Illicit organ trade: an empirical study of kidney trading networks in China

Despite global concerns, empirical studies on the illicit organ trade in China are limited. Organized offenders in the black organ market in China are increasingly networking and cooperating with group members to recruit victims and arrange transplantation operations. Drawing on the illicit organ tr...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Mei, Shuqin (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 2024
In: Crime, law and social change
Jahr: 2024, Band: 82, Heft: 4, Seiten: 915-934
Online-Zugang: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Schlagwörter:
China
illicit trade
Organ trade business
Organized Crime
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Despite global concerns, empirical studies on the illicit organ trade in China are limited. Organized offenders in the black organ market in China are increasingly networking and cooperating with group members to recruit victims and arrange transplantation operations. Drawing on the illicit organ trade sentencing documents from the China Judgements Online (CJO) website, this study analyzes all available illicit organ court cases involving 73 offenders from 2012 to 2021. The demographic characteristics of the offenders and victims, illicit organ trade organizations, procedures, and businesses, and the penalties for offenders are described and analyzed in detail. This study finds that illegal organ trading is a highly organized business with a relatively large size. Medical staff and brokers are involved in it, and the overall education level of the offenders is greater than that of offenders in other organized criminal activities. The process could be divided into recruitment, preparation, operative, and posttransplant phases. The results of this study also argue that the sentence length imposed on the defendants is not too long, but the fines are high. The implications of these findings for policy and future research are discussed.
ISSN:1573-0751
DOI:10.1007/s10611-024-10157-7