Human trafficking and challenges to States’ compliance with International Human Rights Law: The case of Brazil *

Abstract

This article identifies some challenges faced by the Brazilian State in eradicating human trafficking. International Human Rights Law is the instrument I adopt as a conceptual paradigm for analysis of the State’s conduct, arguing that Brazilian National Policy implemented since 2008 does not meet the preventative needs, the repression of perpetrators, nor victim protection as proposed by International Human Rights Law. The conduct of State powers shows that human trafficking is still conceived as a criminal offense, rather than as a human rights violation. Existing published Brazilian studies commonly approach human trafficking in terms of criminal law. I analyze it under the umbrella of International Human Rights Law, disassociating human trafficking from an exclusively feminist approach, and describing it in terms of a global human rights violation pattern related to international migration flows. I emphasize some interior legal concepts commonly overlooked by juridical doctrine, such as vulnerability and exploitation, with attention to cultural attitudes that help determine policy.