The Imperative of Including “Means” and Organ Removal in Domestic Legislation to Safeguard the Vulnerable and Combat Human Trafficking

Robust international frameworks to safeguard human rights and protect the vulnerable are needed more than ever. Among the instruments developed to combat these challenges is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. The “means” element articulated in the Protocol encompasses various methods traffickers use to coerce, deceive, or manipulate victims into forced labor, sexual exploitation, or other forms of exploitation. When this element is neglected, those who fall prey to trafficking are left defenseless against their perpetrators. This chapter explores the crucial issues that arise when the means element is excluded from the legal frameworks of criminal justice systems, and how this violation of the Protocol perpetuates harm against those it aims to shield. A specific exploitative practice that remains largely disregarded is also explored: the trafficking of persons for the purpose of organ harvesting. By ignoring this crime, nations neglect a vulnerable population, rendering people defenseless and reducing them to commodities. This chapter seeks to ignite a discourse among policymakers, legal practitioners, and advocates, calling on them to recognize the cruciality of including the means element in criminal justice systems. It underscores the urgency of explicitly addressing organ harvesting within the Protocol to develop a more effective approach to combating one of the greatest human rights abuses of our time.