What vulnerability is all about? An empirical legal analysis of the concept of vulnerability in the definition of Human Trafficking

Abstract

The concept of vulnerability is central in the international legal framework of Human Trafficking. Scholars and relevant International Organizations have contributed to develop of the vulnerability paradigm, encompassing vulnerable groups, interpersonal relations, ontological, embodied and socio-economic vulnerability. Based on a consolidated theoretical framework on vulnerability, this study contributes to the vulnerability paradigm by analysing the judges’ perception of vulnerability in 158 ruling cases of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons Collection of Court case summaries (UNODC, 2022). The mixed-method research aims at: 1) identifying the principal types of vulnerability considered in legal instances; 2) analysing the relation between gender and type of vulnerability.