Content area
Full text
Abstract
In an effort to combat human trafficking, the United States federal government and all fifty states passed new laws that criminalise human trafficking and support the identification and prosecution of human trafficking perpetrators. Despite the passage of these laws, only a small number of human trafficking cases have been prosecuted in the last fifteen years. Guided by the notion that prosecutors seek to avoid uncertainty when making decisions to pursue criminal prosecution, we explore how human trafficking crimes are indicted under these newly defined state laws. Using a sample of cases from twelve US counties and interviews with police, prosecutors and court personnel, we examine the factors that influence the decision to prosecute crimes investigated as human trafficking in state court. This research informs our understanding of why so few human trafficking cases are prosecuted and why human trafficking suspects are rarely convicted of trafficking offenses.
Keywords: prosecution, human trafficking, law reform, uncertainty avoidance
Introduction
In response to growing concerns about human trafficking, the United States [US] federal government passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act in 2000 (TVPA).1 Following the model of the TVPA, as of 2015, all fifty states had also passed laws criminalising acts of human trafficking. Federal and state legislation included enhanced penalties for perpetrators and increased protections for victims.2 Further, many states have created task forces to help with prosecuting human trafficking cases, as it became apparent that states are most likely to locate and identify instances of human trafficking at the community level, and not all human trafficking cases meet federal jurisdiction. Since passage of the TVPA in 2000, 1,876 suspects have been prosecuted for federal human trafficking offences3 and roughly 450 suspects have been prosecuted for state-level human trafficking crimes.4 Understanding the context of human trafficking prosecutions is important since public officials and opponents of current anti-trafficking policies have argued that the relatively small number of prosecutions in the US provides evidence that the seriousness and prevalence of human trafficking has been exaggerated.5 Additionally, human trafficking prosecutions and convictions are a common metric upon which a government's anti-trafficking response is judged.6 The TVPA itself lists prosecution and punishment of human traffickers as one of its primary purposes, along with protection of identified human...