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Combating trafficking of Hungarian women to Western Europe: a multi-level analysis of the international law enforcement cooperation

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Abstract

Human trafficking is an increasing field of academic research, but the obstacles of investigation and prosecution of traffickers is still under-researched. This article analyses the challenges of prosecution of criminal groups facilitating the prostitution of Hungarian women to Western European countries by focusing on international cooperation of law enforcement agencies. Although the scientific literature mostly focuses on the influence of international agreements on national level policing, based on a multilevel analysis, the current article scrutinizes the organizational and individual dimensions in transnational policing and the implementation of the anti-trafficking measures in practice. Despite the aims of the global prohibition regime, victim-focus approach in human trafficking remains neglected by large  in the Hungarian practice. The article is based on structured interviews with members of law enforcement agencies, observation of court trials, legal documents and secondary written sources on the investigation of organized crime in Hungary.

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Notes

  1. http://policehumanrightsresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Criminal-Code-2012.pdf

  2. Throughout the whole article I will refer to women in trafficking and pandering cases, as during the research I have encountered only female victims or subjects of pandering.

  3. Allain (2018) explains in detail the development of the international conventions and agreements: 1904 Agreement; 1910 International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic; 1921 International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children; 1933 International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age; 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

  4. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspx

  5. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:101:0001:0011:EN:PDF

  6. On the regulation of asset recovery see Mátyás et al. 2016.

  7. See more about the victims’ assistance and dysfunctions of the Dutch system in Brunovskis and Skilbrei 2016.

  8. https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/european-union-serious-and-organised-crime-threat-assessment-2017

  9. http://www.police.hu/sites/default/files/szervezeti_felepites_pdf/kr_szervezeti_abra201702.pdf

  10. European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats; prioritized criminal offences listed by the Europol.

  11. Translation for the original German text: „Die Durchführung von JITs ist nicht mehr nur eine Option, sondern auch ein Ziel für die Mitgliedsländer.“(Szabo 2015:56)

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  1. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Sociology, Budapest, Hungary

    Noemi Katona

  2. Humboldt University, Department of Social Sciences, Berlin, Germany

    Noemi Katona

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Correspondence to Noemi Katona.

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Katona, N. Combating trafficking of Hungarian women to Western Europe: a multi-level analysis of the international law enforcement cooperation. Trends Organ Crim 23, 115–142 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-019-09358-7

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