Human Trafficking and Country Borders

• Date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Jayoti Das,Cassandra E. DiRienzo
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567717700491
• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Human Trafficking

and Country Borders

Cassandra E. DiRienzo

1

and Jayoti Das

1

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to empirically test whether neighboring countries within the

Schengen region have similar human trafficking prevalence rates. It is argued that the free flow of

persons across borders in the region impacts human trafficking in two ways. First, it lessens many

of the transportation challenges and costs faced by human traffickers. Second, it enhances the

ability of traffickers to acquire knowledge about neighboring countries in regard to policing,

demand for trafficked persons, and terrain, which enables trafficking networks to spread. The

Moran Index, a measure of spatial autocorrelation, is used to test the hypothesis using the Global

Slavery Index’s proportion of country population living in slavery, a proxy for human trafficking.

The Moran Index is significant and positive in the Schengen region, indicating that country

neighbors within the region tend to have similar human trafficking prevalence rates. The Moran

Indexiscalculatedinotherglobal regions (Africa, Asia, and North and South America) in addition

to Schengen border itself, and the index is insignificant in these areas, which offers evidence that

the relationship between neighboring countries within the Schengen region is unique. Policy

implications of these findings are offered.

Keywords

human trafficking, cross-border relations, spatial autocorrelation, Schengen region

The atrocities of slavery, sadly, do not live in our history books but are very much alive today.

While the circumstances giving rise to modern-day slavery differ than those of the past, the outcome

is the same; individual liberties are held hostage for the sake of exploitation.

The term slavery has been used to describe a variety of abuses such as forced prostitution, prison

labor, low-paid wage labor, forced and bonded labor, domestic servitude, pornography, organized

begging, organ harvesting, and segregation (Agbu, 2003; Bales, Trodd, & Williamson, 2009; U.S.

Department of State, 2016). In reference to modern-day slavery, in the Global Slavery Report (2014,

p. 10), the Walk Free Foundation defines the term as, “one person possessing or controlling another

person in such a way as to significantly deprive that person of their individual liberty, with the

intention of exploiting that person through their use, management, transfer or disposal.” As Bales,

1

Elon University, Elon, NC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Cassandra E. DiRienzo, Elon University, Campus Box 2075, Elon, NC 27244, USA.

Email: cdirienzo@elon.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

2017, Vol. 27(4) 278-288

ª2017 Georgia State University

Reprints and permission:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/1057567717700491

journals.sagepub.com/home/icj