The AntiTrafficking Monitoring Group Assignment

Running head: CRIMINOLOGY
Criminology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Introduction
There exist a very popular and old phrase, such as ‘the rich get richer and the poor get
jail’. This phrase has a vast meaning in today’s society. Victimization is increasing day by day in
our society and people belong to the specific caste, creed, religion, age, race, sex, color and other
social divisions are targeted mainly. It has been observed that human trafficking is a very
complicated and problematic issue all over the world and in order to stop this malpractice, the
government of several countries take necessary steps and enacted various laws. The Anti-
Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG) carry on its exclusive duty of observing and assessing
the act of the United Kingdom in the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on
Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and EU Directive 2011/36/EU in order to prevent
and fight against human trafficking. This Group also performs several duties in order to protect
the victims of human trafficking. Additionally, this Group published reports periodically which
explores the success of trafficking inquiries and convictions in regulation, strategy and practice
through the Criminal Justice System of the UK. From the reports published by ATMG it has
been observed that the Group is pleased with the good work of the police department,
prosecuting attorney and adjudicators of the UK which directed to trafficking convictions
(Robinson and Stroshine 2005). It also has been found that fruitful trafficking examinations are
usually connected to areas where expertise is formed among police and other stakeholders in
criminal justice or where multi-agency and international collaborations have been created.
However, there exists certain matters for which ATMG is very much concerned (Spalek 2016).
This paper mainly focuses on the unequal sharing of victimization, the dynamics and existence
of risk, the perceptions of victims of crime as a group and as individuals, and the communal,
political and criminal reply to victims of crime as well as victimization. It also shows that in

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which way the key social division of England and Wales’s provide a valuable beginning point
for considerate the difficult and vigorous existence of unfair treatment in society regarding caste,
creed, religion, age, race, sex, color and other social divisions. Finally, this paper investigates the
regular tensions between communal divisions, ill-treatment, social damage and state policies and
practices by analyzing critically the impact of a landmark case on human trafficking in the UK.
Discussion
Before starting the discussion, it is important to elaborate the term victim. The term
victim means:
 A natural individual who has suffered mental, physical or emotional injury or financial
loss and the reason of which is criminal offence (Karstedt, Loader and Strang 2011);
 A close relative of an individual whose death was caused by a crime.
It must be kept in mind that the term victim does not include legal persons or businesses
(Shapland 2010). Previously the criminal justice system did not provide punishment to any
offender. After the nineteenth century the aim of criminal justice system has been changed from
compensation to prevention and punishment. Not only that, a difference is also made between the
crimes and civil wrongs. Crimes includes the offences against the society such as murder, rape
and human trafficking. On the other hand civil wrongs include the offences against an individual
such as trespass, libel and slander. Previously various powers and duties were given to the
victims of a case regarding filing of a case, what types of charges need to be given. Nowadays,
those powers have shifted from victims to the public prosecutors. Public prosecutors now decide
whether any charges will be filed or not, if filed then what charges will be filed. Now the victims
have no control over their cases (Messmer and Otto 2013). Today, victims in the criminal cases
play the role of a testifier for the prosecution. The reason behind it is that most of the cases are

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disposed without a proper trial. For this, many victims did not get a chance to tell their stories on
the witness box. Victims participate in the criminal justice system informally and provide
information related with the case to the prosecutors. In fact, it seems very unusual that, the
victims are asked by the court to disclose their views on what types of actions should be taken
against the offender. Moreover than that, previously victims were informed about the updates of
their cases. Presently. No information is given to the victims regarding the development of their
cases. Many authors are of the view that, presently the victims not played a vital role and they
has been characterized appropriately as the forgotten person in the criminal procedure (Wilson
and Ross 2015).
May be in the criminal justice system, the victims are presently treated as the forgotten
person but it cannot be ignored that they are considered to be the most important person of a
criminal proceedings. The nominated officials if the criminal justice system maintain a good
relationship with the public and victims of criminal case. Many authors are of the view that it is
the duty of the officials to maintain good relation with the victims because if the victims refused
to cooperate with the official regarding a case then they might lose cases (Hohl and Stanko
2015).
Some authors stated that there are some valid reasons for which the officials do not
consult with the victims of a criminal case. It is a fact that prosecutors are concerned with the
political, legal and administrative aspects of a case which lead them to maintain the secrecy of a
case. The court officials of a criminal case are of the view that the participation of the victims in
the decision making process of a case may decrease the predictability of result and threaten their
interest.

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It has been observed that, victims are not usually consulted by the court officials
regarding a criminal case because it must be kept in mind that the victims are not represented by
the prosecutors. In fact, they are not acting on behalf of the victims. Victims may become
irritated and unsatisfied when they observe that a physical assault against them is considered to
be only as a confused behavior (Hall and Winlow 2015). However, victims can participate in the
criminal justice system, and their participation do not decrease the predictability of verdicts as
the court officials think.
The social exclusion is considered to cause poverty for specific people or individuals,
which leads to a higher level of criminal activities in the society. These are considered to hurt
them materially as the individuals who are involved with criminal activities are not in a state
where they can get benefits. Therefore, due to such the individuals are considered to be more
inclined towards committing crimes as the crimes help them maintain a living standard. There
have been various initiatives taken by the government in order to prevent the individuals from
being a part of crime or any criminal activity. However, these initiatives are not considered to be
enough as the individuals still participate in crimes. The individuals or the people who are
considered to be involved in various criminal activities do not lead a decent life due to poverty
among other things (Oxman‐Martinez et al. 2012). They lack proper education and do not get
any kind of health benefits which means their health also gets neglected. These are considered to
deny the access of these people to various resources which are considered to be available in the
market premises. Therefore, this constitutes as a social exclusion from the society. The
individuals who are involved in criminal activities are socially excluded from being part of a
society as they do not meet the normative requirements of the society and creates a harmful place
for the people who are a part of the society (Parmar 2017). According to the author, it has been

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stated that the individuals remain negligent and they do not get any proper training nor do they
get proper or suitable education, which makes them inclined towards committing crime in the
society. These individuals are also considered to be forced into these criminal activities by being
part or members of several gangs, which get involved in various in extreme acts of violence.
These individuals do such a thing in order to survive and to get a sense of identity and
recognition. These in turn helps them in boosting their self-esteem. The individuals also get
involved due to their environment and surroundings. If the people who enter into crime have
family members who participate in such activities then the individuals are considered to be
forced into these criminal activities as such would be an easier opportunity for the individual. In
the society due to various lack of job opportunities the individuals find such to be an easy escape
and therefore, become a part of such activities. The criminals are also considered to be
discriminated from the society and thus, the individuals who tend to be involved in criminal
activities are discriminated by the society as they are considered to be a menace in the society
(Burks et al. 2018). However, it has also been stated that the individuals who belong to minority
groups in the criminal justice system are also considered to face discrimination on the basis of
diversity, ethnicity, religion or any language. The individuals are considered to be discriminated
on such basis. There have been situations or certain circumstances where the individuals have
faced biasness and discrimination on the basis of race. Due to such, there have been a rise in the
hate crimes as these are considered to be the retaliation for the discriminatory acts and therefore,
in order to prevent such from happening the government must come up with techniques which
would help in reducing these activities and provide for a safer environment (Phillips and
Bowling 2017).

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Human rights are considered to be violated majorly which are considered to effect and
impact all of the populations that are across the globe and around the world. These are
considered to be through fraud, use of force and coercion which are intended for the exploitation
(Doak 2008). It has been understood through various reports and research that the individuals
who have been trafficked or traded and transferred are considered to be completely poor and do
not have major job prospects along with very little access to education. The individuals come
from the rural areas mostly and therefore, they are considered to be exploited because they are in
need of better economic opportunities. Thus, to conclude, there is a different effect in the crime
of the individuals and in context of the broader issues relating to social exclusion, diversity,
discrimination (FitzGerald 2016).
It has been observed that there is no systematic criminal justice system is available in the
UK to fight against the malpractice of human trafficking. This observations is also concluded by
the ATMG. In this matter the ATMG is concerned with the following matters, such as:
 Despite the commitment of the UK government to make a unfriendly environment for
traffickers, the UK police did not take necessary steps in this regard;
 There is no complete law and regulation available covering the offence of human
trafficking in the statute books of UK. The UK police also confused regarding how to
classify the crime of human trafficking and convict traffickers;
 Although the number of probable trafficked persons recognized has steadily increased,
the number of traffickers penalized for the offence of trafficking has decreased;
 In contrast, it has been suggested by the evidences that many trafficked people are
indicted for those crimes which they have been forced to commit while their traffickers
relish freedom;

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 Criminal justice practitioners sometimes underestimate the effect of trafficking on
victims, leading to inappropriate reactions that hamper the willingness of trafficked
people to serve as witnesses. It may cause more harm to them.
Previously, in the two reports published by ATMG, it was debated that the United
Kingdom must employ a self-governed Anti-Trafficking Commissioner along with legislative
powers so that the Commissioner can fulfill the role of a self-governing oversight body mandated
by Article 29 (4) as stated in the Convention. It is the opinion of ATMG that the continuing
absence of a Commissioner for Anti-Trafficking makes the situation worse as outlined in this
report (Marsh and Melville 2019).
In UK, many authors have different views regarding the offence of human trafficking.
According to Walklate (2012, knowledge of the issue of trafficking and current trends is
important for an operative response to criminal justice and, in particular, for the preparation of
future strategies. The researcher observed that policy still needed to take into account the ever-
changing nature of the misconduct, the difficulties of trafficking, and its effect on trafficked
people. From the research, it has also been observed that a disproportionately small number of
trafficking convictions relative to the accumulative number of probable trafficked people. There
are several explanations for this, including not making trafficking a priority in police plans
(Ashley and Empson, 2013).
In the matter related to human trafficking, another author is of the view that, the main
problem is related with the data collection procedure. It is a fact that, the present system of
collecting information offers a distorted and possibly misleading image of how effective the UK
is in coping with the offence of trafficking. Two departments of the government compile
dissimilar statistics on trafficking trials and verdicts, such as: 1) the Ministry of Justice collects

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material information on trials and trafficking verdicts where the offence of trafficking is alleged
as the main criminal offense; and 2) the Crown Prosecution Service collects material information
from the management system of a case where trafficking is involved (Newbury 2017).
In a recent case of R vs. N; R vs. LE [2012] EWCA Crime 189 case a landmark judgment
is given by the court. In this case of human trafficking the court held that the Crown Prosecution
Service still has the authority to prosecute a case. It is immaterial that however strong the
evidence regarding trafficking is. In R vs. LM and Others case, the court observed that the
obligations enumerated under Article 26 must be interpreted precisely. Not only that careful
consideration needs to be given to whether public policy asks for a trial and retribution”. In this
case the pleas of guilty were entered on the basis of which they victims were trafficked and how
they were forced to commit the crime. At the time the Crown Prosecution Service accepted the
pleas. Therefore, it was stated that the CPS must have consciously applied its individual
Regulation, of which it was conscious, but unsuccessful in doing so. The basis of it was a
technicality that the pleas were permitted, as if the CPS had applied “its mind carefully to the
query of public policy and reach a conversant result”, it might not have decided to impeach
(Croall 2016).
The consequence is a scenario in which different department present different statistics,
which creates confusion about the number of criminals currently brought to trial for trafficking.
The statistics regarding arrest figures are not broken down, making it almost impossible to assess
how many child abusers are being charged (Bednarova 2011).
Therefore, it is important to appoint an Anti-Trafficking Commissioner who may assist in
this field by using the authority power of them to request information and assess the accurate
number of trafficking trials and verdicts.

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Goodey (2005) concludes that in different pieces of legislation, separate trafficking
offenses are unhelpful. Most CJS actors are completely unaware of their presence or are
confused as to how these laws are applied. For cases of human trafficking, this is a particular
problem, as the crime is contained in an immigration act. The fragmented existence of the law
has also been found to neglect the seriousness of the crime.
In addition, the present legislation does not express anything regarding the protection of
rights for trafficked persons as required by the Convention to guarantee that all trafficked
persons are entitled to get adequate protection in the CJS, especially where the trafficked person
is prosecuted for crimes committed by his trafficker (Madanipour, 2015).
Another report of highlighted several successful landmark cases that police and other law
implementation agencies have investigated. Nevertheless, it was also noted that this is not the
case throughout the UK, as the overall capacity for compliance to answer to trafficking rests low
(Crawford and Newburn 2013).
Police target culture means that trafficking is not considered as an important crime and
often an investigation relies on the goodwill and perseverance of individual officers. There is
also a shortage of tailor-made preparation to provide law implementation officers with the skills
to prosecute this crime efficiently (Bottoms and Roberts 2010).
Where specialist anti-trafficking units are established or specialist units are formed,
trafficking has been tackled more successfully. In fact, concentrated and aggressive anti-
trafficking activities can be cost-effective in a world of recession and cuts. Research by the
ATMG showed that where large-scale operations on trafficking were carried out against

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traffickers for organized crime (such as small-scale robbery and begging), this also curbed the
incidence of low-level violence.
However, operations that proactively eradicate the entire network of trafficking are more
successful than a temporary interruption of its activities, which can contribute not only to
economical savings in the CJS, but also to the funding of victim services. These operations are
also more likely to improve substantial assets (criminal proceeds) from criminals involved from
the beginning of the inquiry by a financial investigator. Recovered funds will theoretically be
used to fund future anti-trafficking activities, a model for drug operations that has been used in
the past.
Operations that proactively disassemble the entire network of trafficking, however, are
more operative than a momentary disturbance of their operations, which can lead not only to
economical savings in the CJS, but also to the advancement of victim services. Such
investigations are also more likely to recover significant assets (criminal proceeds) from suspects
involved by a financial investigator from the beginning of the investigation. Theoretically,
recovered funds will be used to fund future anti-trafficking activities, a model used in the past for
drug operations (Hopkins 2016).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that, previously victims are
given much importance in the criminal justice system. Various powers and duties were given to
the victims of a case regarding filing of a case, what types of charges need to be given.
Nowadays, those powers have shifted from victims to the public prosecutors. Public prosecutors
now decide whether any charges will be filed or not, if filed then what charges will be filed. Now

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the victims have no control over their cases. Today, victims in the criminal cases play the role of
a testifier for the prosecution. The landmark case R vs. N; R vs. LE [2012] EWCA Crime 189
has great significance in this regard.

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