인신매매 피해자 식별기준에 대한 시론 - 국가인권위원회와 미국의 성착취 목적 인신매매 피해자 식별기준을 소재로 -

Abstract

On April 12, 2021, the NHRCK pointed out that the police investigation against a migrant woman who got a severe injury in a course of crackdown on sex trafficking is a violation of human rights. It was further suggested that the woman could be a victim of human trafficking. Thus, the Police Commissioner was advised to prepare for a sophisticated tool for screening victims of human trafficking. In fact, the NHRCK developed an ‘Index on Identification and Protection of Human Trafficking Victims’ in 2016, recommending that government officials and professionals including the Police Commissioner need to take advantage of the index. However, it does not reflect the current clause on human trafficking of the criminal law, which makes it difficult for the officials to follow the index. Furthermore, the current clause on human trafficking of the criminal law itself has a limitation of not fully reflecting the international standard of UN. On the contrary, diverse federal and local agencies of the U.S. government has developed Human Trafficking Screening Tools reflecting the 「Trafficking Victims Protection Act」, which includes systematic indicators of various types of trafficking victims and is being used as a guidance for effectively finding and protecting the victims. This study aimed to propose that the Korean government needs to develop systematic screening criteria for trafficking victims, based not only on the criminal law but also on such laws as 「Anti-Prostitution Act」 and 「Anti-Human Trafficking and Victims Protection Act」. One notable issue is that the various regulations have pros and cons and, in particular, the fact that sex trafficking in Korea could be prosecuted needs to be further considered.