In recent years there have been few topics garnering as much widespread interest as trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. These issues have attracted the attention of Governments, NGOs, International Organizations, the media as well as academia. While this attention tends to provoke vivid discussions in political circles, social networks and other media platforms, there is still much to be learned with regards to trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, the difference between them and their implications.
The 14 modules on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants provide academics with a practically oriented, though still theoretically grounded, tool to teach on these issues. Thanks to the input received from more than 100 academics from all around the world, the modules' contents are substantively robust. This strength is reinforced with a series of illustrative examples and exercises aimed at generating debates and consolidating knowledge among students. Given the considerable safety risks posed by trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants and the related need to ensure that perpetrators are made accountable, the course relies heavily on a legal approach, acknowledging the importance of clarifying concepts and employing rigorous terminology. This notwithstanding, the course is also grounded in a multidisciplinary methodology, recognising that the complexity of the trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling phenomena extends beyond the legal realm. Consequently, a comprehensive understanding of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants is not possible without the convergence of various disciplines, expertise and perspectives, including the historical, economic, social, political, and gender prisms, that were all considered in developing the course.
