The Palermo Protocol: An Ineffective Treaty for Holding Human Traffickers Criminally Accountable and Protecting Victims of Human Trafficking [Article]

Abstract

In 2003, the crime of human trafficking was defined for the first time in the “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,” commonly referred to as the “Palermo Protocol.” Touted as one of the international community’s greatest success stories, the Palermo Protocol created a “3Ps” framework that obligated States Parties to enact national legislation that prevents human trafficking, protects human trafficking victims, and prosecutes human traffickers. Yet, despite the international community’s attempt to end human trafficking via the enactment of the Palermo Protocol, every country remains affected by human trafficking as either a country of origin, transit, or destination. As evidenced by the increasing number of human traffickers and human trafficking victims worldwide, the Palermo Protocol has failed to realize all aspects of its 3Ps framework. The Palermo Protocol’s ineffectiveness can be attributed to its unclear purpose, unspecific definition of human trafficking, failure to define exploitation and creation of a power imbalance, and broad, vague, and undefined language that violates the legality principle. Moreover, the Palermo Protocol does not adequately protect human trafficking victims because its protection measures are not mandatory, and States are not held accountable for its domestic enforcement and implementation. To make the Palermo Protocol effective, its framework should shift from a criminal law to a human rights and development law approach, an international review and evaluation process should be implemented to foster greater accountability, and a new anti-human trafficking instrument based on international human rights law should be created.