A Note On Consent

The UN Trafficking Protocol states that "[t]he consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation...shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth...have been used." For example, if a person agrees to work for another person and upon arrival to the job, their documentation is confiscated or the person is held against their will, the fact that the person consented to work is irrelevant. If a victim consents at any time during the process of being trafficked and traffickers have used any of the illicit means, the consent of the victim is still irrelevant.

The UN Trafficking Protocol also states that "[t]he recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered 'trafficking in persons' even if this does not involve any of the means set forth..." A prosecutor does not have to prove any of the illicit means in order to establish a case of child trafficking against a defendant.

It is important that states and governments properly address the issue of consent in their anti-trafficking legislation in order to effectively combat human trafficking and to be in compliance with the UN Trafficking Protocol. If the issue of consent is left unresolved, it will negatively affect implementation of anti-trafficking legislation by allowing the consent of the victim to be a defense to the charge of human trafficking.