Bridget A. Carr
Imagine a young woman who lands her dream job in New York City. You wake up, get dressed, and head to work as excited as you can. A few weeks into the job, you’re told you’ve been reassigned to work with the CEO. It seems like a great opportunity, but the job isn’t quite what you expected. You’re coerced and forced to become a personal assistant. You’re raped, abused, and tortured, yet still remain on the company’s payroll.
This is the very definition of human trafficking. For over 20 years, the United Nations has given us a way to define human trafficking in the Palermo Protocol. But because we are unwilling to name trafficking, we struggle to prevent it, let alone respond to it.
As a result, hundreds of clients I have represented at the University of Michigan Law School’s Human Trafficking Clinic, as well as people like my not-so-fictional personal assistant, have been victims of human trafficking in the open, without being told about it, for a long time.
On Thursday, the BBC released a documentary about billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodi Fayed, the late Princess Diana’s lover. The documentary details the atrocities that Al-Fayed’s father allegedly inflicted on more than 20 women, including raping and sexually assaulting them.
Many, if not all, of the women profiled in the BBC documentary were allegedly victims of human trafficking that took place at Harrods. The BBC reported that not only did Harrods fail to stop him, but they were also complicit in covering up the abuse. Although Harrods apologized, they did not take responsibility for their role in the abuse, instead focusing on Al Fayed’s depravity.
The BBC did not condemn Al-Fayed’s actions as human trafficking.
The Palermo Protocol defines trafficking in persons as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by the threat or use of force or other coercive force, by abduction, by fraud, deception, the abuse of power or the exploitation of a position of vulnerability or by the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation”.
This comprehensive definition emphasizes the organized and planned nature of trafficking in persons and distinguishes it from isolated incidents of exploitation.
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While it is great that the BBC was able to tell the stories of many of these women in their documentary, I believe the documentary failed to identify what happened as human trafficking. As a result, the BBC has downplayed what happened to these women and limited our ability to achieve justice for them by exposing a shockingly widespread and persistent scheme of sexual exploitation and coercion perpetrated by historic, wealthy and powerful institutions and individuals.
This oversight is not merely a matter of semantics; it fundamentally misunderstands the systemic nature of trafficking, obscures the very networks and mechanisms traffickers use to prey on vulnerabilities, and allows accomplices to evade accountability.
One of the most pernicious consequences of this failure is that stories of exploitation often become “he said, she said” narratives. When headlines trivialize trafficking into “complicated relationships” or portray it as a case of abuse perpetrated by a single perpetrator, they portray a myopic view that exposes the complexity and horror of the crime.
This narrow framework shifts the focus to the thoughts, choices, and actions of victims rather than presenting a clear narrative of systematic and systemic abuse.
This misinforms the public and undermines efforts to combat trafficking by ignoring the multifaceted system that traffickers rely on, and completely ignores the role of complicity – drivers, security guards, human resources personnel, health care providers, financial institutions, and corrupt officials – who are each complicit if they do not speak out.
To be clear, Harrods did more than just turn a blind eye.
Jeffrey Epstein’s settlement is a reminder that complicity facilitates human trafficking
“The 2023 settlement of Jeffrey Epstein’s financiers highlights the importance of recognizing the co-conspirators who enable human trafficking. Epstein long relied on major banks to fund his trafficking operations and used their services to manage and conceal his funds while exploiting countless victims. The settlement finally holds these banks accountable, but the action comes too late.
For quite some time, news coverage of Epstein’s crimes often focused on his relationships with his victims, while overlooking the complex and far-reaching system that made human trafficking possible. Only through legal action has the full scope of Epstein’s trafficking network been revealed, revealing numerous co-conspirators.
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Moreover, misuse of the term feeds a vicious cycle of ignorance and indifference. The term “trafficking” carries a call to action, a recognition of serious human rights violations that require a concerted response. When the term is not spoken in public, the urgency to address the underlying causes and vast networks that fuel trafficking is lost.
The media plays a major role in shaping public perceptions and responses to policies.
The indictment of Sean “Diddy” Combs on human trafficking charges in the United States this week is significant not only because it may bring justice to the women he allegedly abused, but also because the justice system has recognized it as fact.
By accurately identifying Al-Fayed’s victims as victims of trafficking and shedding light on the organizational framework behind it, the media can help galvanize a comprehensive response to combat the crime, including holding accountable not only visible perpetrators but also those who facilitate and profit from the trafficking enterprise.
The hypothetical young woman above was surrounded by colleagues who had the choice to either help her or aid the CEO in his exploitation. We cannot continue to ignore the choices of those who enable human trafficking, as the BBC did in this documentary.
Bridget A. Carr (Class of 2002) is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. She also serves on the faculty of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. The opinions expressed above are those of Carr and not of the Law School.