Narratives of commercial gestational surrogacy (CGS) as ‘baby-selling’ often conflate or interchange the transfer of children born via surrogacy with trafficking in children or the sale of children, two sometimes overlapping but nonetheless distinct offenses. Moreover, anti-trafficking laws have been used to police cross border CGS. But when do CGS arrangements fall within the category of legitimate ‘reproductive tourism’ and when do they amount to child trafficking? In this paper I critically explore intersections between human trafficking laws and CGS, vis-à-vis the child, charting the relevant trafficking laws in the context of international surrogacy, and analysing whether trafficking laws are an appropriate mechanism through which to regulate CGS. I conclude that while child trafficking might occur via surrogacy, CGS in itself is not child trafficking under international law.
Together with the London Working Group, the Human Trafficking Foundation has produced the Referral pathway for adult victims to help Local Authorities improve their response to human trafficking and modern slavery, in particular the identification an...Read More
This document is not a comprehensive resource on child protection policies, but rather provides a solid introduction on developing a policy for your organization. Organizations, staff, volunteers, and visitors must be fully aware that child abuse ca...Read More
Corporate human rights reporting is a commonly expected practice and is increasingly becoming a legal requirement for businesses. Under the international framework of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), states...Read More
Over the last few months, Polaris has been carefully tracking the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on victims and survivors of sex and labor trafficking. As part of this effort, Polaris has undertaken a systematic examination of relevant da...Read More
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