Dealing with international human trafficking in Spain: Between criminalization and a human rights approach

Abstract

The international community has played an essential role in creating and building an international system as a global response to combat people trafficking. This development has taken place through international instruments to fight organized crime and based on a rationale of State security. States underpin the international system, and the majority are more concerned with prosecuting crime than protecting victims’ rights. Progress is being made, but this system does not guarantee the rights of all victims in a fully effective manner. The theoretical framework for the analysis presented in this paper is the critical theory of human rights; Spain is used as a case study. Spain is considered to have regulations that offer guarantees; however, rights are only effectively guaranteed in formal terms. The human rights-based approach is part of Spanish law and policy, but it remains insufficiently effective. There is a need for improvement and for mechanisms to secure continuous participation by all actors, including victims. This article has two aims: to offer a differential analysis perspective with a focus on human rights, and to promote a new public policy interpretation in the fight against trafficking, placing victims at the centre of policies and not treating them as mere objects or instruments in a criminal phenomenon.