Globalization and the Growing Phenomenon of Human Trafficking

Abstract

Abstract: This article discusses the problem of human trafficking in the context of globalization. The present authors maintain in this discussion that while efforts have been made to deal with human trafficking, these initiatives are by far inadequate as they do not sufficiently address the root causes of human trafficking. Without downplaying the endogenous factors at play, one of the leading arguments of the paper is that human trafficking is a crime that is fed by processes and effects of globalization. Therefore, the responses to human trafficking need to be rooted in new development strategies that transform societies and individuals; strategies that can make globalization work and also mitigate the risks it brings. Furthermore, this means that effective global efforts to end human trafficking will need the support of NGO global networks and other civil society groups from both developing and developed countries. Up and above all, any effort to combat crime and poverty demands political will on the part of national governments and the international or global governance institutions and organizations and other key actors in the fight against global poverty and crimes like human trafficking. The current authors maintain the call for an all rounded approach; the promotion of justice and human rights, protection of rights, mobilizing moral awareness and implementation of enforceable legal standards, all of these efforts supported by the creation of a global human community where all are empowered and given the needed freedom towards self-realization. Such a community where justice prevails can only be assured if there is commitment to an ethical global vision that promotes social innovation in global governance, transnational finance and trade; a cosmopolitan vision that looks toward a new international order that takes seriously the normative standards of justice and equity and therefore takes care of the moral significance of globalization.