These lines written by Donne four hundred years ago are symbolic, but they capture the present reality of trafficking where many die in dinghies trying to reach the shores of Europe. As Donne understood, those who die are not only the individual victims. All of society is diminished by these losses.

Many analyses of human trafficking focus on the costs of trafficking to the victim. In contrast, this chapter also focuses on the larger societal and political ramifications of this heinous activity without denying the suffering of the victims. The costs of human trafficking are experienced on the individual, community, national, regional, and global level. They affect not only source countries but also transit and host countries. Trafficking impacts both democratic and authoritarian states and countries in transition and in conflict. Trafficking challenges states’ control over their borders and their ability to determine who will reside on their territory. It undermines states because trafficking can survive only with the corruption and complicity of governmental officials. In some countries, as has been documented in Thailand, the profits from trafficking help fund political parties and campaigns.