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.
Many women and girls in Ethiopia work as domestic workers in urban cities as well as abroad, particularly in the Middle East. The conditions faced by women and girls in domestic work are well documented (see Freedom Fund 2019 and Tayah & Atnafu ...Read More
Businesses are increasingly required to implement human rights due diligence processes and/or to report on how they manage human rights-related issues. In their third joint briefing, The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights and Clifford Chance...Read More
This publication identifies ten key principles to help integrate the management of human rights risks into contract negotiations on investment projects between host State entities and foreign business investors. This publication has been developed...Read More
Migrants with insecure immigration status often feel unable to report cases of abuse and exploitation for fear that government authorities will prioritise their immigration status over the harm they have experienced and that they will face seri...Read More
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