What was done?
Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person.
Resources · Public learning
Understand the issues. Know the difference.
Clear definitions help communities recognise harm, protect rights, preserve evidence and choose the right legal or support pathway.
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Human trafficking
A process carried out for exploitation.
The Palermo Protocol defines trafficking in persons through three connected elements for adults: an act, prohibited means and a purpose of exploitation.
Read the Palermo Protocol, article 3How was control obtained?
Force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or certain payments or benefits.
Why was it done?
Exploitation, including at minimum sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or similar practices, servitude or organ removal.
Children
For a child, the prohibited “means” element does not have to be proved. Recruitment, transfer, harbouring or receipt for exploitation is sufficient.
Consent
For adults, consent to intended exploitation is irrelevant where any prohibited means were used. Agreeing to travel or accept a job is not consent to exploitation.
Movement
Trafficking can be internal or cross-border. A person does not have to cross a border—or even be transported—for trafficking to occur.
Modern slavery
An umbrella term, not one universal legal offence.
“Modern slavery” is widely used to describe severe forms of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception or abuse of power. It commonly brings together distinct concepts such as forced labour, debt bondage, slavery and slavery-like practices, forced marriage and human trafficking.
Those concepts overlap, but each has its own legal elements. Accurate identification matters because protection, investigation, liability and remedy depend on the facts and the law that applies.
Explore the ILO’s explanation of the distinctionsRelated but distinct
The label should follow the evidence.
Serious harm may engage more than one legal framework. This overview is a starting point, not a substitute for case-specific legal assessment.
| Concept | Core idea | Important distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Human trafficking | Specified acts carried out through prohibited means for exploitation; the means element is not required for children. | Movement across a border is not required. |
| Forced labour | Work or service exacted under threat of a penalty and not offered voluntarily. | It may result from trafficking, but trafficking and forced labour are not identical. |
| Slavery or servitude | Extreme control over a person or a condition in which a person’s freedom is profoundly constrained. | The applicable legal tests are specific and demanding. |
| Severe labour exploitation | Grave abuses of wages, hours, safety, dignity, movement or employment conditions. | It can be unlawful and require remedy without satisfying every element of trafficking. |
Effective remedy
More than rescue. More than a judgment.
A remedy must be accessible in practice and capable of addressing the harm. Depending on the violation, the survivor’s priorities and the available legal mechanisms, full reparation may combine several measures.
Read the UN Basic Principles on Remedy and ReparationRestitution
Where possible, restore rights, property, status, liberty, employment or opportunities lost through the violation.
Compensation
Provide financial redress for economically assessable harm, including lost earnings, treatment costs and material or non-material damage.
Rehabilitation
Provide appropriate medical, psychosocial, legal and social services that support recovery and autonomy.
Satisfaction
Recognise the harm through truth, investigation, acknowledgement, apology, sanctions or other measures appropriate to the violation.
Guarantees of non-repetition
Change the laws, policies, practices, institutions or business systems that allowed the harm to occur.
Effective in practice
A formal right is not enough if cost, delay, language, evidence, retaliation, geography or unequal power makes the mechanism impossible to use. Judicial and non-judicial pathways should be safe, impartial, accessible and capable of producing a meaningful outcome.
Business and human rights
Protect. Respect. Remedy.
Under the UN Guiding Principles, States have a duty to protect against business-related abuse; businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights; and people affected by abuse must have access to effective remedy.
Protect
Adopt, enforce and adjudicate laws that protect people from abuse by third parties, including businesses.
Respect
Avoid causing or contributing to harm, and prevent or mitigate impacts directly linked through business relationships.
Remedy
Ensure legitimate judicial and non-judicial routes can investigate, stop and redress business-related harm.
Human rights due diligence
Businesses should know and show how they address risks to people.
- Identify and assess actual and potential impacts.
- Integrate findings and act to prevent or mitigate harm.
- Track whether responses are effective.
- Communicate how impacts are addressed.
- Provide for or cooperate in remediation where the business caused or contributed to harm.
Rights in the world of work
Domestic work is work. Every workplace should be free from violence and harassment.
International labour standards help identify the protections, prevention measures and complaint pathways that make dignity at work real.
Decent work for domestic workers
Domestic workers should receive clear employment terms, fair conditions, rest, privacy, protection from abuse and violence, control of their identity and travel documents, and effective access to complaints and justice.
Read Convention No. 189Violence and harassment in the world of work
Protection extends to unacceptable behaviours, practices or threats that cause or are likely to cause physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, including gender-based violence and harassment linked to work.
Read Convention No. 190Frequently asked questions
Questions that improve identification and response.
These answers provide general information. A legal conclusion requires careful assessment of the facts, evidence, relevant law and the rights holder’s informed priorities.
Does human trafficking require movement across a border?
No. Trafficking can occur within one town, county or country, as well as across international borders. Recruitment, harbouring or receipt may be sufficient; transportation is not required in every case.
Is every labour-rights violation human trafficking?
No. Unpaid wages, excessive hours, an unfair dismissal or a contract breach may be serious and unlawful without necessarily amounting to trafficking. For an adult, the legal assessment normally examines the act, prohibited means and purpose of exploitation together.
Can someone agree to migrate or take a job and still be trafficked?
Yes. Consent to travel or work is not consent to exploitation. Under the Palermo Protocol, a victim’s consent to the intended exploitation is irrelevant where prohibited means such as force, coercion, fraud, deception or abuse of vulnerability were used.
Must a person be physically locked up?
No. Control can be physical, psychological, financial or social. Threats, debt, document confiscation, deception, isolation, abuse of immigration status and fear of harm to family members can all restrict a person’s real ability to refuse or leave.
Are the rules different when a child is involved?
Yes. Under the Palermo Protocol, recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a child for exploitation is trafficking even where none of the prohibited means used for adult trafficking is proved. A child is any person under 18 for this purpose.
Is modern slavery one criminal offence?
Not usually. Modern slavery is commonly used as an umbrella term for distinct legal concepts such as forced labour, debt bondage, slavery and slavery-like practices, forced marriage and human trafficking. The precise legal claim depends on the conduct, evidence and applicable law.
Is rescue or repatriation a complete remedy?
No. Safe return may be essential, but it does not by itself restore unpaid wages, compensate harm, provide rehabilitation, establish responsibility or prevent repetition. A survivor-centred response connects safety with recovery, evidence preservation and access to justice.
Can a company grievance mechanism replace a court?
No. A legitimate grievance mechanism may provide early access to information, dialogue and remediation, but it should not block judicial or other non-judicial remedies, undermine trade unions or require a rights holder to waive legal rights as the price of using it.
What should an organisation do if trafficking may be involved?
Put safety, informed choice and confidentiality first. Do not confront a suspected trafficker or publicise a person’s situation. Explain available options, avoid promises, preserve information safely and seek guidance from a competent referral or protection actor. Immediate danger requires the fastest locally available protection response.
Sources and scope
Grounded in international standards and GJK learning materials.
This page draws on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons, the Palermo Protocol, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, UN principles on remedy and reparation, ILO Conventions Nos. 189 and 190, and GJK training materials on trafficking identification and survivor assistance. The Palermo Protocol supplies the modern international trafficking definition used here.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights UN Basic Principles on Remedy and Reparation ILO Convention No. 189 ILO Convention No. 190
Information notice: This page is for public education and does not provide legal advice or determine whether any individual situation constitutes a crime or legal violation. Legal rights and available remedies depend on the applicable law, facts and evidence.
Prepared by: Global Justice Kenya Legal and Research Team · Last reviewed: 9 August 2026
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