The law and economics of international sex slavery: prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation

Abstract

International trafficking in humans for sexual exploitation is an economic activity driven by profit motives, and up to four million people are estimated to be exploited by human traffickers each year. Laws regarding commercial sex influence the profitability of trafficking and may thus affect the inflow of trafficking to a country. Using two recent sources of European cross country data we show that trafficking of persons for commercial sexual exploitation (as proxied by the data sets we are using) is least prevalent in countries where prostitution is illegal, most prevalent in countries where prostitution is legalized, and in between in those countries where prostitution is legal but procuring illegal. Case studies of two countries (Norway and Sweden) that have criminalized buying sex support the possibility of a causal link from harsher prostitution laws to reduced trafficking. Although the data do not allow us to infer robust causal inference, the results suggest that criminalizing procuring, or going further and criminalizing buying and/or selling sex, may reduce the amount of trafficking to a country.

Modeling for Determinants of Human Trafficking: An Empirical Analysis

“…Human trafficking researchers discuss law enforcement and the level of corruption as important factors, both in origin and destination countries (Akee et al 2010(Akee et al , 2014Cho, Dreher, & Neumayer, 2013;Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013). Besides the general rule of law, specific antitrafficking measures are also crucial to addressing the problem (Cho et al 2014;Cho & Vadlamannati, 2012;Potrafke, 2013).…”

Should US Physicians Support the Decriminalization of Commercial Sex?

“…From this perspective, supporting some form of criminalization has the potential to reduce harm to those who are financially induced or coerced. It also appears that criminalization discourages buyers [43,44], reducing the demand for sellers, which in turn worsens commerce for traffickers and reduces trafficking [45]. However, arrest can compound adversity for sellers, particularly those from marginalized populations [46], and enforcement can be selectively used against buyers and brokers [47] in a racist way.…”

“…Although there is variation in how the Nordic model is implemented across countries [49], it is often promoted by those involved in anti-trafficking advocacy [50,51]. Four separate studies have found that sex trafficking is reduced under this model [40,41,45,52], and some analyses indicate that the Nordic model provides better support services to sellers than other systems [53,54], although the results have been called into question [42,48]. One criticism of the Nordic model is that any supposed benefit of legalizing selling is offset by the fact that buyers are still penalized, which means that sellers must continue to meet buyers under dangerous conditions [55].…”

“…The theoretical benefits of legalization are that neither buyers nor sellers risk criminal penalty, but there are nevertheless strategies in place to control STI transmission, improve sellers' safety, and quash trafficking. Primary objections are that trafficking increases [40,45] and that sellers remain at unacceptably heightened risk of violence whether commercial sex is criminalized or legalized and may be harassed by government agents [56] and exploited by brokers [57]. Like criminalization, legalization is not clearly consistent with beneficence; complying with government regulation can be oppressively burdensome for individual sellers and the benefit to the community in terms of reduced STI transmission remains questionable, given that there is still too little evidence demonstrating conclusively that legalization is an effective method of preventing epidemics.…”

The influence of value judgments about the existence of free will in prostitution on shaping criminal justice response to human trafficking

“…12 Slično ideji potpune zabrane prostitucije, u pitanju je američki izum koji se izvozi po svetu iako je u mestu porekla imao polovičan uspeh. Razlog za to je što stvara dodatne troškove 5 Stavovi radikalnih feminista podrobno su izloženi u: K. Miriam prostitutkama da bi se uspešno bavile svojim zanatom. Ono gde je ova kriminalna politika bila uspešna jeste skretanje pažnje javnosti na polno osnovano podvajanje u praktičnom sprovođenju normative koja se odnosi na prostituciju.…”