Human Trafficking and Prostitution

Abstract

While both human trafficking and prostitution are characterized by the sale of sexual services, there is ongoing debate among scholars regarding the interrelationship of these two crimes. Perceptions of this relationship can be placed on a continuum that ranges from full integration, whereby it is believed that all prostitution is coerced, and thus a form of human trafficking, to full denial, whereby it is believed that voluntary prostitution does not meet the necessary requirements for the definition of human trafficking. Current legal movement throughout the globe regarding these two crimes further complicates this debate.