Slavery and Human Trafficking in the 21st Century
Sol Torres and Niklas Swanström
An estimated 30 million people are subject to modern day slavery, including forced labor and sexual exploitation. Moreover, the trafficking of human beings is one of the fastest growing transnational criminal activities. Not only is it an abuse of the human rights of the victims involved, but it also incurs social, political, and economic costs for the countries it most impacts. Providing first an overview of the global phenomenon of modern-day slavery, this paper proceeds to study the Greater Mekong Subregion for whose states human trafficking represents a serious challenge—one which requires a well-coordinated response to, among other measures, scrutinize labor contracts in risk economic sectors, enhance interstate cooperation, and more effectively identify and prosecute human traffickers.
Related Publications
-
ISDP Annual Report 2023
ISDP’s Annual Report for the year 2023. We look back on 2023, a year in which tensions and conflicts captured the strategic space in ISDP’s focus areas, making headlines around […]
-
Quad Plus EU: A Viable Option for the Times?
Today, the primary Indo-Pacific contest is not just about the China-US hegemony. It also involves a range of so-called “middle powers” – including Australia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, […]
-
Climate Security in the Indo-Pacific: Priorities and Challenges
The climate vulnerabilities of the Indo-Pacific region have grown immensely with grave implications for regional, national, human, and ecological security. Climate action has been prioritized by most countries, including by […]
-
Taiwan and the Diplomatic Squeeze
In mid-March 2023, the self-governing island of Taiwan lost another one of its already few diplomatic allies. Announcing the severing of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Honduras on Twitter on March 15, […]
-
Kenya and the Indo-Pacific: The Rationale for an “Outlook” and Why Kenya (and East Africa) Matters
This issue brief argues that Kenya should carefully consider promulgating an Indo-Pacific outlook given the seismic shifts in global distributions of power and the resulting great power rivalry. The future […]