Seattle Journal for Social Justice Volume 9 Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2011 Article 4 May 2011 A “Neo-Abolitionist Trend” in Sub-Saharan Africa? Regional Anti- Trafficking Patterns and a Preliminary Legislative Taxonomy Benjamin N. Lawrance Ruby P. Andrew Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj Recommended Citation Lawrance, Benjamin N. and Andrew, Ruby P. (2011) "A “Neo-Abolitionist Trend” in Sub-Saharan Africa? Regional Anti-Trafficking Patterns and a Preliminary Legislative Taxonomy," Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 9 : Iss. 2 , Article 4. Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol9/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Publications and Programs at Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Seattle Journal for Social Justice by an authorized editor of Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 599 A “Neo-Abolitionist Trend” in Sub-Saharan Africa? Regional Anti-Trafficking Patterns and a Preliminary Legislative Taxonomy Benjamin N. Lawrance and Ruby P Andrew INTRODUCTION In the decade since the US Department of State (USDOS) instituted the production of its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, anti- trafficking measures have been passed across the globe, and the US role in setting standards and paradigms for anti-trafficking has been extensively analyzed and criticized.1 Through its Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (OMCTP), the USDOS’ three-tier categorization of nations’ trafficking measures continues to play a pivotal role in shaming recalcitrant nations into responding to accusations of trafficking within and across their respective borders.2 No region has experienced so dramatic a transformation with respect to the USDOS agenda of “prevention, protection, and prosecution” than sub- Saharan Africa.3 No sub-Saharan African nation had an anti-trafficking statute at the start of the millennium.