The  COVID- 19 pandemic has increased the number of humans being trafficked. Traffickers are known to exploit desperation and helplessness. They prey upon vulnerable populations whose situation has only been exaggerated during the pandemic. Experts claim that a large increase in human trafficking undoubtedly accompanies the increase in poverty, sickness and social disorder that has recently occurred.

Governments and NGOs are working together to target pandemic specific strategies that traffickers use. Just last week, in the state of Ohio, over 100 people were rescued and 170 were arrested during Operation Autumn Hope– a collaboration of over 50 law enforcement and NGO partners. Earlier in October, the United States Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons issued a report, which shows plans for COVID-19 specific programs and initiatives, and the United States Department of Homeland Security announced the opening of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking.

In September, Police forces in England and Wales cracked down on the “country lines” drug gangs, which are known to use children to move drugs and money. Over 60 potential victims were reported and the police connected with over 1,500 vulnerable people to safeguard. This summer in Italy, police detained 10 Nigerians who were accused of trafficking at least 20 people (some minors), from Nigeria to Italy for prostitution. The trafficking ring has been under investigation since 2017, after a tip from SOS Mediterranée, a maritime-humanitarian organization.

This year, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) commemorated the 20 year anniversary of the Palermo Protocols– one of which is to “prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.”

A frequent problem that officials face during operations is that victims fear punishment if they report or escape their traffickers, from both their captors and from the officials themselves. In most countries, proposition is illegal. In an attempt to navigate this problem, some suggest decriminalizing “sex- work” while keeping soliciting prostitution illegal.

The face value of this proposition is appealing; punishing the traffickers rather than the trafficked victims. Yet, decriminalizing sex-work will not, protect the vulnerable of society. At the very least, the law, by way of its educational power, will further cripple structures and morals of already desperate populations.

As so many countries recently affirmed at the Geneva Consensus Declaration Ceremonial Signing, it is in the best interest of a government to uphold the family as the fundamental unit of society. Prostitution directly destabilizes the family structure of both the john and the prostitute. It destroys existing families and hinders the development of future families.

Decriminalizing sex-work to help victims of human trafficking will discourage the vulnerable from seeking uplifting help and allow them to put themselves in situations that cause further deprivation of self-value, family structure and community safety. And it will create yet another loophole for traffickers to jump through. Instead of decriminalizing sex work, lawmakers, law- enforcers and communities must find a way that encourage victims to seek help, discourages further destruction in vulnerable communities, and harms only the intensions of traffickers.