Shadows of Exploitation: Unveiling the Role of Women and Children in the Terrorism-Trafficking Nexus

• Pages: 131-153
• Date: 01 January 2025
• Published date: 01 January 2025
• Author: Zoe Kern
• Subject Matter: Derecho Civil

Shadows of Exploitation: Unveiling the Role

of Women and Children in the

Terrorism-Traff‌icking Nexus

Zoe Kern*

I. INTRODUCTION

Human traff‌icking has increasingly become a tool of war and a lucrative

source of funding for terrorist and insurgent groups, posing profound threats to

the safety and dignity of vulnerable populations and creating complex chal-

lenges for legal systems worldwide. The nexus between human traff‌icking and

terrorist activities, particularly the exploitation of women and children by

armed groups as sex slaves and child soldiers, reveals distressing dynamics

within the context of armed conf‌licts. This unsettling trend is compounded by

the fact that traff‌icking is the third most lucrative illegal activity globally, sur-

passed only by drugs and weapons, with an estimated 27.6 million victims

worldwide at any given time.

1

Press Statement, Anthony J. Blinken, Sec’y of State, National Human Traff‌icking Prevention

Month 2023 (Jan. 19, 2023),https://perma.cc/UDR7-JS96.

Additionally, terrorism continues to be a serious

global threat, with deaths caused by terrorism reaching the highest levels since

2017 and increasing by twenty-two percent from the previous year.

2

Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Terrorism Index 2024 (Feb. 2024), https://perma.cc/

M929-8TTF.

Through a

detailed analysis of two case studies—the Islamic State and the Lord’s Resistance

Army—this paper aims to unravel the complex dynamics at play in these heinous

crimes. Furthermore, it argues that the Rome Statute of the International Criminal

Court (ICC) plays a critical role in addressing these issues on a global scale. Given

that these crimes are often transnational, perpetrated by powerful networks that

exploit weaknesses in domestic legal frameworks, they present substantial prose-

cutorial challenges at the national level. By incorporating these interlinked crimes

within its comprehensive jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity,

the Rome Statute offers a unif‌ied, international platform capable of overcoming

jurisdictional limitations and disparate domestic approaches that currently impede

effective prosecutions, thereby providing a direct and robust mechanism for global

accountability and justice.

* Zoe Kern is a fourth-year dual-degree student pursuing a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and a Master of Arts

(M.A.) in Security Studies with a concentration in terrorism and substate violence. Her academic

research focuses on terrorism, international criminal law, human rights law, and national security.

Following graduation, she will serve as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) off‌icer in the United States

Navy. © 2025, Zoe Kern.

1.

2.

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II. NAVIGATING THE QUAGMIRE: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS AND CHALLENGES AT THE

INTERSECTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND TERRORISM

The intersection of human traff‌icking with global legal standards centers sig-

nif‌icantly around several pivotal international treaties that collectively aim to

combat this grave issue and protect its victims. At the heart of these efforts is the

United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, adopted in

2000, along with its supplementary protocol, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress

and Punish Traff‌icking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (the Palermo

Protocol).

3

The Protocol is particularly signif‌icant as it provides the f‌irst common

international def‌inition of traff‌icking in persons and sets a structured framework

for international cooperation. It def‌ines traff‌icking broadly, encompassing the

recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of persons by means of threat

or use of force or other forms of coercion for the purpose of exploitation.

4

This

exploitation includes, at minimum, prostitution, forced labor, slavery, or the re-

moval of organs.

5

The Protocol also highlights three crucial elements to classify

an action as traff‌icking: the act (what is done), the means (how it is done), and the

purpose (why it is done).

6

In addition to the Palermo Protocol, the Convention on

the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), along with their respective protocols,

play foundational roles by targeting the specif‌ic needs and vulnerabilities of women

and children.

7

Together, these legal instruments—CEDAW and the CRC,

along with their respective protocols—create a robust framework for addressing the

specif‌ic vulnerabilities of women and children in the context of global human

traff‌icking.

In contrast to the well-developed international law regarding human traff‌ick-

ing, the legal landscape for terrorism, despite numerous attempts, lacks a univer-

sally accepted def‌inition.

8

This ambiguity complicates the enforcement and

cooperation needed to tackle these interconnected crimes effectively. While vari-

ous def‌initions of terrorism ref‌lect its complex and inherently political nature, key

themes emerge when analyzing United Nations resolutions and conventions,

other legal instruments, and scholarly writings on the subject. These themes

include the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, often directed at civilians,

3. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE AND COORDINATOR FOR COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN

HUMAN BEINGS, ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN

BEINGS AND TERRORISM: WHERE AND HOW THEY INTERSECT, at 22 (2021) [hereinafter “OSCE

REPORT”].

4. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traff‌icking in Persons Especially Women and Children,

supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime art. 3, Nov. 15,

2000 [hereinafter Palermo Protocol].

5. Id.

6. U.N. OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME, COUNTERING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN CONFLICT

SITUATIONS: THEMATIC PAPER, at vii (2018).

7. JOSHUA NATHAN ASTON, TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN: ARTICLE 7 OF THE ROME

STATUTE, at 59-60 (Oxford Univ. Press 2016).

8. OSCE REPORT, supra note 3, at 22.

132 JOURNAL OF NATIONAL SECURITY LAW & POLICY [Vol. 15:131