Human Trafficking Human Rights: Children of God, Not for Sale (2016)

This report contains policies to curtail the on-going tragedy of human trafficking. It addresses not only sex trafficking and child trafficking, but labor trafficking and lesser known ways that persons can be bought and sold. It speaks of forced labor more than modern slavery, but both phrases point to a grim reality in many international supply chains for products from fish to fashion. It reviews laws, coalitions, different approaches to prostitution (including safe harbor laws for minors), codes of conduct for tourism, fair trade and worker-driven social responsibility, all in a globalizing market context. The human rights approach seeks to protect and empower workers, reducing the economic drivers of vulnerability, so that there can be less emphasis on criminalizing perpetrators and rescuing victims. Theologically, the report stresses our shared creation in God's image and vocation rather than commodification in the world of work.