Whenever human rights are violated, the question of accountability arises. Is the State a violator in these cases? Has the State undertaken sufficient steps to bring the perpetrators to justice? What measures are being put in place to prevent such violations from occurring again in the future?
For the victims of the violations, are they given protection from further harm? Are these protection measures respectful of the victims’ human rights? Will they get appropriate remedies for the harm or injury sustained?
In cases of trafficking, there are reports of victims being victimized again by State measures (such as when they are treated as criminals and subjected to deportation, or in the name of protecting them, their movement is severely restricted). Even non-governmental institutions, aiming to help victims, may unnecessarily expose them to the public or give them undue pressure to act on their cases.
It is indeed necessary to ask: Are governments aiming to resolve the problems by focusing on their root causes? In trafficking issues, governments in destination countries ought to look at the structures in place which are used to victimize trafficked people. How far have they acted on the crime syndicates that traffic people and profit from them despite laws and campaigns against trafficking?