Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia: The European Court of Human Rights and Trafficking as Slavery

This article analyses the European Court of Human Rights' 2010 decision in Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia, which demonstrates the Court's willingness to address sex trafficking of women in Europe. This article identifies a key problem in the Court's analysis in Rantsev: its failure to distinguish clearly between trafficking and slavery. As it addresses Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Court does not clarify the legal distinctions between types of human exploitation including forced labour, servitude or slavery.

Jean Allain, Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia: The European Court of Human Rights and Trafficking as Slavery (2010) 10:3 Oxford Human Rights Law Review 546.