Sex trafficking: towards a human rights paradigm

Sex trafficking continues to remain a global endemic, despite being the subject of international criminal law since early twentieth century. This article will critique both the outdated international anti-sex trafficking regime, the Palermo Protocol, and a contemporary domestic regime, the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015. After arguing that both legal frameworks are insufficient due to their criminal law foundations, it will then propose as a replacement an anti-sex trafficking paradigm grounded in human rights. Finally, the article argues that the full potential of this paradigm will only be realised once labour rights are recognised as human rights.