The Prosecution and Criminalisation of Trafficked Victims

Trafficked victims often encounter the criminal justice system as suspects who have committed criminal offences under duress as part of their exploitation from their traffickers. Victims are then often misidentified, not as a victim, but as an offender, exposing them to being prosecuted for sexual offences like prostitution, drug offences, theft or offences against the person including murder. Despite there being international legal obligations towards the non-prosecution of victims of trafficking, there is a large degree of inconsistency as to how this operates in practice. There are a host of intrinsic reasons for pressures from traffickers including deception, coercion and control which keep victims in exploitative environments. This perspective is crucial for States and criminal justice systems to understand. Importantly, individuals involved in trafficking are both a victim and an offender simultaneously which is difficult for the criminal justice to deal with appropriately. Prosecution often leads to victims being punished, rather than being recognised as trafficked victims, preventing them to receive the rights and entitlements once identified by the State in the correct way.