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.
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
2020 was a year unlike any other. This report documents what happened to garment workers across Asia – in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh, putting numbers to the 25 per cent or so wage losses suffered by these worker...Read More
Research and analysis conducted by Katarina Schwarz (University of Nottingham) and Jean Allain (Monash University). To assess the extent to which slavery and related forms of human exploitation have been prohibited in domestic law, this project ...Read More
The development of technology has had an important influence on the crime of trafficking in persons, presenting both challenges and opportunities. While technology is frequently misused to facilitate trafficking in persons, its positive use can als...Read More
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