Human trafficking has become the scourge of the 21st century, with child trafficking arguably its worst form. As vulnerable children are lured into prostitution, pornography and other forms of exploitation, there is only a patchwork legal regime trying to deal with child trafficking.
This book assesses this legal regime, arguing that a more coordinated and international response is needed. Analyzing the moral and conceptual issues at stake across a wide variety of child trafficking cases – child prostitution, child pornography, forced “marriage,” corrupt “adoptions,” organ “donation,” refugee abuse, child soldiers, orphanage abuse, and “normal” parental child abuse – it goes on to argue that the crimes of child trafficking make apparent that there are conceptual, moral, and legal issues concerning child trafficking that differ from other kinds of crime including adult trafficking.
Trafficking and the Conscience of Humanity puts forward the case that the crimes of child trafficking could, and should, be prosecuted by an international court such as the International Criminal Court.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Jurisdiction and Border Issues
3. Who are the Children?
4. Movement of Persons
5. Coercion
6. Exploitation
7. Child Prostitution
8. Child Pornography
9. Forced “Marriage”
10. Corrupt “Adoption”
11. Organ “Donation”
12. Refugee and Migrant Abuse
13. Child Soldiers
14. The New “Grooming” and Orphanage Abuse
15. Parental Child Abuse
16. Complicity and Child Victims
17. Punishing Child Traffickers
18. Problems with Domestic Prosecutions
19. Trafficking and International Criminal Law
20. Humanity’s Conscience
21. Concluding Thoughts
Appendix: Early Examples in Myths and Codes
About the Author :
Larry May is an internationally renowned social/political philosopher and legal theorist who has published more than three dozen books. He is W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at Vanderbilt University and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. He has published over three dozen books including a four-volume study of the moral foundations of international criminal law, and a three-volume history of legal and political thought. He is currently working on a book on ethnic cleansing.
Review :
"This book provides an important examination of the challenging subject of human trafficking, especially children. The book makes an impassioned case for the moral obligations to respond, and the legal and political possibilities to address this social and human problem. It is a critical contribution to a necessary social conversation that will have a lasting impact."
Mary Burke, Professor of Psychology, Carlow University
"This book provides an important examination of a socially and politically relevant and challenging topic. The exploration of how international law could be applied to hold traffickers accountable for trafficking children is important, given legal loopholes which exist to prevent trafficking prosecution both domestically (in the US) and abroad. International law has a unique opportunity to make a difference in sex trafficking cases. The overlap between child abuse and child trafficking is clear and well covered in this book, providing a framework for legal approaches to trafficker prosecution."
Dr. M. Elizabeth Bowman, PhD, LCSW, Lived Experience Expert
"Larry May powerfully exposes the unconscionable horrors of child trafficking in its myriad insidious forms. In response, he proposes how international law can help stanch these harms."
Mark A. Drumbl, Director at the Transnational Law Institute, Washington and Lee University
