The ‘Trafficking Chain’ in the International Criminal Offence of Trafficking in Human Beings

The term ‘trafficking chain’ manifests the fact that trafficking in human beings is a criminal offence perpetrated at stages and progressively: each stage in the commission of the offence presupposes a previous stage which, in its turn, is a condition for committing the next step, and so on, exactly as it happens with the pieces of a chain. A particular characteristic of trafficking in human beings is that the various stages in the commission of the offence are perpetrated by different individuals and/or entities and, given the international dimension of the offence, they take place in different countries as well. The proposed paper will ascertain which these stages are; identify and examine which are the separate criminal acts perpetrated during each stage; explain the legal situation of trafficked persons, as they become victims during the various stages; and analyze the obligations that the countries of recruitment, transit countries and the countries of destination have in securing and protecting victims' rights, with particular emphasis on the duties of the countries were exploitation took place. The analysis will be based on the provisions of relevant multilateral instruments (the Human Trafficking Protocol to the Palermo Convention, the Council of Europe Convention against Human Trafficking, etc.), the domestic legislation of states, the legislative instruments adopted by the European Union as well as the reports issued by international institutions. The proposed paper draws from my participation as the principal researcher in a project titled “Trafficking in Human Beings: Criminal Suppression and Protection of Victims' Rights” which is carried out by the Academy of Athens (Centre for the Study of the Greek Society).