protocols), dealing...
Read MoreHuman Rights and Human Trafficking: Quagmire or Firm Ground? A Response to James Hathaway by Anne Gallagher
In a Fall 2008 article published in the Virginia Journal of International Law, James Hathaway questions whether the elimination of trafficking is a worthy objective and an appropriate focus for international law. Specifically he charges that while the elimination of trafficking is billed as the answer to contemporary slavery, the focus on trafficking has unfairly ‘privileged’ a small group of exploited individuals and diluted efforts that could have been better spent addressing the...
Read MoreDeveloping an Effective Criminal Justice Response to Human Trafficking by Anne Gallagher and Paul Holmes
Trafficking in persons now affects all regions and most countries of the world. Over the past decade, there has been increasing acceptance of the need for an effective, internationally coordinated response. However, the practical difficulties in realizing this goal are considerable. No country can yet lay claim to genuine, extensive experience in dealing with trafficking as a criminal phenomenon. Most are developing and adapting their responses on the run, often under strong political pressure,...
Read MoreDetention of Trafficked Persons in Shelters: A Legal and Policy Analysis by Anne Gallagher and Elaine Pearson
Since 2001, the United States Government has issued annual reports on the situation of human trafficking in every country other than its own identified by the State Department as having a significant trafficking problem. The focus of this article is on the standards that are being used in assessing the response of States to trafficking. The article examines the way in which the US judges the performance of countries while noting that international law already provides detailed and substantive...
Read MoreA Shadow Report on Human Trafficking in Lao PDR: The US Approach vs. International Law by Anne Gallagher
Since 2001, the United States Government has issued annual reports on the situation of human trafficking in every country other than its own identified by the State Department as having a significant trafficking problem. The focus of this article is on the standards that are being used in assessing the response of States to trafficking. The article examines the way in which the US judges the performance of countries while noting that international law already provides detailed and substantive...
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