ABSTRACT
The Preamble to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings designates trafficking as 'a violation of human rights and an offence to the dignity and integrity of human beings'. This chapter assesses whether trafficking in human beings (THB) violates human rights, and considers the consequences for States. Human rights are defined as certain fundamental rights to which every human being is entitled just because she or he is a human being. Human trafficking operates at different levels, starting with the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of the victims, with the objective of actual exploitation. The top of the pyramid is made up of the classic types of THB, such as exploitation through forced labour that is usually accompanied by coercion or deprivation of liberty. The thesis that human trafficking is a human rights violation has been criticised as erroneous; THB is said to be simply a crime.
