Evidence on women trafficked for sexual exploitation: A rights based analysis

The aim of this paper is to investigate which factors influence the pattern of enforcement (violation) of basic rights among women trafficked for sexual exploitation. A conceptual framework is adopted where the degree of agency and the possibility to influence the terms of sex-based transactions are seen as conditional on the enforcement of some basic rights. Using data collected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on women assisted by the organization after having been trafficked for sexual exploitation, we investigate the enforcement (violation) of five uncompromisable rights, namely the right to physical integrity, to move freely, to have access to medical care, to use condoms, and to exercise choice over sexual services. By combining classification tree analysis and ordered probit estimation we find that working location and country of work are the main determinants of rights enforcement, while individual and family characteristics play a marginal role. Specifically, we find that (1) in lower market segments working on the street is comparatively less ‘at risk’ of rights violation; (2) there is no consistently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ country of work, but public awareness on trafficking within the country is important; (3) the strength of organised crime in the country of work matters only in conjunction with other local factors, and (4) being trafficked within one’s country, as opposed to being trafficked internationally, is associated with higher risk of rights violation.     

Organized crime and the theft of Iraqi antiquities

Amid the chaos following the downfall of Saddam Hussein, thousands of treasured artifacts from Iraq’s museums and ruins disappeared. Many were trafficked out of the country and into auction houses in the West. This occurrence highlights the often-overlooked role of organized criminal networks in the collection, smuggling, and sale of illicit antiquities. By taking advantage of the breakdown in social order that surrounded the U.S.-led invasion in {dy2003}, criminals were able to profit from Iraq’s heritage and deprive its people of their past. This report examines the looting of Iraqi museums and archaeological during the fighting of 2003. Details of the antiquities theft that accompanied the chaotic aftermath of that conflict are investigated for signs of infiltration by organized criminal actors. In addition, the role of organized crime in the international trade in illicit antiquities is examined to shed further light on this obscure aspect of international criminal activity. Finally, the international response is evaluated to determine its effectiveness in combating both the theft of Iraq’s archaeological treasures and the increasing power of criminal actors in the country.     

Human trafficking revisited: legal,enforcement and ethnographic narratives on sex trafficking to Western Europe

In this paper we focus on the ways ‘victims’ and ‘perpetrators’ are imagined in the narratives on women who have been trafficked to West Europe for sexual exploitation. Three specific domains: international/national law, local law enforcement and ethnographic academic perspective are particularly important as they strongly influence political reaction to trafficking and describe the phenomenon from the perspective of the individuals concerned. In our analysis, an explanation of the diversity of the perceptions in these three domains is provided.     

Hong Kong can develop its capitalist system only under the framework of the “One China, Two Systems” policy

Hong Kong is an administrative and economic entity under the sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China, and has developed to be an international center for finance, trade and shipping for history reasons and international favor. Essentially, the local political system adopted by Hong Kong is that of a non-sovereign state as well as a non-political entity. In terms of its makeup, the political system is neither entirely occidental nor completely oriental but an administrative dominative system developed according to Hong Kong’s peculiar characteristics, which has been proved to be effective. It was true when the United Kingdom held the reins of power and it still continues since its territory was returned to the People’s Republic of China. This paper is delivered in the conference “The Evolution of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in Hong Kong and Macao: Implication for Canada” held by University of Waterloo, Canada on March 24, 2006.     

Irregular States or the Semiotics of Knight-Errantry

This article examines the transformation of the Order of St John (also known as the Knights of Malta) from a crusading and piratic entity (periodically in Jerusalem, Cyprus, Rhodes and Malta) into an irregular state actor without territory (in Rome). Specifically, it looks at the political rationales through which the Order has been historically constituted as an international subject and currently enacted as an “irregular state”, and evaluates the function of international legal discourse in making up for its missing territory, the supposedly ‘hard’ and ‘objective’ condition of statehood under international law.     

Expressions of speciesism: the effects of keeping companion animals on animal abuse,animal trafficking and species decline

Humans’ contact with other animals is chiefly organised around humans’ own consumption and ‘needs’. This article begins with an aspect of the human—non-human animal relationship that is connected to animals as social, not material beings -‘pet-keeping’. Over the past few years the pet industry has expanded enormously. I discuss how the keeping of companion animals can be understood, and the consequences for the animals involved; this practice leaves an increasing number vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, not the least dogs—the most common companion animal. The market for companion animals worldwide is fed by breeding, but also by the abduction of animals and birds from their habitats. Keeping companion animals contributes greatly to the endangerment of many species, parrots in particular. Therefore the focus of this paper especially concerns parrots and the consequences they and their species suffer from being abducted, trafficked and traded, whether the trade is criminalized or not. I will discuss implications of the CITES convention, whether it serves to legitimate rather than protect animals from trade, trafficking and suffering.     

Intravenous Drug Use and HIV in Estonia: Socio-Economic Integration and Development of Indicators Regarding the Right to Health for its Russian-Speaking Population

This article seeks to highlight some potential indicators and benchmarks for the right to health under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Estonia. These potential key indicators, as part of a human rights based approach to health indicators being developed by the UN Special Rapporteur, are argued to be particularly important in the context of the exceptionally high HIV rates among the Russian speaking population in Estonia. The historical emergence of the HIV epidemic in Estonia is traced, comparing its development with the situations in Latvia and Lithuania. This article describes the current extent of the HIV epidemic in Estonia which is the country with the highest reported number of HIV infections per capita in Europe, a number impacting in an extremely disproportionate fashion on its Russian-speaking population, particularly in North-Eastern Estonia. Understanding of the HIV epidemic in Estonia cannot exclude the social contextual factors of the social marginalization of many among the Russian-speaking population, the ‹alien’ status of those without citizenship of Estonia or any other State, and other failures of Estonian State policy with regard to intravenous drug use and HIV in the recent past. HIV among the prison population is also examined as disproportionately impacting upon Russian-speaking prisoners. It is argued that the language and logic of the Estonian State Integration Programme, as well as Estonia’s Second Report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (2004) which refer to its Russian-speaking citizens as ‹non-Estonians’ is discrimination based on ethnic origin. In order to develop a system of State accountability in relation to the right to health, candidate indicators and benchmarks are proposed as structural, process and outcome indicators relevant to Estonia regarding the right to health and HIV, intravenous drug use, socio-economic integration and its Russian-speaking population. Dr. Paul Downes is Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland.     

Between pedagogy and practice: developing and delivering international justice coursework in North America

While the need for new and innovative international coursework in North America has been recognized, developments in North American Universities have been few. Building on Mathias Reimann’s (Penn State International Law Review 22:397–415 [23]) useful justification for a new basic course in international law, this paper provides a discussion of a new approach to international justice coursework. Based on the nascent ICC and the jurisprudential developments of past international tribunals, a discrete international legal order has emerged. This may provide an opportunity for a broader examination of international criminal justice drawn from disciplines such as history, sociology, psychology, and criminology. By offering practical classroom techniques to assist in the delivery of international justice coursework, this paper attempts to provoke debate and discussion about how international coursework ought to be designed and delivered to a wider audience of undergraduate students.     

International crime in the interwar period: a view from the edge

This article examines the issue of international crime in Malta during the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, Malta was said to be at the centre of the international underworld, and in particular, a primary route for the white slave trade. Archival evidence in Malta and London reveals some concern over counterfeiting and smuggling, but little to support concerns about traffic in women or drugs. International crime did, however, represent a significant political issue. Owing to a rising national identity and interest in promoting tourism, politicians and the press in Malta resented allegations about the white slave trade. Accusations surrounding a bomb incident and assassination attempt invoked charges by pro-British and pro-independence voices. We conclude that the ‘myth of international crime’, raised in the context of multi-national police cooperation, extended to the edge of Europe and figured into wider issues involving governance within the British Empire.     

East Meets West in Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Finance: Policy Dialogue and Differentiation on Security, the Timber Trade and ‘Alternative’ Banking

This paper compares and contrasts South East Asian and European Union countries’ perceptions of the priorities for anti money laundering (AML) and anti terrorist finance (ATF) in relation to three industries: security goods and services; the timber trade; and ‘informal’ value transfer and banking services. It might be expected that all countries would equally support each of these aspects of AML/ATF policies, without differentiating between the industries generating the proceeds. As this paper will show, however, historical experiences, contemporary political relations and patterns of trade shape countries’ approaches, resulting in distinctive enthusiasms and reservations. In a nutshell, the EU points most strongly to products and services originating in Asia as posing AML/CTF risks, and locates primary responsibility for monitoring and control as falling within Asia - a projection of risk and responsibility that is reciprocated by Asian countries. Asian countries perceive a need for tighter control of dangerous products exported by the west, for example, small arms and light weapons, and of related money laundering circuits. Asian and European policy makers increasingly articulate concerns over illegal logging and related laundering, however European importers and their governments see responsibilities for this as falling primarily within Asia. Finally, the EU (like the US) perceives high levels of laundering risk in ‘informal’ value transfer/banking services, in which Asian-run businesses have a global competitive advantage. For the future, as the international balance of trade shifts, and as Asia increases its influence in international fora including those concerned with AML/CTF, so the region’s policy preferences may be expected to carry more weight.

Supply and demand: exposing the illicit trade in Cambodian antiquities through a study of Sotheby’s auction house

Looters are reducing countless ancient sites to rubble in their search for buried treasures to sell on the international market. The trafficking of these and other stolen cultural objects has developed into a criminal industry that spans the globe. For numerous reasons, the small Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia presents an opportunity to ground this illicit trade in reality. This paper supplements previous studies that have detailed the pillaging of the country’s archaeological sites, and aims to better comprehend the trafficking of its artifacts, through an investigation of their final destination: the international art market. Of course, the global market for Cambodian art is wide, but Sotheby’s Auction House provides an excellent sample. For over 20 years, its Department of Indian and Southeast Asian Art in New York City has held regular sales of Cambodian antiquities, which have been well published in print catalogues and on the web. These records indicate that Sotheby’s has placed 377 Khmer pieces on the block since 1988—when those auctions began—and 2010. An analysis of these sales presents two major findings. Seventy-one percent of the antiquities had no published provenance, or ownership history, meaning they could not be traced to previous collections, exhibitions, sales, or publications. Most of the provenances were weak, such as anonymous private collections, or even prior Sotheby’s sales. None established that any of the artifacts had entered the market legally, that is, that they initially came from archaeological excavations, colonial collections, or the Cambodian state and its institutions. While these statistics are alarming, in and of themselves, fluctuations in the sale of the unprovenanced pieces can also be linked to events that would affect the number of looted antiquities exiting Cambodia and entering the United States. This correlation suggests an illegal origin for much of the Khmer material put on the auction block by Sotheby’s.     

An agenda for change in U.S. climate policies? Presidential ambitions and congressional powers

The U.S. membership in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) constituted an important element in the Bush administration’s voluntary and non-committing ‘soft-law’ approach to climate change. With the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the U.S. has embarked on a shift in its climate policy towards a legislative, ‘hard-law’ strategy. Obama’s approach implies that the distribution of interests in Congress becomes more significant. In this article, we assess the rules and procedures governing the relationship between the president and the Congress embedded in the U.S. Constitution and explore implications of a stronger congressional involvement in U.S. climate policies for President Obama’s ability to realise his climate policy ambitions at both the domestic and the international levels. We argue that the strong relationship between natural resource dependence (coal and oil) and opposition to climate policies is a constant feature of the U.S. climate policy debate. In order to succeed, Obama must break the enduring gridlock characterising congressional debate in this policy area by designing policies that, through compromise and compensation, can mobilise the support of oil- and coal-state representatives in Congress. The acceptability of an international climate treaty in Congress, moreover, depends inter alia on the resolution of the difficult issue of developing country participation. Success may be enhanced by using the APP and the Major Economies Initiative as informal arenas for negotiation and sector-based cooperation, thus providing a much-needed supplement to the UN-based negotiation process.

Long-term criminal justice response to human trafficking in south africa: an impossible mission

ABSTRACT

This article explores the propriety of long-term efforts of the South African criminal justice system in combating human trafficking. Though a crime of global dimension, human trafficking has been a reverberating issue of concern to the South African State. Steps have been taken by the State to address this menace, especially from the legal standpoint, and the enlistment of human trafficking among crimes that require an effective criminal justice approach to deal with; yet, the menace has persisted. From a broader doctoral study, using qualitative method, it was discovered (amongst others) that as currently structured, the South African criminal justice system cannot effect a long-term combating strategies against human trafficking. Findings also indicate that the solution to the precipitating factors that fuel the trade in human commodity lies outside the scope and mandate of the criminal justice system. The study further recommends that for an effective response, it is expedient for the State to first address the socio-economic, cultural and political nuances that fuel the trade, rather than mount impracticable pressure on its criminal justice institutions to perform an unrealistic task.     

Preventing Wildlife Crimes: Solutions That Can Overcome the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’

The 'tragedy of the commons' dilemma occurs when individuals working independently of one another, will overuse a common-property resource for short-term benefits while decimating the resource for long-term use (Hardin 1968). This is often found in the field of wildlife crimes where species become overexploited to increase short-term profits while endangering and eliminating a natural resource for future users. Wildlife crimes suffering from the ‘tragedy’ need to be prevented in order for species to avoid extinction while also conserving a natural resource that monetarily benefits numerous people and their respective communities. Current approaches to the illegal wildlife trade include implementing trade bans or regulatory schemes at the national and international level, yet their effectiveness of reducing the trade is unknown. Perhaps, a better approach in reducing the illegal wildlife trade is a combination of making it more difficult to poach (i.e. situational crime prevention) and incentivizing locals to abstain from poaching. This paper will first review the literature on wildlife crimes and then use a case study approach that will examine the literature on the illegal parrot trade, the market for wildlife skins, and over-fishing. Through these case studies, a comprehensive review of the problem will be detailed as well as innovative conservation solutions that show promise in reducing the poaching and exploitation of species. Amongst these solutions will be the use of situational crime prevention that has shown immediate reductions in crime when tailored towards highly-targeted areas and crimes.     

Trade Liberalization and Regulatory Diversity: Reconciling Competitive Markets with Competitive Politics

This paper questions the more extreme or indiscriminate claims for international harmonization or policy convergence with respect to many areas of within-the-border domestic policy diversity. The welfare implications, both domestic and global, of policy harmonization or convergence are highly ambiguous in many contexts. Proponents of more extreme forms of international harmonization of domestic policies also severely discount the importance of competitive governments and politics as a form of demand revelation. A third premise is the distinction between unilateralism and contractarianism, which argues for the adoption of ground-rules in international trade treaties that minimize the extent to which harmonization can be induced by judicial fiat on the one hand, or threats of unilateral sanctions on the other. A final premise is that despite the achievements of the European Union in promoting positive integration, the supranational institutional structures of the EU do not exist now or in the foreseeable future in other international trade and investment contexts, which severely limits the transferability of the EU experience, and argues instead for an elaboration of the negative integration approach that has historically characterized the position of the GATT on NTB's.In the light of these premises, the paper then goes on to examine objections by countries of destination to domestic policies of countries of origin, including (a) anti-dumping duties; (b) competition/anti-trust: export cartels; (c) subsidies and countervailing duties; (d) environmental policies; (e) labour standards.The paper then reverses the perspective and examines objections by countries of origin to domestic policies of countries of destination, including (a) domestic subsidies; (b) competition/anti-trust policies; (c) intellectual property; (d) health, safety, environmental, and conservation measures.The paper concludes by arguing for a refined principle of National Treatment, with appropriately defined exceptions thereto as the framework for evaluating allegations of non-tariff barriers with respect to domestic policy measures beyond or within a particular country's borders. While this conclusion would not, of course, preclude negotiations among countries for mutually beneficial forms of harmonization of domestic policies, it would seek to minimize the threat points that each country brings to these negotiations so as to reduce the risk of coerced forms of harmonization reflecting asymmetric bargaining power, or worse, coerced forms of discriminatory managed trade arrangements.     

Penal ideology, sentencing and the legitimacy of trial justice

The paper explores the link between penal ideology and international trial justice from the perspective of sentencing. The argument is based on the premise that the perceived legitimacy of punishment is directly related to effective governance in criminal justice. As such, loss of faith, or lack of moral empathy by individuals and communities with the ideologies, processes and outcomes of punishment compromises the ability of criminal trials to function effectively in maintaining the ‘rule of law’. The paper argues that more emphasis should be given explaining the moral foundations that underpin perceptions of ‘justice’ in sociological accounts of the ‘reality’ of sentencing, and proposes an analytical framework for conceptualising this. Adopting this approach, the paper draws on examples from national and international criminal justice to illustrate how the hegemony of penal ideology and its implementation compromises the ability of sentencing outcomes to resonate with the trial‘s ‘relevant audience’. The paper then focuses on how penal ideology influences the construction of the factual basis for sentencing in international criminal trials, and considers the consequences of this for the perceived ‘legitimacy’ of international trial justice.     

Foreign direct investment and the volume of trade: the case of Poland

In this paper we study empirically the relationship between the volume of trade and foreign direct investment in Poland using the FDI augmented gravity equation derived from the modified Chamberlin–Heckscher–Ohlin model with multinational firms and complete specialization in production. We find that FDI contributes positively to the development of international trade between Poland and OECD countries, although the complete specialization C–H–O model with multinational firms does not find support in the data. In contrast, it seems that incomplete specialization H–O model better explains Poland’s trade with the OECD countries. The lack of support for the complete specialization model suggests that the vertical model of the multinational firm may not be appropriate for explaining trade and FDI patterns between Poland and the OECD countries. Therefore, other than labor cost reduction motives might explain the expansion of multinational firms’ activity in Poland. In the light of provided empirical evidence the fears of relocation of labor intensive assembly plants from the west to the east may not be fully justified.     

Gender, Ethnicity, and Offending over the Life Course: Women’s Pathways to Prison in the Aloha State

This paper develops what some researchers are now calling the ‘pathways’ approach to understanding women’s criminality. This perspective argues that women’s offending is an outgrowth of histories of violence, trauma, and addiction – conditioned by race, culture, gender inequality, and class. This paper expands the perspective on crime across the life course for females, providing a more nuanced analysis of the nature of intimate relationships and developmental turning points for women. Whereas men’s assumption of adult responsibilities such as marriage and childrearing may be turning points away from delinquency and crime, the matter is far more complex and may even be the inverse for some women. The paper also finds that women of Native Hawaiian ancestry have more negative experiences with education, employment, and poorer outcomes on parole compared to women without Hawaiian ancestry, thus contributing to the literature on the relationship between ethnicity, structure, and offending over the life course.     

The Role of UNEP and UNDP in Multilateral Environmental Agreements

This study examines the role of the UN’s programmes for environment and development (UNEP and UNDP) in the genesis and implementation of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). This is set in the wider context of the changing dominant focus of the international agenda, from ‘environment’ at the Stockholm Conference in 1972, to ‘environment and development’ at Rio in 1992, and ‚sustainable development’ in Johannesburg in 2002. UNDP is a development organisation strongly rooted in its country office network. Its role is becoming increasingly normative however, particularly since 2002 when UNDP opted to root most of its activities on the Millennium Development Goals. UNEP, as an environmental organisation has been successful at catalysing MEAs at the global and regional level; but without a significant increase in its budget over 30 years, its capacity has been spread very thinly. Many of the institutional arrangements for MEAs have effectively become independent of UNEP resulting in a very loosely and sometimes poorly coordinated network. Two case studies are used to illustrate the current institutional arrangements: UNEP’s Regional Seas Conventions and Protocols, and the Convention for Biological Diversity. These illustrate the fragmentation of current institutions, the need for strengthened technical and scientific support, the importance of addressing problems at their root causes and the need to increase the devolution of global governance to the regional level. Satisfying the identified needs requires actions within the remit of both UNEP and UNDP. It is argued that current institutional arrangements have not kept pace with the requirements of evolving policy. As part of a reform process, one option may be to merge the two programmes into a single structure that conserves and strengthens vital technical functions but enables a balanced and integrated approach to sustainable development.     

Chickenheads, agents, mommies, and jockeys: the social organization of transnational commercial sex

In the sex trafficking literature, the term ??trafficker?? is often used to refer to all the various actors who are involved in the business of transnational sex work. It thus includes those who recruit women in the source countries; those who transport victims across international borders; and those who manage and exploit the women in the various commercial sex venues in the destination countries. In this paper, we will look at some of the people who fall into these categories of being ??traffickers.?? Our goal is to better understand the many people who are facilitating transnational commercial sex. We will explore their background characteristics, the reasons for their involvement in sex trafficking, their roles and functions in the business, and the nature of their relationships with the women who sell sex. We will also discuss the issue of whether, and to what extent, organized crime groups are involved as traffickers in the transnational sex trade. Our discussion is drawn from face-to-face interviews with commercial sex workers, and with sex ring operators and a variety of government officials.