JOURNAL OF MODERN SLAVERY
A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Human Trafficking Solutions
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2020
Sentinel Surveillance and Centring Prevention in Anti-Trafficking Policy and Response
Michael Gallo
Hannah Thinyane
United Nations University, Institute in Macao
There are more people today living and working in slavery-like conditions than ever before, highlighting limitations in the current anti-trafficking policy paradigm, characterised by its focus on prosecution and falling short on investment in prevention. This paper echoes the call made by other scholars for a prevention-centric, public health approach towards eradicating human trafficking and forced labour. Through a discussion of conceptual and practical advantages, it supports the use of sentinel surveillance for the proactive monitoring of at-risk populations to better understand changing patterns of exploitation over time. Centring prevention at the heart of anti-trafficking efforts is a long-term strategic investment in developing effective policy and addressing the root causes of why trafficking occurs in the first place.
Rosana Garciandia
Research Associate and Visiting Lecturer in Public International Law, King’s College London
Maeve Ryan
Lecturer in History and Grand Strategy, King’s College London
Philippa Webb
Professor of Public International Law at King’s College London
Mauritania was the last state in the world to formally abolish “chattel slavery” in 1980. It has since committed to work towards the elimination of slavery by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda and has progressively adopted domestic legislation complying with international law, such as the 2007 Anti-Slavery Act and the 2015 Anti-Slavery Act. Such legislation strengthened the domestic framework with the creation of special anti-slavery tribunals, an increase in penalties and the acknowledgement of victims’ rights and of the role of civil society organizations in protecting them. Yet, Mauritania faces significant challenges in the enforcement of its anti-slavery legislation and the government’s response remains insufficient.
Can Tech Tame the Outlaw Ocean?
A Book Review of The Outlaw Ocean: Crime and Survival in the Last Untamed Frontier (Author: Ian Urbina) and Film Review of Ghost Fleet (directed by Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron)
Bama Athreya, PhD
Thanks to a series of media and human rights reports, many of us are now aware that vast numbers of young men and boys are lured onto fishing boats and held in slavery at sea—sometimes for years without touching land. Attention to the dramatic extent of crimes at sea spiked a few years ago with incredible journalistic investigations by reporters at the Associated Press, New York Times, and The Guardian as well as continued human rights exposes by Human Rights Watch, Greenpeace and others. Now with the launch of Ian Urbina of the New York Times’ new book, The Outlaw Ocean, and the release in mid-2019 of an important new film on slavery at sea, Ghost Fleet, it’s time not only for renewed attention but a close review of what has been learned through an early round of interventions intended to end slavery at sea.