--- title: What's the Root Cause of Human Trafficking? description: Human rights advocates are failing to discuss how authoritarianism contributes to human trafficking. canonical: https://time.com/5638667/human-trafficking-cause/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Prachi Vidwans article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-30T18:20:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:47.540Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Best Way to End Human trafficking? Defend Democracy og:description: There's a correlation between authoritarianism and human trafficking og:url: https://time.com/5638667/human-trafficking-cause/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd84679fa5d49b29/698a009309208f2b6a4154dc/thai-fishing-industry.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Police Check Fishing Boats In Fight Against Human Trafficking And Illegal, Unreported And Unregulated Fishing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Best Way to End Human trafficking? Defend Democracy twitter:description: There's a correlation between authoritarianism and human trafficking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd84679fa5d49b29/698a009309208f2b6a4154dc/thai-fishing-industry.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Human Trafficking Has a Hidden Cause — and It's on the Rise Worldwide > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=f2699504-335d-427a-b7c0-d199fded1921&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The U.N. Chief Says Human Trafficking May Constitute a War Crime [Watch (HLS stream): The U.N. Chief Says Human Trafficking May Constitute a War Crime](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Jt5t7d1a.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2017-11-22. Terrorist groups and criminals are capitalizing on conflict to exploit innocent civilians sexually and physically which may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday._ by [Prachi Vidwans](https://time.com/author/prachi-vidwans/) and [Malaak Jamal](https://time.com/author/malaak-jamal/) Jul 30, 2019 6:20 PM UTC  Fishermen disembark from their fishing boat at Songkhla port in Songkhla, Thailand, on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Fishermen disembark from their fishing boat at Songkhla port in Songkhla, Thailand, on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Dario Pignatelli—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Prachi Vidwans](https://time.com/author/prachi-vidwans/) and [Malaak Jamal](https://time.com/author/malaak-jamal/) Jul 30, 2019 6:20 PM UTC Tuesday is the U.N.’s [World Day Against Trafficking in Persons](https://www.un.org/en/events/humantrafficking/index.shtml). After nearly two decades of [international commitment](https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/protocoltraffickinginpersons.aspx) to end modern slavery, one thing is clear: States are simply not doing enough. It is estimated that there are [40.3 million victims](https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm) of modern slavery, including sex trafficking and forced marriage. [Eighty percent](https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts) are victims of forced labor — a problem that is [poorly understood](https://www.endslaverynow.org/blog/articles/why-we-must-begin-talking-about-labor-trafficking) by the general public. [Twenty-five percent](https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts) of trafficking victims worldwide are children. Human trafficking is an epidemic in and of itself. But it’s also a symptom of other deeply-rooted, international challenges — the refugee crisis, civil conflict, poverty, and more. This is a generally accepted truth. But there’s another root cause that is [rarely, if ever, discussed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/02/13/why-the-rise-of-authoritarianism-is-a-global-catastrophe/): authoritarianism. Each year, the U.S. State Department releases a [trafficking report](https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf) that categorizes countries according to the strength of their anti-trafficking efforts. There are four categories: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watchlist, and Tier 3\. For a country to be categorized as Tier 1, its government should have gone above and beyond in prosecuting traffickers, protecting victims, preventing new trafficking cases, and partnering with civil society to come up with new solutions. In this year’s report, published in June, 94% of Tier 1 countries have democratic governments. Meanwhile, just 6% of ranked authoritarian states make it into that category. Tier 3’s list is 90% authoritarian and 10% democratic. The correlation is clear, and, as the [Human Rights Foundation](https://hrf.org/research%5Fposts/authoritarianism-and-human-trafficking/) notes, persists from year to year. Yet few anti-trafficking experts and advocates discuss the relationship between weak anti-trafficking policies and authoritarianism. This year’s trafficking report urges governments to “look inward” to address trafficking within their own borders making it distinct from past reports. Doing so requires transparency, accountability, the rule of law, and free and public discourse — rare resources under authoritarian regimes. Yet the words “democracy” and “authoritarianism” are never even mentioned in the State Department’s report. And this oversight is not new: Year after year, the report fails to discuss how authoritarianism contributes to human trafficking. Take Thailand, for example. This year’s trafficking report ranks Thailand in Tier 2, among authoritarian states like Zimbabwe and Tajikistan, as well as democracies like Germany and Denmark. But even as Thailand has “increased efforts” in anti-trafficking, its military junta has increased repression as well, [shutting down](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/thai-media-fights-voice-elections-loom-190322070332264.html) opposition media outlets, [expanding censorship](https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/16/thailand-drop-bogus-charges-against-thai-studies-academics), and [prosecuting hundreds of dissidents](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/world/asia/thailand-protest-coup-anniversary.html?). In a climate where advocates are ruthlessly silenced, anti-trafficking reforms have been implemented top down, without consultation from the community. As the rule of law weakens, the country has convicted fewer traffickers and launched a [paltry](https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report-2/thailand/) number of investigations. And with recent [mass arrests of protesters](https://www.apnews.com/8d68fb8fe67049459eb8f4b630e7bd3a) and ongoing [criminal trials against activists](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/02/thailand-criminalizing-civil-society/), it’s unlikely that victims or their advocates feel able to push for the full implementation of reforms. The international community has been able to pressure Thailand to address trafficking. For example, after the [_Guardian_’s](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jun/10/supermarket-prawns-thailand-produced-slave-labour) damning 2014 investigation about [slavery in the fishing industry](https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/), the Thai government increased its efforts to combat labor trafficking, even creating a new court dedicated to addressing human trafficking. But without deeper, institutional change, [the effects were short-lived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180202152644/https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/thailand/). Lasting change would require upending the Thai court system entirely to re-establish rule of law; engaging civil society and victims of trafficking directly to learn from their experiences; and reforming the electoral system so government representatives are truly accountable to voters. In the absence of this systemic reform, slavery [continues to be rampant](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jan/23/thai-seafood-industry-report-trafficking-rights-abuses) in the Thai fishing industry, and recent government-run investigations into trafficking are no more than a “theatrical exercise for international consumption,” according to Human Rights Watch. But is this really a surprise? Why would we expect a country ranked “Not Free” by Freedom House for the last [five years](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/thailand) to do right by its citizens? As advocates, we often discuss global challenges as if they are unconnected to political systems. The U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, for example, [make no mention](https://qz.com/africa/1299149/how-the-uns-sustainable-development-goals-undermine-democracy/) of democracy or basic freedoms like free expression. Yet authoritarianism both [causes and exacerbates](https://youtu.be/bZdguEuwHjQ?t=1602) many of global development crises. According to the Human Rights Foundation’s research, 25 of the 30 poorest countries are ruled by authoritarian regimes; 96% of the world’s refugees in 2017 came from countries with authoritarian regimes; and of the 20 countries in the world with the worst access to basic drinking water, 18 are ruled by authoritarian regimes. Promoting democracy can pave the way to change. At the 2019 Oslo Freedom Forum, former U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein [urged](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLcTIKajCaY) the human rights community to work together to defend all rights and freedoms equally — not just because the rights to free expression, assembly, and association are fundamental, but because collaborating makes us stronger. If we don’t unite, if we don’t recognize the connection between issues like trafficking and authoritarianism, he says, “we will never have the density within the movement, the strength within the movement, to overcome the dangers that exist before us.” Every year on this day we talk about what we’re doing to end modern slavery. But clearly, we’re not doing enough. If we really want to end human trafficking, we need to work together to empower its victims by advocating fundamental rights. Democracy must be a part of the conversation. ## Transcript Criminals and terrorists are capitalizing on and perpetuating the disorder and mayhem of conflict. To fund their crimes, they prey on the vulnerable. Their brutality knows no bounds. Sexual exploitation, forced labor, the removal of bodily organs and slavery are the tools of their trade. Terrorists groups such as Daesh, Boko Haram, Al- Shabaab, and Lord's Resistance Army are forcing women, boys, and girls into the dehumanizing servitudes. Committed in the shadows these actions are serious abuses of human rights and may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Preventing the situations that lead to trafficking Means addressing poverty and the exclusion in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. And we must also do more to support the victims and survivors of trafficking. 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