Assessing the UN's Anti-Trafficking Initiatives in Asia

This research paper examines the complex issue of human trafficking in Asia and evaluates the effectiveness of the United Nations' (UN) efforts to combat it. The study begins with an introduction to human trafficking, its various forms (labor, sex, and war slavery), and the increasing prevalence in the Asian region, particularly among vulnerable populations like children and women. The paper delves into the background of the problem, highlighting its historical roots and the role of globalization in exacerbating the issue. It explores the UN's Global Action Plan against human trafficking, outlining the strategies and policies implemented to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute offenders. The research investigates the factors driving human trafficking in Asia, including economic disparities, poverty, and the presence of a highly developed sex tourism industry. The methodology section details the research approach, data collection, and analysis methods employed. The findings reveal that despite UN initiatives, the number of trafficking cases remains high, suggesting limitations in policy effectiveness. The paper concludes by linking the findings with the research objectives, providing recommendations for improving UN policies, and suggesting future research directions. The study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges and potential solutions for combating human trafficking in Asia, offering insights for policymakers and stakeholders.

Running head:
The United Nations effort to fight trafficking in Asia, could they do more/be more affective in
their attempts to counter trafficking?
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Acknowledgement
I would like to convey my gratitude towards the people who guided me in every possible way to
conduct my dissertation study. These people assisted me to be familiar with my strength and
weaknesses and my potential and utilize it in the best possible manner to commence on the
research study. I would also like to put across my gratitude towards my mentor and guide for the
nonstop monitoring and outstanding supervision, which helped me to complete my research in
proper time. The unconditional guidance and support provided by my mentor has not only helped
me with the research and to understand the secondary research process but will also help me
throughout my life for other purposes also. Lastly, I would like to thank friends and family, who
lent me a constant encouragement and support for completing my study.

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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................6
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................6
1.2 Background of the study........................................................................................................7
1.3 Research aim and objectives................................................................................................10
1.4 Research questions...............................................................................................................10
1.5 Significance of the research.................................................................................................11
1.6 Structure of the study...........................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................13
2.1 Human Trafficking..............................................................................................................13
2.2 Human Trafficking in Asia..................................................................................................14
2.3 Factors that Triggers Human Trafficking in Asia................................................................17
2.4 Facts & Figures Representing Current Status of Human Trafficking in Asia or Southeast
Asia............................................................................................................................................20
2.5 Impacts of Trafficking on Victims and Traffickers.............................................................23
2.5.1 Impact on Victims:.......................................................................................................24
2.5.2 Impact on Traffickers...................................................................................................25
2.6 Policies Undertaken by the United Nations to Address the Social Issue of Human
Trafficking.................................................................................................................................26
2.7 How Far the Policies Successful in Combating Social Crime of Trafficking in Asia.........28

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2.8 What Measures could be taken by United Nations to Have Further Positive Impact on
Reduction of Human Trafficking in Asia?................................................................................29
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................33
3.1 Research onion.....................................................................................................................33
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................34
3.3 Research purpose.................................................................................................................34
3.4 Research approach...............................................................................................................35
3.5 Research strategies...............................................................................................................35
3.6 Research design...................................................................................................................36
3.7 Time horizons......................................................................................................................36
3.8 Data collection process........................................................................................................37
3.9 Data analysis process...........................................................................................................37
3.10 Ethical consideration.........................................................................................................37
3.11 Limitation of the study.......................................................................................................38
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION...............................39
4.1 Data on human trafficking with a focus on Asia.................................................................39
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................68
5.1 Linking with the objectives.................................................................................................68
5.1.1 Linking with the first objective.....................................................................................68
5.1.2 Linking with the second objective................................................................................69

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5.1.3 Linking to the third objective.......................................................................................70
5.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................71
5.3 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................72
References......................................................................................................................................74

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Abstract
The research study aims to explore the issue of human trafficking across the Asian regions and
the effectiveness of the anti-trafficking policies and laws undertaken by the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This is a vast research subject that revolves around a very
serious crime in the world. Human trafficking is rising over the years as 25,000 cases have been
reported in 2017 alone compared to 20000 in 2014 and 17000 in 2013, although the UN and
other related agencies and the governments of the countries are taking various measures to
prevent and eliminate human trafficking. The paper explores various aspects of human
trafficking and secondary data is collected from sources like UNODC reports, news articles and
journal articles. The data is analyzed using descriptive method under qualitative analysis process.
It has been seen that although the UN and the respective governments are taking multiple
measures to prevent trafficking, yet the number of conviction is not increasing as expected and
the number of men, women and children trafficked across the world is increasing, reducing the
effectiveness of the policies of the UN. The paper also presents some recommendations to
improve the policy effectiveness of the United Nations to combat trafficking in persons.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Human trafficking (HT) is a serious concern in the world since the historic ages.
Currently, human trafficking is often termed as modern day slavery and has come into the focus
of the world during the last decade. As stated by Ross-Sheriff and Orme (2015), globalization
has led to the rapid increase in the transnational migration and this trend has been amplifying
economic disparities across different regions of the world and increasing the vulnerability of the
oppressed population to human trafficking. Three major types of trafficking are: labor
trafficking, sex trafficking and war slavery (Weitzer 2015); and these three types of trafficking
were prevalent for the past few centuries. The incidence of trafficking is very high in the Asian
region and children, and women are the most vulnerable group to human trafficking. The United
Nations and many other voluntary organizations have been working towards combating this
serious issue that violates the human rights in a severe manner. This research study will explore
the initiatives and efforts taken by the United Nations to fight the serious concern of human
trafficking in Asia and evaluate effectiveness of those efforts and initiatives. The study will also
provide some recommendations regarding how to improve the effectiveness of the measures
taken by the United Nations to counter fight the issue of trafficking in Asia.
The chapter will commence with the background of the study, followed research aim,
objectives and research questions and these will help the readers to understand the rationale of
the research.

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1.2 Background of the study
Human trafficking is considered as a crime. It is a modern day slavery which involves the
illegal transport of individuals by force or by deception for the purpose of sexual exploitation,
labor work or some activities, such as, organ removal and selling illegally, in which other people
conducting the crime get benefitted financially (Encyclopedia Britannica 2019). The trend has
been going on for ages and economically and socially backward classes of the world are most
vulnerable to become victims of this crime. This is a global problem that affects the people of all
ages. As highlighted in Weebly.com (2017), slavery was first recognized around 1200 although
the trend has been present since pre-historic ages. Over the years, the crime of trafficking not
only remained limited to labor slavery, but other types of exploitation, such as, sex exploitation,
illegal organ trading, selling for participating in life threatening illegal games as seen in the
Middle East etc. have come into the light. Initially, the rich white people were the ones who
started this trend of human trafficking from the colonies as they started transferring people from
the colonies to their home countries for slavery, and with time, the nature of trafficking has
remained almost same but it has spread mostly in the war torn regions and less developed
economies.
Over the years, the incidences of human trafficking have not only increased but also are
taking a serious turn especially in the war torn regions (de Wildt 2018). According to the reports
of the United Nations, it is estimated that each year around 1 million people become the victims
of trafficking globally and it is also found that around 20000 to 50000 victims are trafficked into
the United States, as it is one of the biggest destinations for sex trafficking. After the civil war
crisis started in the Middle East, there is a significant increase in the number of refugees

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migrating to Europe and USA for asylum and it has resulted in the increase in the crime of
human trafficking in a massive manner (Welch 2016).
The United Nations launched a global action plan against the human trafficking in 2010.
In this action plan, the UN has made policy frameworks and designed strategies to combat the
crime of human trafficking across the world. All the governments worldwide were urged to take
coordinated and consistent measures to try to defeat the scourge (Unodc.org 2010). Through this
plan, the UN aimed to integrate the actions and measures against the human trafficking by
increasing the security across borders and implementing human development programs and
human rights programs. The action plan focuses on preventing human trafficking, rescuing and
protecting the victims, prosecuting the criminals (Unodc.org 2010). However, over the years,
even after introducing multiple action plans and strategies and increasing the coordination among
the countries across the word, the incidence of human trafficking is very high. This has become a
very serious issue in the modern world, where the rest of the world is progressing and moving
towards achieving a safe and secure environment for its residents, and some parts of the world
are fighting to protect its citizens, especially children and women from being illegally transferred
to other places for slavery.
It has been observed in the recent years that the human traffickers often use transnational
routes that are being used by the transporting migrants, who are driven by the unfavorable
sustaining conditions and take the help of smugglers to improve their living conditions. The
major originating countries for human trafficking are Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and
Eastern Europe (McAlpine, Hossain and Zimmerman 2016). Most of these regions are less
developed and the rate of unemployment is quite high. The recruiters or the trafficking offenders
seek these migrants or people belonging to economically backward class through internet, media

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or agents and lure them to job opportunities in another country. There are middlemen who work
as local agents or medium of contact and they create a bond and trust factor with the migrating
people or the people looking for employment opportunities to get out from their impoverished
conditions in their home countries and live in a developed and stable environment (Kempadoo,
Sanghera and Pattanaik 2015). These people are easy to get trapped by the traffickers and
smugglers.
In Southeast Asia, the problem of trafficking is quite high since long. There is a highly
developed sex tourism industry in the Southeast Asia and the demand for labor is also high as the
economies are growing. Thus, impoverished people and their desire to accumulate more wealth
to live life better creates an environment which benefits the human traffickers in these regions
(Yang 2017). Hence, it can be said that, lack of economic development in Asia contribute
significantly in the increase of the human trafficking. The number of forced labor is largest in the
Asia Pacific region as the size of population is very high and level of economic growth is low.
Hence, it is the most lucrative region for human trafficking. According to Imf.org (2018), human
trafficking generates around $150.3 billion profit in a year. It is found that, in the countries like
Thailand and Malaysia, the trafficking happens mainly for sexual exploitation, while forced labor
is more prevalent in Indonesia along with sexual labor (imf.org 2018). The child trafficking is
also very high in Asia. There is an alarming increase in the online child pornography and live
streaming of sexual abuse of children, which generates approximately $3 to $20 billion profit
and Thailand and Cambodia are found to be major suppliers of these pornographic materials
(Imf.org 2018). Thus, even though the UN has been formulating and taking measures to combat
the social crime and establishing human rights for all, the rate of human trafficking is very high
in Asia. Hence, in this study, the existing and potential factors of high human trafficking in Asia

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are explored and the initiatives and strategies taken by the United Nations to combat human
trafficking have been evaluated to assess their effectiveness in addressing and reducing the social
crime of human trafficking. The impacts of trafficking on the victims are also examined in this
research paper and based on the findings, some recommendations are provided, which could help
to reduce the trafficking in Asia or Southeast Asia and improve the conditions of the victims.
1.3 Research aim and objectives
The aim of this research study is to explore the existing and potential factors of human
trafficking in Asia and the initiatives and plans implemented by the United Nations to combat the
issue of human trafficking and evaluate the effectiveness of those measures and suggest some
potential improvements in the policies and actions to further reduce trafficking in Asia and
improve the conditions of the victims of trafficking.
The research objectives are:
 To investigate the factors that result in high trafficking in Asia and its current facts and
figures
 To examine the human trafficking combat policies by the United Nations
 To evaluate the effectiveness of the UN trafficking policies in Asia/Southeast Asia
 To suggest improvement measures in the UN policies to further reduce human trafficking
in Asia and improve the conditions of the victims
1.4 Research questions
1) What is the current status of human trafficking in Asia or Southeast Asia?
2) What are the factors that trigger trafficking in the Asian region?
3) What are the impacts of trafficking on the victims?

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4) What are the policies undertaken by the United Nations to address the social issue of
human trafficking?
5) How far the policies are successful in combating the social crime of trafficking in Asia?
6) What measures could be taken by the United Nations to have further positive impact on
reduction of human trafficking in Asia?
1.5 Significance of the research
The research study is significant academically as well as socially. The study will make
important contribution regarding the factors triggering human trafficking in Asia or Southeast
Asia, the social, mental and physical impact of trafficking on the victims and the impact of the
United Nations policies to address the issue of trafficking in that region. Various studies have
been conducted on this research issue, however, this study will focus on the impact of trafficking
on the victims in the Southeast Asia and the success rate of the policies designed by the United
Nations especially in Asia. There can be differences in the factors that trigger the human
trafficking in Asia and in other regions of the world and thus, a comparison is made between the
factors and the effectiveness of the policies. On the other hand, the social impact of trafficking is
also explored to assess the extent of the social crime and its implications on the growth of the
society and on the violation of human rights. Thus, through this research study, the researcher
will not only make additions to the literature world in terms of the extent and impact of human
trafficking in Asia, but will also provide the insights about the effectiveness of the United
Nations policies on this research issue to make potential improvements.

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1.6 Structure of the study
Chapter 1: This is the first chapter of the paper, which presents the introduction to the research
topic. In this chapter, the background of the study, research aim, objectives, research questions
and research rationale are presented to give an overview of the research topic and its expected
outcome.
Chapter 2: This is the second chapter of the research paper. In this chapter, the researcher
presents an extensive literature review. In other words, the researcher explores numerous past
literatures on the research subject and presents the knowledge gained from the literature. This
helps in creating the context of the research study and also helps the readers to get acquainted
with the research subject.
Chapter 3: This chapter illustrates the research methodology for the study. The strategies and
actions that are undertaken to conduct the study will be presented in this third chapter. Research
philosophy, research purpose, research, approach, design, strategy, data collection and analysis
method, time line and ethical considerations are presented in this chapter.
Chapter 4: In this chapter, the researcher presents the collected information on the research topic
from various sources and their analysis using appropriate techniques. The interpretation of the
data and corresponding discussion are illustrated in this chapter in alignment with the themes and
objectives of the study.
Chapter 5: this is the last chapter of the paper that contains the concluding remarks on the
research problem and the recommendations to make improvements in the measures addressing
the research problem.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Human Trafficking
According to Kempadoo, Sanghera and Pattanaik (2015), human trafficking represents a
business where freedom is stolen for profit. In most of the cases the traffickers adopts means of
tricking, defrauding or physically forcing the victims in indulging into commercial sex. In other
instances, victims are assaulted, laid, manipulated or threatened for working under the illegal,
inhumane or unacceptable conditions. Trafficking represents a multi –billion dollar industry that
is responsible for denying freedom to close to 24.9 million people across the world (Lee 2013).
Campana and Varese (2016) on the other hand, defined trafficking as the process of
enslaving the people and coercing them into situations without means of escaping thereby
leading to exploitation. Traffickers are believed to adopt fraud, coercion and force for luring the
victims and ultimately forcing them into sexual exploitation or labor. They mostly look for the
people who remain susceptible for varied reasons including emotional or psychological
vulnerability, undergoes economic hardship, lack in the social safety net, political instability and
natural disasters. The trauma imposed by traffickers are so extreme that the victims can neither
identify themselves or can ask for help even when they are in public settings.
Each year there are millions of women, men and children have been victims of trafficking
in various countries across the world that includes the United States. It has been estimated that
the human trafficking generates billions of dollars as profit in year and stands second to drug
trafficking that has been considered one of the profitable forms of the translational crime.
Budiani-Saberi et al. (2014) however stated that human trafficking represents a hidden crime

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where victims hardly comes to the forefront for seeking help either due to the language barriers,
fear of traffickers or the fear of the enforced law.
However, it has been found that no coercion or violence is usually involved in child
trafficking. Introducing them simply to the exploitative conditions constitute trafficking.
Nevertheless much attention is given to trafficking aimed towards sexual exploitation. A
substantial number of people have been found to be trafficked for labor exploitation. Sanghera
(2017) stated that people who becomes the victim of trafficking mostly wants to escape poverty,
improves lives and are found to support families. People under such conditions are often lured
through well paid jobs either in some other region or abroad. They are often found borrowing
money from traffickers much in advance in order to pay for their travel, accommodation and job.
On arrival they find that there is no such existence of a job or conditions seems completely
different. By the time they realize, everything already goes out of their hands since their
documents are taken away and made to work until they clear off their debt.
2.2 Human Trafficking in Asia
According to Perry and McEwing (2013), security threats are no more limited to military
confrontation, nuclear proliferation and disputes; they also emerge from the non military dangers
that include change in climate, natural disasters, translational crimes and infectious diseases.
However, amongst the non-traditional security threats, it is the human trafficking that looms
large particularly in the Southeast Asia where the military conflicts and natural disasters leads to
the displacement of the people and refugees who remains vulnerable to such heinous crime.
In Southeast Asia, the non- traditional security threats had two defining feature that are
complex and transnational. According to ILO and Walk Free Foundation (2017), the curse of

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human trafficking also termed as ‘modern slavery’ effects close to 40 million women, men and
children who are trapped within the horrendous web of sexual exploitation, forced labor and
coerced marriage. Human trafficking is the most organized and lucrative crimes across the world
that generates over $150 million in a year. As Mordeson, Mathew and Malik (2018), 25 million
people or two third of the victims belongs to the East Asia and Pacific. The shocking figures
represented an estimated value as accurate data can hardly be derived since human trafficking is
mostly non-detected, underreported and non-prosecuted. Human trafficking represented a hidden
crime as the victims’ remains reluctant in seeking help for the fear of reprisals and intimidation.
It is victims and not the perpetrators who undergo suffering through physical abuse and
sometimes prosecution for the illegal migration.
The alarming trends of human trafficking in the East Asia and the Pacific gave rise to the
urgency of handling the menace. According to Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2016),
published by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), close to over 85 percent of
the victims have been trafficked from within region. Japan, China, Thailand and Malaysia were
the destinations from the neighboring countries. As per Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery
Index (2016), within Southeast Asia, Thailand has been one of the leading destinations for the
trafficking victims of Myanmar, Lao P.D.R and Cambodia. Malaysia however acted as the
destination for the victims of Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. According to UNODC report,
51 percent of the victims in the East Asia have been women and children. During the period
2012-2014, over 60 percent of 7800 identified victims have been trafficked for the sexual
exploitation (unodc.org, 2019). It has been found that females have also been victims of the
domestic servitude and forced labor. In most of the cases, the women and the children belonged
to the impoverished and remote communities. In addition to this, forced marriages of the young

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women and the girls have been rampant in Mekong regions of China, Vietnam, Myanmar and
Cambodia.
The rise of the child trafficking within the regions has been linked to the increase of child
pornography over the internet that also included the live streaming of the sexual abuse of
children. It has been considered a lucrative business with an estimation of generating close to $3-
$20 million profits over the year. Thailand and Cambodia has been the key suppliers of the
pornographic material.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) there have been various
Southeast Asian victims who migrate in search of the paid jobs but ends up being a forced labor
in agriculture, fishing, domestic work and construction. As put forward by according to the US
Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report (2018), most of these victims are men who
are not able to repay the excessive fees charged by the recruiters as well as the unauthorized
brokers and therefore become vulnerable to not only debt bondage but other kinds of
exploitations. The Asia Pacific region of the world is the most lucrative when it comes to the
forced labor. Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand have the highest record of forced labor in the
fishing sector. The laborers are paid very little and are made to work close to 20 hours a day.

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Figure 1: Diagrammatic Representation Showing the Percentage of Human Trafficking in
various countries of Asia
(Source: Yang 2017)
2.3 Factors that Triggers Human Trafficking in Asia
Most commonly known as modern slavery, human trafficking has mostly been driven by
the motivations similar to that of slavery. According to the Department of Homeland Security,
human trafficking is defined as the illegal trade of the humans for commercial gain or
exploitation(Sharmin, Rahman and Mohammad 2018). Exploitation involves forcing the victims
into slavery or prostitution. Human trafficking has been segregated and mostly concerned with
sex and labor trafficking. Although the purposes have been different however there exists a
general trend that explains the root causes related to human trafficking.
According to International Labor Organization (ILO), close to 21 million people have
been the victims of the forced labor. The largest number of the forced labor has been accounted
for in the Asia Pacific region with close to 11.7 millions of victims that accounts for close to 56

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percent of the global figures (Lake 2016). This is followed by the Africa with close 3.7 millions
and Latin America with close to 1.8 million that account for 18 percent and 9 percent of the
global figures respectively. Reports put forward by the Huffington Post, portrayed that close to
75 to 80 percent of the slavery and human trafficking is primarily for sex (Avis 2017). The rest
of the victims are mostly forced towards labor exploitation in the construction work and
agriculture. A study put forward by National Human Trafficking Resource Center (2015),
reported 5544 human trafficking cases.
There are various factors that lead to human trafficking. Some of these are mentioned as
follows (Majeed and Malik 2017):
1. War, Natural Disasters, Poverty and the Search for Better Life: Traffickers have
been looking for people who remain susceptible to the coercion of the human trafficking
industry. These people are mostly the migrants who flee their home due to natural disaster,
conflict, political instability or economic hardship. The displacement of the populations
enhanced their emotional vulnerability and frequently they did not have sufficient amount of
financial support for protecting them. This subjected them to abuse in the hands of the
traffickers.
2. Children and Women are Targets: In certain society, devaluation of the women and
the children makes them increasingly vulnerable to the trafficking compared to the men.
Traditional practices and attitudes, child marriages and the lack of the birth registrations further
increased the susceptibility of the children and the woman. They are even targeted due to the
demand of the woman in the sex trafficking. Reports put across by Equality puts forward that
close to 20.9 million children and adults have been sold and bought worldwide for fulfilling the

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purpose of the sexual servitude, forced and bonded labor. Girls and women comprises of close to
98 percent of victims who are trafficked for the sexual exploitation.
3. Demand for the Cheap Labor: It has been found that service industry especially the
kitchens and the restaurants acts as the common exploiters of the human trafficking. There have
also been demand for the cheap agricultural and the domestic labor. Employees who are victims
of trafficking is initially promised a safer work space with a steadier salary which they later
realize that they are being paid lower compared to the minimum wage and had to work
overtime. Business owners have been guilty of the behavior however continues practicing the
illegal norms since victims of trafficking are able to protect themselves having fewer
alternatives.
4. Generation of Huge Amount of Profit: As put forward by ILO, human trafficking
industry is believed to generate closer to $ 150 billion of profit in a year. Two thirds of the
profits are made from the commercialized sexual exploitation while the remaining came from the
forced economic exploitation such as the agriculture and the domestic work. Human trafficking
has been one of the fastest growing and has been the second largest criminal industry across the
world after the drug trafficking.
5. Causes Difficult to Identify: Identifying the victims of human trafficking becomes a
challenge as most of the victims are highly traumatized and well hidden. Those who are
traumatized hardly divulge information to the investigators since they are scared of confronting
the enforced law or they remain too troubled to deliver a response. According to reports put
forward by the Urban Institute, it can be said that the consumers of the human trafficking
contribute towards the hidden nature of the crime. Both the consumers and the traffickers remain

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aware of the massive risk they are taking through participation in this kind of illegal activity.
Hence, they do the best for covering the illicit activity.
Initiatives taken for diminishing the causes of the human trafficking included agreements
based on the agreements based on the international cooperation, national policies against the
trafficking, improved policies of immigration that helps in detecting the entry or the exit of the
humans trafficked illegally and enhanced the infrastructure for protecting those who are
exploited for sex or labor (Aronowitz 2019).
2.4 Facts & Figures Representing Current Status of Human Trafficking in Asia or
Southeast Asia
In the year May 2015, a major breakthrough across 28 deserted camps of human
trafficking along with ample number of unmarked graves in dense jungle of the Wang Kelian
near Thai- Malaysia borders sent down shock waves through the Association of South Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and rest of the world (Imf.org 2018). Close to 800 victims were found to be
held in the squalid conditions in crudely built cages made of wood and the barbed wire, having
insufficient spaces for the adults to even stand. Besides, discovery of children’s items, soft toys,
metal chains and bullet casings indicated that children have also been trafficked and may have
been through immense torture. The autopsies of the remaining victims that have been exhumed
revealed the stories of the death by means of disease and starvation while they waited for the
ransoms from the families of the victim to be smuggled to Malaysia.
Ismail (2018) stated that with close to 36 countries along with 56 percent of world
population, the Asia and the Pacific have been one of the largest region of the world and has
been diverse in terms of the culture, ethnicity, development and religion. However, on any

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particular day in the year 2016, an estimated figure of 24.9 million women, men and children
have been victimized under the modern day slavery in the Asia and the Pacific. The region
positioned itself as the second largest in terms of modern slavery across the world with an
estimated figure of 6.1 per 1000 people.
When considering the forms of the modern slavery, Asia and the Pacific region had a
higher prevalence of the forced labor whose estimated figures were 4.0 per 1000 people in
comparison to the other regions. The estimated figures of the rate of the forced victims have been
two victims in every 1000 people (Larsen 2013).
More than half of all the victims of forceful labor exploitation with an estimated figure of
55 percent were primarily held in the debt bondage that affected the male victims compared to
the females. The Asia and Pacific region comprised of the highest victims in all the forms of thee
modern slavery that accounted for 73 percent victims belonging to forced sexual exploitation, 68
percent of the people forced for working by the state authorities, 64 percent representing victims
of forced exploitation of labor and 42 percent of those in the forced marriages(Purkayastha and
Yousaf 2018). Within the region, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Pakistan were the countries
with the highest prevalence of modern slavery. India, China, and Pakistan had the highest
absolute number of people living in modern slavery and accounted for 60 percent of the victims
in the region.
Nevertheless, although these regional figures have been important however they should
undergo cautious interpretation given the limitations and the gaps of the key subs regions and the
regions. For instance, there has only been one national survey conducted in the East Asia for
example, Mongolia because it is difficult to survey in the countries that experiences current and

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profound conflict. The lack of the data in the regions experiencing conflict implies that the
estimated figures of modern slavery for the conflict prone countries have been found to
understate the actual problems.
The year July 2017, over two year post the shocking discovery, a court in Thailand found
62 out of the 100 charges guilty of the forcible detention for rape, death and trafficking along
with membership in the organized translational criminal networks (Wagner and McCann 2017).
The court was also seen to implicate 15 Thai official of the state including one of the higher
ranking officers. Amongst the 100 accused, 91 have been Thais; nine of them Burmese and four
has been from Bangladesh. The court however did not implicate the Malaysians involved.
Nevertheless, an exposure by the local media in the year 2017 helped in identifying close to 12
Malaysians involved in human trafficking, one of whom has been identified to be suffering from
vitiligo and acted as middleman.

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Figure 2: Estimated Figures of Human Trafficking in Asia and in Asia Pacific
(Source: Close and Askew 2017)
2.5 Impacts of Trafficking on Victims and Traffickers
According to Sprang and Cole (2018), human trafficking has emotional, physical and
psychological impacts on the people involved. It holds the power of impacting and changing the
life of the victims forever. Some of the common ways in which human trafficking affects the life
of the perpetrators and the victims are as follows:

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2.5.1 Impact on Victims:
1. Mental Trauma: The United State Department of State explained since traffickers
dehumanizes and objectifies their victims so their inner sense of visibility, power and dignity
becomes obscured. It has been found that victims of human trafficking experiences shocking
psychological distress (Hopper 2017). There are various survivors who end up with post
traumatic stress, difficulty in the relationship, memory loss, depression, fear, anxiety, guilt,
severe forms of mental trauma and shame.
2. Physical Trauma: There are several victims who experiences physical injuries. The
ones sexually exploited have been abused by the traffickers and the customers. They have been
beaten, raped and subjected to abuse over longer time period. They have also been at a risk of
contracting infections, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, infections, illness and cancer (Ide
and Mather 2018). Lack of suitable medical care allows the conditions to not only worsen but
spread often impacting the health of an individual permanently. Victims of the forced labor
group have experienced the risk of working in one of the most dangerous conditions for longer
hours performing repetitive tasks. They have also been exposed to the dangerous contaminants or
made to work with heavier equipments. Hence, the workers remain subjected to serious
respiratory problems, infections, impairments, injuries and exhaustion.
3. Ostracism: Individuals trafficked becomes isolated from the family, friends and social
circles. This is often due to the personalized feelings of the shame and guilt. It might also be due
to the relocation that has separated them from the community. Victims therefore become
withdrawn and isolated thereby losing contact with most of the people (Greenbaum 2017). Some
of the individuals who return home or escape from the trafficking situation are excluded from the
social groups due to the stigma faced. They are often shunned by the friends and family and feel

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unwanted and unloved. This isolation makes them vulnerable to further trafficking or drive them
towards leading an abusive lifestyle.
4. Lack of Skills for Independent Living: Many victims escaping a trafficking situation
not only lack the advanced education but also the resources that are needed for an independent
living. They are often unable to understand the laws of the country they reside in or might not be
able to speak the language. These victims are often trafficked at younger age and are unable to
attend the school or go to the college (Weathers 2018). Thus, after facing confinement to the
same job for a longer time without being allowed to learn newer skills makes the victims
dependent. They therefore face a hard time living on their own.
2.5.2 Impact on Traffickers
1. Making Money: Human trafficking has been the fastest growing criminal industry of
the world which stands second only to drug trafficking (Burke 2017). According to International
Labor Organization (ILO), the traffickers are able to generate close to $ 150 billion each year.
Out of which $99 has been generated via the sex trafficking while the rest of $ 51 billion has
been generated through trafficking of labor. The more the traffickers participate in exploitation
of others the more amount of money they are able to generate for themselves.
2. Cheaper Labor: Traffickers use the act of deception for attracting the employees for
working with them (Rahman 2018). They lure the victims by promising a safer work ambience
and fair pay. In reality, the employees are actually forced for working longer and harder hours
for very little or no pay at all. They convince the employee to work for them through use of
violence or threats.

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3. Escaping from the Victimization: Once the victims’ age out in the current positions
they are offered the job of the trafficker. Some of them accept the newer position in order to
escape from their victimization and begin exploiting the others. Human trafficking grows at a
staggering speed across the world (Latzman et al 2019). The impacts of the injustice have been
far reaching that impact all the individuals, their generations and communities. Although the
effects and causes have been multifaceted and varied therefore sustainable change can take place
with rescue of the survivors and arresting of the perpetrators. With trafficking becoming a
dangerous, perpetrators less likely feels the need for exploiting the others.
2.6 Policies Undertaken by the United Nations to Address the Social Issue of Human
Trafficking
The United Nations launched a global action plan for combating trafficking that was
adopted by General Assembly on July 30 for urging the worldwide government for undertaking a
consistent and coordinated measure in trying to defeat scourge. The Plan call for integrating the
fight against the human trafficking into the broader program of United Nations for boosting the
development and strengthening security across the world (Macdonald and MacDonald 2016). It
also calls for setting the United Voluntary trust fund for the victims of the trafficking especially
the women and the children.
The Secretary General Ban Ki-moon mentioned that Plan of Action should serve as the
‘Clarion call’ for the international organization, member states and the groups of the civil society
in taking immediate steps in stopping the terrible crime questioning human dignity that shudders
everyone. The United Nation had an estimation that stated that over 2.4 million people have
currently being exploited as the victims of the human trafficking (Unodc.org, 2017).

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According to Patterson and Zhuo (2018), it represents a slavery of the modern times
where each year thousands of people primarily the children and the woman face exploitation in
the hands of the criminals who uses them for the forced labor or sex trade. There are no countries
that act immune. Almost everyone plays a part by acting either as the source of the trafficked
people, destination or the transit point.
The Secretary General urged the philanthropists, countries and the others to generously
contribute to newer trust fund for the victims of trafficking. The fund aims at helping the
government and the nongovernmental and the intergovernmental organizations in providing
protection to the vulnerable people with support and protection for the psychological, physical
and the social recovery. It also aimed at preventing victims from facing punishment after facing
immense amount of abuse and exploitation.
The Plan of Action that focuses on the prevention of prosecution, trafficking and
protecting the victims also stressed on the importance of accruing more data, research and
analysis regarding the problem. Winterdyk (2017) stressed on improving the understanding and
the knowledge of the crime provided there is a need for making good policy decisions and the
targeted interventions. Within the system of United Nations, the United Nations Office on Drug
and Crime (UNODC) report on the human trafficking, documentary films, ant-trafficking
manuals and toolkits, technical assistance and public information has also played a role in
building consensus (ec.europa.eu 2017).
The only means of ending human trafficking lies in working together that includes
between the states and within the regions, amongst the entities of United Nations and the public

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private partnerships. Human trafficking should be abolished as it not only devastates the families
but also tears the community apart.
2.7 How Far the Policies Successful in Combating Social Crime of Trafficking in Asia
The two international agreements consider the human trafficking as translational crime.
This included The UN Convention against the Translational Organized Crime and Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Particularly children and the women is
known as Palermo Protocol (Wylie 2016). This particular protocol divided offence into three
key components that includes, the Act of the recruitment, transportation, transfer harboring and
receipt of the persons; Means which represents the act of using the force or the other forms of
the coercion such as the deception and abduction; the purpose which refers to slavery or force
labor, organ removal or prostitution.
The core of anti trafficking regimes represents protection of the borders by controlling
flow of the illegal migration. Article 11 of Palermo Protocol for instance require the state in
strengthening the border control for detecting and preventing trafficking of the persons and enact
the legislation for preventing commercial carriers to be used for the purpose of trafficking(Blom
2019). Protection of the state security against human trafficking is something related to helping
them in fighting the associated crimes that includes prostitution, organ trafficking, money
laundering and smuggling.
Apart from the two key international and legal regimes, Southeast Asia in the year 2015
adopted ASEAN Convention against the trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
(Qiao and Oishi 2019). It complemented the framework for international anti- trafficking.
However, at sub regional level, the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against

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Trafficking also followed the framework for Palermo Protocol and has resulted in various
bilateral agreements that have been aimed at the greater cooperation between the states within
Greater Mekong region. Besides the Southeast Asia, a platform known as the Bali Process was
set up in the year 2002 for undertaking a dialogue amongst the countries of the Asia Pacific. It
also possesses the goal of raising awareness and building the capacity of combating human
trafficking, smuggling and the translational crime (Pisanò 2016). Thus, with translational nature
of the human trafficking, both the national and the international regimes encourages the
government in sharing information, coordinating policies and the efforts of criminalizing the
trafficking offenses by providing legal assistance, prosecuting offenders and protecting the
victims(Huang and Mack 2017)
2.8 What Measures could be taken by United Nations to Have Further Positive Impact on
Reduction of Human Trafficking in Asia?
Today, the Secretary Council of the United Nations strongly condemned every instance
related to human trafficking in the areas afflicted by the armed conflict as heard by over 70
speakers during a daylong debate session (unodc.org 2017).
The resolution 2331 (2016) have been adopted unanimously and the 15 member council
responsible for maintaining the international security and peace have condemned the trafficking
of individuals for the purposes of exploitation, sexual slavery and the forced labor. It stressed on
the fact that human trafficking mostly contributed to the other forms of the organized
translational that exacerbated conflict and fostered instability and insecurity. The council also
stressed that the act of human trafficking during the armed conflict and sexual and the gender
based violence can be part of the ideologies and the strategic objectives of particular terrorist
groups amongst the other things that could be incentivizing the recruitment, support financing

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through selling girls, women and boys along with the use of the religious justifications for
institutionalizing and codifying sexual slavery (un.org 2017). It ensured calling upon the member
states amongst the other things for investigating, disrupting and dismantling the involved
networks including the implementation of the anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism and the
anti-corruption laws thereby focusing on the international cooperation in the enforcement of law.
In other terms, the Council also encouraged the member states in building stronger
partnership with civil society and the private sector that included the localized women
organization while encouraging Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the regional bodies for
including the analysis of the financial flows associated with the human trafficking that helped in
financing terrorism. It also affirmed that the victims of the sexual violence and trafficking should
be categorized as the victims of the terrorism. The council also expressed further intentions of
considering the imposition of the targeted sanctions on the entities and the individuals involved
in the human trafficking in the affected areas.
At outset of meeting, Secretary General Ban ki-moon described trafficking as the global
problem where the vulnerable people were caught in the conflict have been children, women,
displaced persons and the refugees(un.org 2017). However, human trafficking and sexual
violence have been used as weapons of not only terror but also the key sources of revenue. In the
need to fight trafficking for the sake of victims, countries should prosecute and investigate the
cases where their nationals committed the crimes abroad. They stressed on the fact that all the
perpetrators should be driven towards justice and an international resolve could only succeed in
resolving international problem like that of human trafficking. Since, the major portion of the
victims of human trafficking have been women and girls so the response must cater to the

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special attention of their rights and therefore, the state should adopt right based migration and
gender sensitive policies.
The Special Representative of the Secretary General, Zainab Hawa Bangura, on the
sexual violence related to conflict mentioned that extremist groups have been using the sexual
violence for advancing their political, military, ideological and the economic aims. She also
mentioned that they have been using the sexual violence as the tactic for striking fear within
hearts of the civilians. Disruption of human trafficking also helped in disrupting the business of
the terrorism (Keatinge and Barry 2017). She also identified six key dimensions in defining the
sexual violence as the tactic of the terrorism. This included human trafficking is systemically
committed by the violent terrorist and extremist group or used deliberately in spreading terror or
used for financing activities of the group or as means of prosecution in targeting the ethnic,
political or the committed in pursuit of the religious groups or advanced as the strategy to recruit,
retain, radicalize or reward the fighters and in pursuit of the ideology that entails control over the
women body, reproduction and sexuality. She closed her statement by mentioning victims of
human trafficking as the victims of terrorism.
The Goodwill Ambassador for Dignity of the Survivors of the Human Trafficking
addressed the council mentioning that there neither exists any court for prosecuting the
perpetrators of the crime nor independent body for investigating them. Her appeal to the Member
states have been in ensuring that the human traffickers faced sanction of the crime for
establishing safe zones at the international level and ensure safety to the refugees who are fleeing
the brutal war.

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The executive director of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury
Fedotov, mentioned the presence of pervasive translational human trafficking everywhere and
effective counter action against this would need a stronger framework for shared responsibility
and international cooperation. He also emphasized on the strengthening of the existing
framework for acting against the modern day slave traders. Organized criminals must be targeted
through enforcement of Law by coordinating actions and sharing intelligence across the borders
while deploying full arsenal of the tools for fighting terrorist financing and money laundering.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the basic plans and actions taken to conduct the research study in a
comprehensive and appropriate manner. Research methodology refers to the strategies and
actions applied by the researcher to identify, collect and analyze the information in order to
answer the research questions in the most logical and unambiguous manner (Kumar 2019). It
consists of research philosophy, purpose, research approach, design, strategy, data collection and
analysis methods and ethical considerations. All the research methodology steps are illustrated
below.
3.1 Research onion
As stated by Saunders et al. (2015), research onion is the diagram that depicts the
chronological steps of research methods.

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(Source: Saunders et al. 2015)
Research onion helps the researchers to plan the research methodology in a structured manner. It
starts with research philosophies, and then moves forward with research approach, design,
strategy, choice of research, timeline and techniques and procedures. Thus, it is beneficial to
have a controlled approach to the research study.
3.2 Research philosophy
Research philosophy refers to the set of assumptions that helps to identify, select, collect
and analyze the data required to conduct the study (Hughes and Sharrock 2016). Based on the
nature and source of the data, the research philosophy is selected. Positivism, interpretivism,
realism and pragmatism are most commonly used research philosophies. Positivism allows the
researcher to conduct the study using numeric data and applying statistical methods, while
interpretivism allows the researcher to analyze the data using qualitative methods and its is based
on the interpretation and judgment skills of the research (Ryan 2018). Realism allows for the
analysis of perspective realities and pragmatism enables the researcher to apply both qualitative
and quantitative methods of research (Shusterman 2016). The research topic explores the
trafficking in the Asian countries and effectiveness of the policies of the UN to combat
trafficking. This study calls for the application of interpretivism research philosophy as the
researcher applied qualitative methods, that is, descriptive methods to interpret the information to
explain the effectiveness of the policies.
3.3 Research purpose
Exploratory and explanatory are two types of research purpose. While exploratory
research allows the researcher to explore the research topic in a new direction to get a new

35RESEARCH PAPER
perspective, explanatory research allows for explaining the research phenomenon or the
relationship between the research variables on the basis of existing theories (Sutcliffe 2015). In
this given study, the researcher has applied exploratory research techniques to get an insight
about the effectiveness of the UN policies to combat trafficking in the Asian countries.
3.4 Research approach
Research approach refers to the plans and procedures that consist of the detailed method
of information collection, analysis of the data and interpret the findings (Sekaran and Bougie
2016). Inductive and deductive are two types of research approach. Under inductive research, a
new theory or new perspective of the study is generated from the information collected for the
study and a specific rationale is generated from generalized data, while in deductive research, the
causal relationship between the research variables are examined against already established
theories and generalized outcome is presented from a specific case study (Creswell and Poth
2017). In the following study, the researcher used generalized data to highlight the implications
on a specific region. In other words, the global report of the UNODC is explored an evaluated to
find out the trafficking situation in the Asian countries and the effectiveness of the combat
policies in that particular region. Hence, inductive research approach is applied.
3.5 Research strategies
As stated by Bell, Bryman and Harley (2018), research strategy refers to the complete
and specific plan for the data collection and analysis process. Case study, survey, experiment,
action research, grounded theory, archival research and ethnography are some of the most
commonly used research strategies. In this study, the researcher followed the case study research
strategy. Trafficking in persons is considered as the case study topic and the study revolved
around the human trafficking around the globe, especially in the Asian countries. Various aspects

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of human trafficking were explored and evaluated and the policies taken and implemented by the
UNODC to prevent trafficking and arrest, convict and punish the offenders were also examined
in the context of Asian region among all other regions. Hence, this is a case for research and to
conduct the research, case study approach was the most suitable.
3.6 Research design
Research design indicates the choice of techniques to interpret the research findings to
address the research topic in the most rational, appropriate and precise manner (Meyers, Gamst,
and Guarino 2016). As per the research, onion three types research designs are mono-method,
mixed method and multi method. In the given study, the researcher has applied mono-method of
research. In other words, only qualitative research method, that is, descriptive method has been
applied in this study to investigate, explore and evaluate the trafficking situations in the Asian
region as well as across the world. There was no numeric data that required to be studied using
quantitative method. Hence, mixed method or multi-method was not suitable for this study, and
therefore mono-method research design was chosen by the researcher.
3.7 Time horizons
The given study has the nature of longitudinal study rather than cross sectional study. As
highlighted by Andreassen et al. (2016), under cross sectional study, the objects are observed
over a particular point of time and the observations are interpreted to have the outcome for that
particular time reference. On the other hand, under longitudinal study, repeated observations of
the same research variables are conducted and the information are collected over short or long
periods of time (Sternglass 2017). In the given study, the research variables that is factors of
human trafficking, the regions, the age and gender of the victims, number of convictions,
trafficking flows, place of origin and detection of the victims are observed for repeated number

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of times to find out the changes in the trafficking pattern over the years and whether is getting
better or worse is evaluated. Hence, this is a longitudinal study.
3.8 Data collection process
An extensive amount of secondary data was collected for this study on human trafficking
across the world. All the reports published by the United Nations on the human trafficking were
collected and evaluated using interpretivism. Various other sources on the research issue, such as
journal articles and news articles on incidence of trafficking, impact of trafficking on the victims,
extent and impact of impunity, the UN policies to combat trafficking and its effectiveness in the
Asian region, were collected and explored to get adequate information. This was mostly non-
numeric data and the numeric information, that is, the statistics various aspects of trafficking is
presented using charts and graphs in the UNODC report. This study did not require any primary
data to be collected and interpreted and hence, secondary data was suitable for this study.
3.9 Data analysis process
As stated earlier, qualitative analysis process were applied on this study. Descriptive
method under qualitative analysis process was chosen to evaluate the data, interpret those and
describe the research phenomenon in the most rational manner. The reports and the articles were
interpreted using the knowledge and judgment of the researcher and the findings were illustrated
using charts from the UNODC report and described theoretically to get the answers of the
research questions. Hence, qualitative data analysis process is suitable for analyze the
information for this study.

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3.10 Ethical consideration
There are some ethical considerations that were maintained in this study. Firstly, the
originality of the paper was maintained strictly. All the information collected from various
secondary sources is correctly cited to avoid plagiarism. As stated by Dhammi and Haq (2016),
plagiarism is a serious offence in the academic world and it has severe consequences if the
researcher is caught doing it. Hence, all the information that are used in the entire paper is
collected from authentic sources and the reference is correctly cited. Secondly, all the
information are collected from authentic, that is, genuine sources to maintain the quality of the
paper. Since, it was a secondary research study, no participants were involved for primary data
collection but it was ensured that all the secondary sources are genuine.
3.11 Limitation of the study
The research topic involves a vast subject. The trafficking in persons, its combat policies,
and the effectiveness of those policies in the Asian countries is the subject matter of this
research. The research problem persists in the world since long and in 2016-17, the number of
trafficking has reached a record number. Thus, it is a global issue and the United Nations have
been working via various organizations to prevent and eliminate trafficking and protect the
victims. Hence, this study covers all the regions across the globe. However, it is not possible to
conduct an in-depth study on all the affected regions of the world. That would have made the
study robust and compilation and comparison of the data from all the regions would have been
extremely difficult in a limited time. Due to this limitation, the research has focused on a
particular region, that is, the Asian region. The UNODC has divided Asian countries into three
more divisions, such as, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, South Asia and East Asia to address

39RESEARCH PAPER
the issue in a precise manner. Thus, in this study, only Asian countries were explored in a more
in-depth manner, which leaves the scope for further research on this topic.

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CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION
This chapter will present the data collected on the research topic, its analysis,
interpretation and discussion on the findings. The research study is based on the incidence of
human trafficking in Asia and the effectiveness of the efforts taken by the United Nations to
prevent and counter the human trafficking. Thus, secondary data was collected from this study
from various authentic sources like United Nations website, its annual reports and other
publications, government data from the Asian countries, various newspaper articles and different
journal papers. The data is analyzed using qualitative, that is, descriptive method. Thus, the
incidence of trafficking in Asia and its impact, efforts by the United Nations and its effectiveness
was evaluated and described below.
4.1 Data on human trafficking with a focus on Asia
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) publishes a report on human
trafficking by gathering data from 148 countries in 2018 and the report contains an overview of
the trafficking patterns, the legal steps taken in the response and also contains nation specific
information on the cases of trafficking in persons, the victims and the prosecutions (Unodc.org
2018). In 2009, only 26 nations had an institution that collected data and worked for trafficking
cases, while the number has increased to 65 countries in 2018.
As per the report ‘Trafficking in Persons’ 2009, it is reported that the most common form
of the human trafficking is for sexual exploitation (79%), and the victims are mostly women and
girls of all ages across almost all the regions. Many countries denied about the existence of
trafficking in their nations, and only 30% nations provided data on the gender of the traffickers.
It is surprising to find that women traffickers are the largest in number, as in many regions,

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women trafficking other women is the norm and convenient way of trafficking. The second
highest number of trafficking victims falls under the category of forced labor (18%). However,
sometimes, the forced labor is also exploited sexually.
The 2009 report also highlights that 20% of the total victims are children, while in some
parts of the Africa and in the Mekong region, majority of the victims are children, which makes
up around 100% in the West Africa and it is a very serious concern for the nations. Domestic,
that is, within nations and international trafficking both has increased in the recent years. It has
been seen that Europe is the destinations for trafficking from widest range of places, while the
trafficking victims from Asia are trafficked to a wide range of destinations. On the other hand,
the Americas work both as origin and destination of trafficking (Unodc.org 2009).
In the 2018 report, it is reported that in from 2007 to 2016, the trend in conviction of
people for trafficking in persons have decreased over the years in Europe and central Asia, while
the increased quite significantly in the South Asia, East Asia, and in the Pacific. The trend is
exceptionally high for the Africa and in the Middle East and in the Americas.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
The following table shows the number of victims detected outside their region of origin or
citizenship. It reflects the extent of international trafficking.
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
It is alarming to see that in 2016, 901 victims belonged to East Asia and 449 belonged to South
Asia, implying that the Asians are the largest target of the traffickers even outside the region of
their citizenship.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
Another surprising trend was detected that majority of the trafficking happens
domestically but the rich countries work as destinations for long distance trafficking. The
domestic trafficking has increased considerably in the last 15 years. The wealthiest countries in
the Western and Southern Europe and in the Middle East have the record size of victims
trafficked from the other regions of the world.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
From the above table, number of domestic trafficking is most in the Western and
Southern Europe and North America is the maximum compared to other regions and sub-regions.
In other words, the detection of domestic trafficking is highest in the above mentioned regions.
In this context, the following figure can be explained.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
This figure shows the percentage of victims by the area of the origin as well as detection by the
sub-regions in 2016 and hence, it shows the percentage of both domestic and international
trafficked victims. While in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the share of origin and
detection of victims is 100%, while that for South Asia is 99% and East Asia and the Pacific is
9%. The rate of trafficking across regions and sub-regions is much lesser except for Western and
Southern Europe and Central and South-Eastern Europe.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
49% women and 23% young girls were the victims of trafficking in 2016 across the
world, while the share for men is 21% and for young boys is 7% (Unodc.org 2018). However, it
was also found that while in West Africa, maximum number of victims is children of both sex, in
South Asia, the number of victims has equal number of men, women and children and the
number of men trafficking is higher in the Central Asia. However, over the years, sexual
exploitation remains the dominant reason for human trafficking across all the regions. The
trafficking for forced labor is highest in the Sub-Saharan Africa and in the Middle East.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)

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The above table shows the diverse pattern among the trafficking victims across different
regions and it is seen that in the South Asia, men, women and young girls are the major victims
and in the central Asia, women and men comprise the maximum shares. It is also seen that in the
Asian countries, the victims are exploited majorly for sexual exploitation and then as forced
labor.
The report also highlighted that armed conflicts increase the vulnerabilities of people and
that increases the chance of human trafficking in various ways. The civil unrest and wars make
the rules and regulations weaker and create the scope for the traffickers to take advantage of the
vulnerable people who lack access to basic needs. Not only the traffickers, but the armed groups
also sometimes exploit the civilians. These armed groups and the traffickers often take
opportunities to traffic the victims for various purposes, such as, sexual exploitation, forced
marriage, sexual slavery, armed combat and different types of forced labor (Unodc.org 2018).
The war conflicted areas, such as, sub-Saharan Africa, the North Africa, the Middle East, and
Southeast Asia, are heavily affected by human trafficking. It has been found that in some of the
refugee camps in the Middle East, the women and young girls are married off forcibly and
without their consent for sexual exploitation in the neighboring countries. Even if the victims try
to flee from the war conflict areas, they get harsh punishment if they get caught. In the Central
and West Africa and in the war conflicted regions of the Middle East, trafficking mostly happen
for sexual exploitation and the women and girls are trafficked for forced marriage (Phillips
2016).

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
Reported forms of trafficking in persons directly and indirectly related to armed conflict

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It has been found that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African
Republic, in the Middle East and in some parts of the Southeast Asia, children from the
vulnerable group are trafficked to use as armed combatants. They are also used as forced labor in
different services, from logistics to catering and to be trained in the militant groups. In these
zones, trafficking is often used as a strategy for establishing territorial dominance. The armed
groups spread the fear of trafficking to keep the people under control. Sometimes, the women
and girls are used as sex slaves or forcibly married for getting potential male recruits (McAlpine,
Hossain and Zimmerman 2016). Armed conflicted areas have numerous refugee camps and large
number of displaced population in the formal and informal camps, which open the opportunities
for the traffickers to trap a large number of vulnerable people. UNODC also highlighted that the
displaced people in the war conflicted areas, such as, the Iraqi and Syrian refugees, Afghan
refugees, and the Rohingya refugees, are extremely exposed to the risk of trafficking while they
are trying to flee from the conflicts and persecution. Even while fleeing, they face the risk of
trafficking along the routes also, especially in the areas of Libya or in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Unodc.org 2018).
Thus, Nnam, Arua, and Otu (2018) write that armed conflict have a very negative effect
on the social and economic lives of people in the surrounding areas of conflict even if they are
not directly involved in the conflict. The authors also highlight that communities often become
target of the traffickers due to forced displacement, poor living condition, no access to income or
income generation opportunities, family separation and discrimination.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
It has been seen from the above chart that in 2016, the victims from the East Asia were mostly
detected in the domestic region only, that is, 74% of the victims from the East Asia were found
in the East Asia and the Pacific region, and 16% were found in the North America. Thus, it can
be said that a maximum number of East Asian victims are mostly trafficked in different countries
of the East Asian and Pacific region only and very less percentage is trafficked to the North
Africa and to the Middle East.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)

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Another major reason for trafficking was detected by the UNODC is the organ trading.
As highlighted by Efrat (2016), illegal organ removal and trading is a major crime which also
accounts for some percentage of trafficking, although the percentage is comparatively less than
the other forms of trafficking. Over the past 13 years, 700 cases across 25 countries were
identified by the UN in which the victims were trafficked for organ removal, while 225,000
victims were identified for other forms of exploitation. In the global market, the availability of
the donated organs is limited and the demand exceeds supply. Around 5% to 10% of all the liver
and kidney transplants are done will illegally procured organs (Efrat 2016). If the organ donation
does not have consent from the donor, and it is obtained from people forcibly, it becomes illegal
business and it also forms a reason for human trafficking. The victims are mostly tricked into
false treatment through fraudulent practices, such as, illegal medical licenses, corrupt practices
and deceiving by the traffickers who give the excuses of routine medical check up. As
highlighted by Pascalev et al. (2016), the organ traffickers often use the vulnerability of different
types of the poor people, such as, they often convince the poor people to donate kidney to get out
of the impoverished living condition. In such cases, the unemployed rural population,
uneducated poor people, and the homeless people are often targeted, and after the surgery, the
money is never paid. Fraser (2016) provided the example of 103 victims of organ trafficking who
got affected for their poor education and had lost one of their kidney’s.
Another study by Korkeakivi (2017) shows that trafficking of children in the Asian
countries occur to use the children as beggars or as a combat for smuggling or drug dealing.
Majority of these children are forced into begging through threats, punishments and intimidation
and they are the victims of child labor trafficking. This phenomenon is prevalent in the Asian
countries due to high population and percentage of people living below poverty line is very high.

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This creates an opportunity for the traffickers to trap these people and children living in
extremely impoverished condition. Currently, it is estimated that around 168 million children
across the world are trafficked and they are subject to forced begging, drugging, smuggling, as
well as beating and used as forced labor in various industries (Kangaspunta, Sarrica and
Johansen 2016). Child begging is the most visible form of human trafficking, especially in the
developing countries of Asia. The author showed that in 2005, a man in Schenzhen, China could
earn in between $30,000 and $40,000 per year by employing forced child labor. Similarly, in
Thailand, handicapped children on the streets generally earn around $30 or 1000 Baht per day
(Korkeakivi 2017). It has been found from other studies that handicapped children generate
almost three times more revenue than the non-handicapped ones (Ojo and Benson 2017). This
has a severe consequence for the children, as this results in forced mutilations and amputations,
such as, cutting of hands or legs or removal of an eye to make the children more profitable.
Forced begging is found in Europe also. It has been found that Roma Women traffic children as
well as mentally disabled adults from Romania and transport them to beg on the streets of
Switzerland.
Thus, it can be summarized that the human trafficking has reached a horrific dimension
in 2016-17. The global report by the UNODC showed that there has been a rapid increase in the
number of girls, women, and children for sexual exploitation, using as a tool of war in the armed
conflict areas, as forced labor and for forced begging. In 2016, 25000 cases of human trafficking
were reported as compared to 20000 in 2014 and 17000 in 2013 (Unodc.org 2018). There is a
sharp increase in the number of girl being trafficking victims. It is 23% in 2017 for girls below
18 years, compared to 21% in 2014 and 10% in 2004. Although the UN and the governments of
the nations are formulating and implementing strict measures to control and prevent trafficking,

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the number is still rising. Sexual exploitation (59%) remains the main reason for trafficking,
followed forced labor (34%) (Cole 2019). Armed war conflicts, civil unrest increase in the
number of refugees, which also contribute significantly in the increase if trafficking. While
young girls and women are forcibly married off for sexual slavery, punishment for belonging to
different religion or race, or for forced labor, the men or young boys are often trafficked for
recruitment in the armed military group or in the militant group. Illegal organ removal and
trading and forced child begging are other two major reasons for trafficking, the latter being
more dominant in the Asian countries. According to UNODC (2018), 1 in 10 victims are sent to
another part of the world, and for long distance trafficking, usually larger rackets are involved.
Trafficking situation in Asia
In the South Asia, in 2016, 32% women while 37% men were victims of trafficking and
27% of young girls and only 4% of young boys were trafficked. The child trafficking is reported
maximum in Nepal. Victims from South Asia have been detected in more than 40 countries
around the world, major destinations being the GCC countries in the Middle East and within the
countries of same region. The conviction rate is also lower in South Asia than in the East Asian
countries (McAlpine, Hossain and Zimmerman 2016).

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
In the East Asia and the Pacific, 48% women and 29% of men were trafficked while 19% of
young girls and 4% young boys were found to be trafficked.

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)

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The share of domestic victims is highest in all the regions of Asia. In the East Europe and
Central Asia also, the share of trafficking victims is highest for the domestic victims.
(Source: Unodc.org 2018)

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(Source: Unodc.org 2018)
The above charts show the trafficking situations in various regions of Asia. The
percentage of trafficking based on age and gender, origin and destinations, forms of exploitation,
trafficking flows and number of convictions are depicted in the above charts for South, East and
Central Asia. It has been found that the patterns in all the above mentioned sections are similar
for almost all the Asian regions. The ratio of victims between women and young girls is higher
than men and young boys. Sexual exploitation is the major reason for trafficking in Asia
followed by forced labor and other reasons. The child trafficking is found to be very high in
Nepal and the victims of the Asian countries are mostly detected in the domestic regions and
some in the North Americas, followed by North Africa and the Middle East (Crawford 2017). It
has also been found that the percentage of women among the offenders is higher than the men in
almost all the Asian regions.
Impact of trafficking on victims
Trafficking is illegal abduction and recruitment of victims and the industry earns around
$150 a year from trafficking in persons (Hampton 2017) it has a very severe impact on the
mental and physical health of the victims. It has been found that the victims of sex trafficking,
who manage to flee from the traffickers or from the place of abduction, experience psychological
illness and mental disorders like anxiety, depression, substance abuse, panic disorder, suicidal
tendencies, Stockholm syndrome and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Pascual-Leone,
Kim, and Morrison 2017). Stockholm syndrome is a very peculiar mental disorder suffered by
the victims of sexual exploitation, where they have a traumatic bonding with their abusers and

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find it challenging to leave them. It becomes their survival mechanism. Sometimes, the victims
also accept the abusive behavior of the victims as receptive, thinking that much worse could have
done to them. As stated by Robjant, Roberts and Katona (2017), the victims of trafficking go
through extreme trauma due to the separation from their families and friends and they suffer
from guilt, hopelessness, lack of confidence, denial, and distrust, which could lead them to
commit suicide. Sometimes, these victims are often given abusive substances to take control on
them, such as, high dose of drugs, marijuana, opioids like morphine, methadone, cocaine,
oxycodone, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (Hopper 2017).
Apart from mental disorder, the victims often suffer from brutal physical abuse. The
victims are tortured physically to make them forced labor or sex slaves or get the young girls and
women forcibly married off. As highlighted by McTavish (2017), food deprivation, constant
beating resulting in broken bones, scars, burns, bruises, amputation of hands or legs or
sometimes eyes, concussions and traumatic brain injuries. According to a report by State.gov
(2018), around 65% of the victims suffered from broken ribs, backbone, toes, hands, and spinal
cord due to continuous physical torture and in majority of the cases, the victims carry on the
wounds and health issues for their lifetime. Physical torture on the trafficked victims has also
caused numerous deaths. A report by OpinionFront (2017) shows that majority of the trafficked
labor to the middle are forced to work continuously for more than 16 hours a day without pay
and the forced labor, irrespective of men or women, are often subject to sexual exploitation,
starvations, coerced abortions and beatings by the owners, which results in death in many cases.
Impunity: another critical issue

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The countries along with the United Nations have formulated and implemented
trafficking legislations for quite some years, but the number of convictions has started to grow
recently. With the increase in patrolling and awareness among people, regulations have been
effective to some extent. Number of convictions has increased in Asia, Africa and the Americas
and also in the Middle East (Unodc.org 2018). At the same time, it is also seen that many nations
in the Asia and Africa are still having very low numbers of convictions for human trafficking and
also detect less number of victims. This does not mean that the incidence of trafficking is less in
those countries, rather it can be implied that level of impunity is very high in those countries, and
this impunity works as an incentive to carry out the crime more (Gallagher 2016). From the
above data, it is seen that although there are number of conviction of the offenders, the ratio
against that of the victims is not significant. The UN has deigned legislations regarding victim
protection, prevention of impunity and arrest and conviction of the offenders. However, it is seen
that impunity exists in large part of the world, such as, in the sub-Saharan Africa and in Asian
regions. The countries are expected to implement strict measures and shared responsibility and
cooperation for accelerating the anti-trafficking efforts and prevent impunity for trafficking. As
trafficking is a global issue, it has a transnational nature, especially for the areas of armed
conflicts and areas post conflict, hence, the UN and the other welfare agencies have deployed
their peacekeeping personnel in those areas to identify and report on the cases of trafficking in
persons as per the mandates.
Regarding the aspect of child beggars, as stated by Sachs (2017), the United Nations
recognizes the importance of child trafficking and forced child beggars. Similar to other forms of
human trafficking, eradication of forced child begging is a complex and difficult but necessary
process for all the regions. In less developed or economically poor countries, lack of basic

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education is a major factor influencing child trafficking and as these children are denied
schooling and education, the traffickers have tighter control on them. Hence, the UN is taking
measures to increase the reach of education for all the communities.
Measures taken by the UN to combat trafficking
The United Nations have designed and launched Global Plan of Action to combat
trafficking in persons. This plan includes the governments and other humanitarian and welfare
agencies to come forward and cooperate to combat the social crime. According to the Action
Plan improvised in 2017, the UN has mentioned 26 measures and policy implications to address
the trafficking in persons. In alignment with the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, the
policies by the UN aims to address the factors that make the people vulnerable to the trafficking,
such as unemployment, poverty, inequality, natural disasters, and humanitarian emergencies,
such as, civil war or armed conflicts, sexual violence, social exclusion, gender discrimination,
marginalization, culture of tolerance of the society towards the violence against women, children
and the youth. To achieve the goals, the UN emphasizes on promoting education among all the
classes of the society and arranging awareness raising campaigns. The implementation of human
rights and fundamental freedoms are emphasized and partnerships are established to prevent the
crime, arrest, prosecute and punish the offenders, and at the same time, protect the victims. Thus,
various policies and programs have been taken to Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
especially for the women and children, and under these programs, all types of reasons for
exploitation are included. All these measures are meant for all the regions across the world to
combat the social crime of trafficking in persons. The UN has also taken measures to provide
appropriate care and assistance services for the victims for their recovery as rehabilitation, and
legal actions to provide them justice so that they can live a normal life. Measures have also been

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taken to remove impunity in the systems of the countries and to establish a strict conviction
system, which could identify and dismantle the criminal networks behind the heinous crime. e
InterAgency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) was founded for
fostering coordination and cooperation among the UN agencies and international organizations
that are working together to combat trafficking in persons. United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund
was established for supporting the trafficking victims, especially the women and children
through legally and financially. Governmental, non-governmental and inter-governmental
agencies are included for supporting the Global Plan of Action.
The global fight against human trafficking includes the following international and
intergovernmental organizations, such as, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, the International Police Organization, the
International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Population Fund, the United
Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization and others, within their respective mandates (Unodc.org 2018). Thus, the policy
and measures by UN to combat the human trafficking include protection for all types of
vulnerable groups, such as, the poor, unemployed, uneducated, residents in the armed conflicted
areas, victims of civil wars, refugees, migrants and especially the women and children. The
policies aim to protect the human dignity and fundamental rights of the victims and vulnerable
groups and prevent the crime, impunity and convict the criminals and punish them.
Steps being taken to address human trafficking

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The Global Plan of Actions to combat Trafficking in Persons have been implemented in
all the Asian regions. It has been found that although the number of convictions has increased
over the years, the incidence of trafficking has increased too. Thus, it can be said that the level of
impunity is high in those regions, which allows the criminals to get away with their crimes. It
can also be said that the crimes are not receiving adequate attention from the government and the
welfare organizations, which is contributing in the rise in the number of trafficking victims. In
the Asian countries, the percentage of men, women and young girls are almost equal and quite
high than in other regions. These nations are highly populated and majority of the residents live
below the poverty line. They do not have access to the basic needs and rights, which create
opportunities for the traffickers to trap the vulnerable groups. In the Southeast Asia, the
Rohingya community is the victim of armed conflicts and there is an increase in the number of
refugees and migrants from that community (Mohamed 2016). This is also an opportunity for the
criminals to traffic people enroute and transfer them to the other parts of the domestic region or
in other regions like North Americas or the Middle East. There are anti-trafficking units
established to investigate the human trafficking and implement more rigid prosecution measures
for the offenders. However, as stated by Chuang (2017), it is doubtful if one universal trafficking
law can be effective for all the countries, as the size and population, economic and social status
vary widely between the Asian countries and the countries in other regions. The Asian countries
are heavily populated, culturally diverse and economically backward and there are many factors
that may not present in other regions, for example, corruptions, lack of resources, lack of
education, etc. that reduce the effectiveness of the programs.
Kiss et al. (2015) highlights that the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and
Sexual Exploitation in Cambodia is aimed at curbing the human trafficking efforts and it was

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formulated to in alignment with the US anti-trafficking recommendations. However, this law was
criticized for conflation of human trafficking and sex work. Thus, people engaged in the sex
work industry are vulnerable groups in the country who face the risk of prosecution. It becomes
difficult for the government to decide between the actual traffickers and people who work in the
sex industry willingly.
Another Asian country that is highly affected by human trafficking is South Korea.
Although the country meets the minimum standard to prevent the human trafficking, yet the
number of trafficking has been increasing significantly in South Korea. The labor exploitation is
very high in the country which not only affects the locals but also the migrant workers. The
Labor Standards Act and the Punishment of Acts Arranging Sexual Traffic have strict
regulations against traffickers, but there is no particular legislation that defines trafficking.
Hence, it is difficult determine the actual acts of trafficking and prosecuting the criminals (Yea
2016). It has also been found that people from other countries, such as, Philippines, Russia,
North Korea and Thailand are exploited in South Korea in the sex and labor industry. A large
number of South Korean trafficking victims are detected in the United States and they are used
as forced labor with a debt bondage. Thus, it can be said that the generalized anti-trafficking laws
by the UN might not be effective for all the countries or all the regions due to cultural
differences, economic inequality, size of population, religion preferences and many more.

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the concluding remarks on the study. Based on the findings on the
research issue, some recommendations are also provided to improve the measures by the United
Nations to combat the issue of trafficking in persons, with an emphasis on the Asian region. To
conduct the study, the researcher collected numerical and qualitative secondary data from
various sources and used descriptive analysis method to interpret the data and present the
findings though visual representation tools and interpretations to address the research questions.
in the last chapter the researcher will establish the connection with the research objectives to
evaluate whether the objectives have been fulfilled appropriately. The explanations,
recommendations and future scope of study are illustrated below.
5.1 Linking with the objectives
5.1.1 Linking with the first objective
The first objective of the study was to investigate the factors that lead to high trafficking
in Asia and the present statistics on trafficking. To address this objective, the researcher explored
the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018 published by the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime in an extensive manner. The report presents an overview of the global situation
on trafficking including particular emphasis on each of the different regions, such as, South Asia,
East Asia and Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, North America, North Africa and the
Middle East and the South Americas. By exploring the report and other valuable sources like
journal articles, and other reports, it has been found that the Asian countries are mostly less
developed countries characterized by heavy population. The economic conditions are extremely
poor in these countries which created opportunities for the traffickers to trap men, women and

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children for various forms of trafficking. The rate of domestic trafficking is very high for all the
Asian regions, that is, the origin and place of detection are found to be in the same region, which
indicates that the rate of domestic trafficking is very high and among the long distance
trafficking, majority of the victims are trafficked to the Middle East region. It has also been seen
that sexual exploitation is the major reason for trafficking, followed by forced labor, illegal organ
removal and trading and child begging. The percentage of men, women and young girls among
the victims from Asia are almost equal. The rate of child trafficking is maximum in Nepal. From
the reports, it is also found that children are often kidnapped and trafficked and made
handicapped as handicapped children generate three times more income through begging on the
streets. The situation is extremely worse in the Asian countries, where majority of people live
below poverty line, lack access to basic education, employment and other needs of life. The
traffickers take these opportunities to lure vulnerable and helpless people and transport them to
other region illegally. Thus, it can be said that the first objective of the research study is fulfilled
by evaluating the report by the UNODC.
5.1.2 Linking with the second objective
The second objective of the study was to investigate the global anti trafficking policies
implemented by the UNODC. According to the Global Plan of Action to combat Trafficking in
Persons published by the UNODC, it is seen that not only the UNODC but there are many
governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations that have come together
to combat the social crime across the world. As the impact of trafficking is extremely severe on
the mental and physical health of the victims, hence, only one organization cannot address all the
aspects of trafficking in the efficient manner. The agenda of the combat policies is to prevent
trafficking, arrest and prosecute the offenders, rescue and protect the victims and provide legal,

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financial, and medical assistance to the victims to improve their condition so that they can
recover from the trauma and lead a normal life in the society. The combat policies are aligned
with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development across the world and for this purpose, the
organizations have focused on addressing the factors that make the people vulnerable to the
traffickers, such as, unemployment, poverty, inequality, natural disasters, and humanitarian
emergencies, such as, civil war or armed conflicts, sexual violence, social exclusion, gender
discrimination, marginalization, culture of tolerance of the society towards the violence against
women, children and the youth. Thus, it can be said that the combat policies of the UNODC for
protection against trafficking are quite sustainable, and the second objective of the study is
fulfilled.
5.1.3 Linking to the third objective
The third objective of the study is to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
anti-trafficking policies of the UNODC in the Asian countries. From various reports and news
articles, it has been found that the number of convictions is not significant in the Asian regions.
Although almost all the countries have been formulating an implementing their anti-trafficking
regulations in accordance to the United Nations regulations, yet the number of domestic and
international trafficking is rising and the number of convictions is not rising in comparison. This
is a serious concern for the countries and it has also been predicted that impunity is high in these
countries, which is helping the offenders to continue with the crimes. Many countries are now
coming forward to report trafficking, convicting and prosecuting the traffickers but due to
various factors, the policies are not getting the maximum effectiveness. The Asian countries are
culturally as well as economically diverse and hence, according to the critics, universal laws of
the UN are not effective in all the countries.

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5.2 Recommendations
The following recommendations are aimed to improve the combat policies of the UN to
address the issue of trafficking in the Asian countries in a more effective manner.
 The UNODC should establish branches in the Asian countries, that have maximum
instances of trafficking in persons and should try to understand the cultural and economic
condition of the nation in an in-depth manner. As per the findings, that is, cultural and
economic aspects, the combat policies should be redesigned to make those more effective
for the societies. For example, as seen in the case of South Korea, there is no particular
definition of trafficking, which makes conviction and prosecution difficult. The people
working as traffickers often get away from any punishment due to weak anti-trafficking
laws.
 The level of economic development is quite different in different countries of Asia.
Hence, while designing the anti-trafficking laws, the UN and the national government
must consider the level of resources available in the nation and make the plans such that
to utilize the resources in the optimum manner. It should be understood that the anti-
trafficking plans and actions that are suitable for a developed country in Europe will not
be suitable for a poor or underdeveloped country in South East Asia. Hence, the plans,
policies and regulations should be made according to the economic and resource
capabilities of the Asian countries.
 The UN should focus on increasing the education opportunities in these nations. Lack of
education is a major reason resulting in child beggars. As majority of the children belong
to the poor families and have no access to the basic education, it becomes easier for the
traffickers to trap these children. Either through kidnapping or through intimidation,

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torture, substance abuse and luring the families for more money, the traffickers use the
children for begging, sexual exploitation or as forced domestic and industrial labor in the
domestic region or in the other regions, such as North Africa or Middle East. Hence, the
resources and opportunities should be increased for providing basic education to the
children in the Asian countries.
 Along with educational opportunities, the employment opportunities should be increased
too. People must have the money to have food and for that they should be employed.
Hence, the governments in these less developed Asian countries should focus on creating
employment opportunities for the citizens, so that not only trafficking, but all other types
of social crime can be reduced and eliminated from the country and the economy
experiences growth.
5.3 Future scope of the study
Trafficking in Persons is a major topic that poses a serious concern for the entire world. It
has been found from this study that the nature of exploitation of the victims are almost similar in
all the regions however, the trafficking flows are different. This study has focused on the Asian
countries regarding the origin and detection of the victims including their citizenship and number
of convictions in these regions. Hence, in the future, the researchers can focus on the other
regions to find out the pattern of the trafficking and the effectiveness of the measures in those
regions. The future researchers can also focus on exploring the profile of the traffickers as it is
seen from the UNODC report that women consist of a large percentage among the traffickers.
They could explore the reasons behind these women who act as traffickers in different regions.
Hence, there are various aspects of the particular research topic, which can be explored by the
future researches to get a more in-depth insight about the research phenomenon. Like the Asian

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region, the other regions also have some particular characteristics that create opportunities for the
traffickers, such as, war conflicted areas of the Middle East, refugee crisis in the North Americas
and in the European countries etc., which might have different impact on the number of
trafficking. Thus, this research phenomenon can be explored in various ways to get overviews on
different regions and on different causes and effects of trafficking in persons.

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