Introduction
Human trafficking is often referred to as a modern form of slavery as people are deprived of their basic rights and are often treated poorly. Sex exploitation of women has been mainly associated with human trafficking for decades, although victims are often exploited in different ways (O’Brien, 2015). Human trafficking is regarded as a crime across the globe, which suggests that this act violates basic principles all nations share in common. This crime is linked to diverse ethical concerns, including but not confined to people’s rights, duties, autonomy, and beneficence. In ethical terms, human trafficking is a serious crime against the human being and the principles of human society. When applying such ethical philosophies as utilitarianism or social contract, as well as employing the deontological perspective, it is clear that human trafficking can never be justified or tolerated in modern society.
Main body
Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that implies the focus on the consequences of the action. When considering the rightfulness of any action, the utilitarianist will concentrate on the outcomes rather than rules or morals (Williams, 2014). The action is ethical and rightful if the majority of people benefit from it. Human trafficking can, by no means, be seen as an ethical phenomenon as it benefits only a limited number of people. These groups include traffickers, certain groups of employers, and corrupted officials who in different ways contribute to the existence of the problem.
At the same time, the act leads to multiple negative effects for the rest of society. The suffering of the victims and their families is only one facet of the issue (Herlin-Karnell, 2019). Human trafficking results in financial losses for countries as people are displaced from their positions, so the lack of labor force, as well as taxpayers, is the problem countries and communities face. Therefore, human trafficking should be condemned in accordance with the principles of utilitarian philosophy. However, Thorburn (2019) unveils another facet to the problem. The author claims that human trafficking is a much broader phenomenon than many people think. Thorburn (2019) claims that trafficking is defined as bringing some forbidden objects to a market. In this case, people are the labor force that is brought to some markets. At that, people may be willing to enter the market, and the market may benefit from the inclusion of these newcomers. In such cases, more beneficiaries from human trafficking appear, including traffickers, employers, laborers, and the entire society may benefit from human trafficking. Hence, there are cases when the utilitarian philosophy justifies human trafficking.
Human trafficking is regarded as a crime and ethically inappropriate action when analyzed in terms of the social contract theory. The social contract or social justice theory is linked to the distribution of rights and duties among the members of a society (Williams, 2014). According to this theory, people have a number of rights, but they may give some of their rights in turn of protection or other benefits provided by the state. This approach is often used when human trafficking is seen as a global issue, and international institutions develop policies based on the principles of this theory (Meriläinen & Vos, 2015). In simple terms, human trafficking is unethical as people’s basic rights are violated. The state has the duty to protect people and ensure their exercise of such rights as autonomy and freedom. Although some stakeholders (such as traffickers, laborers, or employees) can benefit, human trafficking contradicts the principles of the social contract that often implies the protection of citizens’ rights and their wellbeing. Human traffickers violate the social contract, so they are to be punished.
It is also possible to analyze human trafficking from a deontological perspective. According to this paradigm, people should act in accordance with certain moral principles and do what is right irrespective of the consequences (Williams, 2014). Clearly, enslaving people is an inappropriate act, which contradicts universal morals. Traffickers do the wrong thing when they forcefully make others do something against their will. Moreover, even when the laborers are eager to enter the market, human trafficking is still a crime as it violates the existing laws since the act is associated with bringing forbidden elements to the market. Therefore, from the deontological perspective, human trafficking is a crime and has to be punished.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that human trafficking is mainly regarded as a crime when deontological perspectives or social contract and utilitarian theories are applied. At that, in some cases, utilitarianists can justify human trafficking as it will be associated with the good for a large group of people including traffickers, employers, laborers, or even a community or country. Nevertheless, these cases are infrequent as human trafficking is mainly associated with the violation of such basic human rights as freedom, autonomy, and dignity. Slavery cannot be a part of the modern globalized world. Modern society has to be free from such acts since human life and individual rights have acquired the highest priority across the globe.
References
- Herlin-Karnell, E. (2019). Understanding trafficking in human beings as mixed migration: The European area of freedom, security and justice and its Global width. In R. Haverkamp, E. Herlin-Karnell, & C. Lernestedt (Eds.), What is wrong with human trafficking?: Critical perspectives on the law (pp. 99-116). Oxford, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Meriläinen, N., & Vos, M. (2015). Public discourse on human trafficking in international issue arenas. Societies, 5(1), 14-42. doi:10.3390/soc5010014
- O’Brien, E. (2015). Human trafficking heroes and villains. Social & Legal Studies, 25(2), 205-224. doi:10.1177/0964663915593410
- Thorburn, M. (2019). Human trafficking: Supplying the market for human exploitation. In R. Haverkamp, E. Herlin-Karnell, & C. Lernestedt (Eds.), What is wrong with human trafficking?: Critical perspectives on the law (pp. 159-176). Oxford, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Williams, B. (2014). Ethics and the limits of philosophy. New York, NY: Routledge.