Scarpa, Silvia
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Institutional profile
Silvia Scarpa is Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs and Associate Professor of International Relations at John Cabot University. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow in International Law and Modern Slavery at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). Professor Scarpa teaches courses on contemporary slavery and human trafficking, international law, international organizations, European Union law, human rights, and international migration.
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Publication An introduction to international human rights standards for law enforcement authorities(2012) Scarpa, SilviaPublication Trafficking in Human Beings. Modern Slavery(Oxford University Press, 2008) Scarpa, SilviaPublication Contemporary forms of slavery(European Parliament, 2018) Scarpa, SilviaThis briefing aims to clarify the concept of contemporary forms of slavery and analyse the legal obligations of States, as well as recent international developments at global and EU levels. It highlights the inconsistent application of the concept by global governance actors and discusses the inclusion of various exploitative practices within this conceptual framework. It also examines the prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery and assesses the policy framework for EU external action. The briefing then recommends possible action by the EU, including: promotion of a more consistent definition and use of the concept of contemporary forms of slavery and further clarifications on the relationship with the human trafficking and forced labour frameworks; a role for the EU as catalyst in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in the field of all contemporary forms of slavery; support for standardising methods of data collection globally. Finally, the paper invites the EU to assess the possibility of drafting a new treaty on contemporary forms of slavery, as a way to fill some existing loopholes at the international level.Publication Conceptual unclarity, human dignity and contemporary forms of slavery: An appraisal and some proposals(2019) Scarpa, SilviaThe aim of this article is twofold: first, it analyses the international concept of human dignity and assesses the role it might play in the field of contemporary forms of slavery; second, it formulates some proposals for redirecting the debate on the relevant international legal definitions in this field. The article argues that the operationalization of the concept of dignity as a general principle of law relevant to the suppression of contemporary forms of slavery might serve certain legal purposes that are examined in this study. However, a number of additional actions would be needed in order to clear the muddy waters in the field of ‘contemporary forms of slavery’. As recently recognized by the present author in a Report requested by the Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, the concept of ‘contemporary forms of slavery’ – as well as similar concepts, such as modern forms of slavery, modern slavery, and contemporary slavery – is frequently used as a non-legal umbrella term, covering multiple exploitative practices ‘while avoiding a careful scrutiny on whether or not they fit the legal concept of slavery as defined by the outdated 1926 Slavery Convention or those of some others exploitative practices defined under international treaty law’. Such actions include, first, assessing the existence under international customary law of a minimum core of practices constituting ‘contemporary forms of slavery’, second, redirecting the focus on the interpretation of the peremptory (jus cogens) norm prohibiting slavery, which so far has not received adequate attention by international law scholars who have instead dedicated much attention to interpreting the definition of slavery included in the 1926 Slavery Convention, and, third, promoting the adoption of a new treaty on contemporary forms of slavery that would fill in any remaining loopholes.Publication The Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa Plantations in Côte d’Ivoire & Direct Obligations of Transnational Corporations(2015) Scarpa, SilviaThe global business environment has changed rapidly in the past decades, but the human rights and business discourse has often lagged behind. At the international level, hard law regulations still seem decades away. United Nations initiatives such as the Guiding Principles and the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises are more than a step in the right direction. However, they alone are insufficient to prevent violations and ensure victims receive justice. This edited book uses a broad and pluralistic understanding of direct human rights obligations, concentrating on legally enforceable standards. The enforceability can come directly from international law, through national legislation, or through non-state actors. The contributions engage both with the law as it is as well as the law as it needs to be developed. In doing so, the book challenges the current reticence to recognise direct human rights obligations of corporations by highlighting the various tools already available for remedying corporate human rights impacts while pushing for the development of further mechanisms.Publication Modern Slavery and the International Human Rights Regime(2024) Scarpa, SilviaThis chapter considers the intersections between the concepts of modern slavery and human rights. It first considers their conceptual complexity and how this affects their practical implementation. Second, it examines how the two concepts developed throughout history, emphasizing that a system aimed at eliminating the slave trade and, subsequently, slavery, has existed since the eighteenth century. Thus, the abolitionist ideal existed well before the affirmation of the modern concept of human rights, which, notwithstanding its multiple historical roots, certainly developed after the end of World War II. Finally, the chapter considers the present-day efforts of various global governance actors at multiple levels—universal, regional, and subregional—and the ways in which the modern slavery paradigm is advanced within, but on some occasions also outside, the international human rights regime.Publication Mainstreaming Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights in the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage: The Role and Issues Surrounding Relevant Global Governance Actors(2024) Scarpa, SilviaThe aim of this chapter is to demonstrate that a new inclusive strategy is needed to guarantee that the human rights of indigenous peoples are promoted while guaranteeing the protection of cultural and natural heritage to favor coexistence among local communities and relevant endangered species in national parks and other protected areas worldwide. The 2019 allegations against the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that it promoted anti-poaching activities by national rangers in various national parks, most of which are World Heritage sites located in six Asian and African States, thus contributing to serious human rights violations and abuses against indigenous peoples living in or near these sites, constitute the reason for an analysis of the international framework related to, on the one hand, the human rights of indigenous peoples living in or near protected areas and, on the other hand, the protection of cultural and natural heritage. The conclusions reached and recommendations formulated by the Independent Panel of Experts that reviewed the work of the WWF in 2020 are, in the opinion of this author, very much relevant when promoting a human rights consistent involvement of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in environmental protection efforts. Nonetheless, the example at hand demonstrates that NGOs, as other non-State actors, shall abide to sound human rights regulatory frameworks, whose further development would be considered an important milestone. Only a coordinated strategy involving all relevant actors and stakeholders, including in particular State authorities, relevant international organizations, such as UNESCO, nongovernmental organizations, and indigenous peoples may advance a more balanced approach that equally promotes, on the one hand, fundamental wildlife protection activities and, on the other hand, the rights of indigenous peoples.Publication The Definition of Trafficking in Adult Persons for Various Forms of Exploitation and the Issue of Consent: A Framework Approach That Respects Peculiarities(2013) Scarpa, SilviaThe article discusses the problems determined by the interpretation of the definition of trafficking in adult persons contained in Article 3(a) of the UN Trafficking Protocol as including the element of the improper means and vitiated consent. In particular, it examines whether consent is an issue in the definitional frameworks related to the forms of exploitation associated with trafficking and formulates a recommendation to take eventual definitional conflicts into consideration.