Louise Shelley: Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, 2010, 356pp

The academic debate on trafficking in human beings (henceforth THB) has for years tended to focus on the analysis of the actors involved in the trafficking process and on the attempt to map its dimensions. Therefore, the primary aim of these pieces of research has consisted of understanding the types of victims and offenders involved in such crime, as well as the push- and pull-factors that determine its expansion. Secondly, researchers have sought with difficulty to estimate the magnitude of the phenomenon given the dark number and the hidden nature of human trafficking (Kelly and Regan 2000; Savona et al. 2002; Di Nicola et al. 2005; Savona and Stefanizzi 2007; National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings 2010). Moreover, a vast amount of scholarly works have been produced to account for developments in the policy responses of international organizations and national governments (Munro 2006; Morehouse 2009; Gallagher 2010; Perrin 2010).