The problem of human trafficking is becoming more global every year, today almost all countries of the world are affected in the chain of the country of origin - the country of destination. Third world countries due to a complex of push factors (economic difficulties, social tensions, poverty, internal wars and conflicts, etc.) are increasingly becoming countries of origin for future victims of human trafficking. Migration flows create a gray area that is difficult to regulate by legislation. It is this zone that becomes the target of criminal networks for human trafficking. Developing countries, due to a poorly organized supervisory apparatus, do not track the movement of their citizens as migrants. Developed countries, which often become the end point for further exploitation, do not make all the necessary efforts to identify victims and repatriate them. The whole complex of problems contributes to the prosperity of the human trafficking business. However, in the field of political and legal understanding of this problem, there are a large number of shortcomings. The most significant of them are the weakness of the Palermo Protocol (the most universal and comprehensive regulatory act in the fight against human trafficking), simplified identification of types of human trafficking and artificial politicization of the problem. The purpose of this article is to consider the main shortcomings of the political and legal features of the fight against human trafficking in the context of the struggle of countries for their national interests and changing means and methods of confrontation between states.