The RIGHT USE OF LANGUAGE IN PREVENTION-REPRESSION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Abstract

Human trafficking has a damaging impact on the victim as diverse as it is serious, for example when the offence affects a person's life, dignity, freedom, integrity (physical and psychological) and assets. At the same time, human trafficking favours a positive ratio between the high financial profits for the perpetrator and the low risk of detection by the authorities. The Portuguese state has not been immune to the criminal phenomenon, and it can be deduced from the victims signalling that it has been a destination, transit and origin territory for these crimes. The detection made by the authorities indicates that the majority of the victims come from «third countries», with the following nationalities: Nepalese, Indian, Moroccan, Algerian, Brazilian and Romanian. The current context and, in particular, the difficulty victims of human trafficking with foreign origins have in mastering the portuguese language, encourages little interaction with the authorities. Although the focus of this study is the foreign victim, this approach is suitable for other victims who, for physical or intellectual reasons, do not fully master the Portuguese language. It is therefore necessary and urgent to analyse the use of language as a way of expanding the prevention and repression of human trafficking, indicating the following criteria for its implementation: literalness, culturability, inclusiveness, accessibility and translatability.