A human rights approach to Human Trafficking for Organ Removal

Abstract

Human trafficking for organ removal (HTOR) should not be reduced to a problem of supply and demand of organs for transplantation, a problem of organized crime and criminal justice, or a problem of voiceless, abandoned victims. Rather, HTOR is at once an egregious human rights abuse and a form of human trafficking. As such, it demands a human-rights based approach in analysis and response to this problem, placing the victim at the center of initiatives to combat this phenomenon. Such an approach requires us to consider how various measures impact or disregard victims/potential victims of HTOR and gives us tools to better advocate their interests, rights and freedoms.

Does the Iranian model of kidney donation compensation work as an ethical global model?

“…Trafficking actually comes in two forms: human trafficking of organs and individual organ trafficking. The former involves trafficking humans in order to transplant their organs, and the latter involves trafficking the already excised organ (Budiani-Saberi and Columb, 2013). Organ trafficking then exemplifies one of the main objections to a global system of compensated donation: exploitation of the poor and violations of informed consent.…”

“…International studies suggest that roughly ten percent of the global yearly kidney transplants occur out of an organ sale system, and the vast majority of these involve organ trafficking of some kind (Budiani-Saberi and Columb, 2013). With roughly 66,000 kidney transplants in 2005, and this number surely growing since annually, this constitutes an average of around 6,000 cases of human organ trafficking yearly (Shimazono, 2007).…”

Epistemic Communities, Human Rights, and the Global Diffusion of Legislation against the Organ Trade

“…The organ trade also represents a "health and human rights matter" [54][55][56]. Regarding health, findings suggest the organ trade leads to deterioration in health status for both recipients and donors [57].…”

“…It violates internationally recognized rights such as rights to life, liberty, security, health and freedom from cruel or inhumane treatment, as well as various children's rights [37,55,[65][66][67]. Amongst the clearest reflections of the organ trade's challenge to internationally recognized human rights is China's state-organized organ trade.…”

“…8 Many states have implemented legislation and formulated mechanisms to combat the organ trade. However, quite problematically, many countries do not recognize some aspects of the organ trade-such as trafficking for the removal of organs-as "a form of exploitation" ( [55], p. 908).…”