Trafficking in persons:

an analysis from the perspective of human rights

Abstract

Human trafficking represents a serious violation of the human rights, one that subjugates a human being as commodity. Throughout the years, the definition of slavery went through profound changes, evolving from limitation of freedom to other methods of human exploitation. The Palermo Protocol represents the international milestone for fighting human traffic, placing the modern slavery concept in the context of transnational organized crime and of protection of the victims’ rights. Despite having ratified the Convention, Brazil lacked, during decades, specific legislation related to the topic, contributing, therefore, to the perpetuation of these types of violation. The promulgation of Law 13.344/2016 was intended to put an end to the Government’s failure in the legislative field, honoring the country’s commitment with the international community. This paper has the objective to analyze the main changes implemented by this new law, to correlate them with the Palermo Protocol, and to analyze the consequences to the existing legal system in regard to the victims’ human rights.