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Chapter 3 examines the complicated nature of the European legal system in the area of human trafficking and how Council of Europe and European Union legal instruments have resulted in some confusion as to their implementation in the UK. Recognising that the legal provisions affecting the situation of human trafficking in European member states and regions can be a case study in federalism, the chapter looks at the various layers of legal protections and why there can be, at times, failures in the complex systems and processes. It argues that the use of legislation to inform practice guidelines and procedures can lead to unclear processes in practice, especially when concepts of ‘appropriate’ or ‘minimum’ levels of support / intervention are not clearly defined.

This chapter studies the new laws against prostitution, enacted to enforce Article 23 of the Constitution, which sought to end the trafficking of women. For nationalists and leaders of the Indian women's movement, independence meant the achievement of constitutional and legal equality and the emergence of the republican female citizen as a moral, productive member of society. However, legislators and social workers were confronted by a different conception of freedom when sex workers began to file constitutional challenges to the anti-trafficking laws. They asserted their constitutional right to a trade or a profession and to freedom of movement around the country, and they challenged the procedural irregularities in the new statutes. The chapter then demonstrates that despite the sex workers' minimal success in the courts, this litigation prompted mobilization and associational politics outside the court and brought rights language into the everyday life of the sex trade.

Chapter 3 of the book highlights the severity of the crime and the various conventions and protocols enforced in combating the crime. It emphasises on the importance of a strong legal response to fight human trafficking and highlights various legislations and legal framework enacted and enforced across the world at various levels. It also emphasizes the effectiveness of the international legal responses highlighting the weaknesses and flaws in these legislations, both at the international, domestic, regional and national level. The chapter further explains the enforcement of anti-trafficking laws at the domestic and regional level based on the International Law and the UN conventions and protocols. The role of the ICC statute in combating trafficking with the help of its provisions in identifying this crime, the victims and the extent of exploitation and the provisions for prosecution of the traffickers have also been discussed in this chapter.