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Documents on Trafficking

Making a Place for Escort Work: A Study by Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, Jacqueline Lewis, and Megan Street (outside link to pdf)

Travel Agency: A Critique of Anti-Trafficking Campaigns by Nandita Sharma

Conundrum of Agency by Laura Mª Agustín (pdf)

The Disappearing of a Migration Category by Laura Mª Agustín (doc)

A Migrant World of Services by Laura Mª Agustín (pdf)

Leaving Home for Sex by Laura Mª Agustín (doc)

Migrants in the Mistress’s House: Other Voices in the ‘Trafficking’ Debate
Social Politics, 12, 1 (2005)
Laura Mª Agustín
Abstract: The debate on trafficking and prostitution in the EU suffers from an absence of participation by its subjects, migrant women. In the effort to help those who are mistreated, some advocates characterise women who migrate to Europe from poorer countries as passive, backward and even childlike. Others define them as ‘sex workers’ and propose that their labour should be normalised. The protagonists of this debate are first-world activists, and their conflict is over which feminist vision is better, without much reference to what migrants say themselves. Both sides are flawed: one assumes too much about the passivity, ignorance and force involved in migrations and the other fails to account for migrants’ marginal civil status and diverse personal projects. To expand the nature of the discussion, this article considers testimonies from migrant women in Europe and suggests that attention be refocused on them, offering alliances rather than ‘help’.
Keywords: trafficking, prostitution, sex work, migration, feminism

This paper is a culmination of a two year research study in 10 countries by Anti-Slavery International on how to ensure that governments place victim protection at the core of their anti-trafficking policies. The research found that trafficked persons who escape their situation often find themselves victimised again as a result of the treatment they receive at the hands of the authorities.

Increasingly, governments have responded to trafficking through restrictive immigration policies. These not only render migrants more vulnerable to traffickers, but often lead to trafficked persons being swiftly returned to their home countries to the same conditions they left in the first place.

The research found that the countries which fared better in prosecuting traffickers for various crimes (Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and United States) were the four countries which also had the most comprehensive measures for assisting victims, including temporary residency permits for those prepared to testify against their traffickers.

The policy implications of the research findings include:

• all persons suspected of being trafficked should be given have at least a 'reflection delay' of three months. The delay must be accompanied by access to specialised services of a non-governmental organisation that can ensure appropriate housing, legal, medical, psychological and material assistance are provided
• documents authorising temporary residency should be issued immediately (within 24 hours) to ensure trafficked persons have access to these services straight away
• all States need to fund shelters for trafficked persons, and fund and provide victim and witness protection
• temporary residency status should be available to all trafficked persons who have suffered serious abuse in countries of destination, or would suffer harm if they were to return home, or who are assisting in investigations or prosecutions of traffickers (this is not the case in countries such as Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States which only allow those victims who are willing to assist with investigations and prosecutions the right to temporary stay)
• for those trafficked persons who seek access to justice and are willing to testify against their traffickers, extensive witness protection measures are required
• in civil law countries, the victim should have their own lawyer or legal advocate to represent them in the criminal case. This is especially important to ensure victims have access to legal redress and compensation

Anti-Slavery International's research has found there is a growing awareness at all levels of the need for a human rights framework to combat trafficking most effectively. The report makes 45 recommendations regarding ten specific thematic areas: general; investigation and prosecution of traffickers; contradiction between laws concerning undocumented migrants and those affecting trafficked persons; residency status for trafficked persons; protection from reprisals; in-court evidentiary protection; recovery and assistance measures; role of lawyers; legal redress and compensation; and return and repatriation.

Unfortunately, the current models of protection offered to trafficked persons too often prioritise the needs of law enforcement over the rights of trafficked persons. Often 'protection' still means repression of victims' rights. The paper calls for victim protection to be redefined and reworked so that it means supporting and empowering those who have been trafficked.

This policy brief from CHANGE, examines the implications of the United States (US) Global AIDS Act, which bars the use of federal funds to promote, support or advocate the legalisation or practice of prostitution. The brief outlines how these policies and restrictions have numerous adverse implications for effective HIV prevention and the promotion of human rights and public health. The restrictions prevent recipients from using best practices to prevent the spread of HIV among marginalised populations and undermine efforts to promote fundamental human rights of all persons. The broad language of the restrictions increases the risk of self-censoring or stopping effective programmes for fear of being seen as supporting or promoting prostitution. The policy exacerbates stigma and discrimination against already marginalised groups and contravenes fundamental rights to freedom of speech.

The brief requests that the US Department of Justice reconsider its interpretation on the application of the restrictions of the Global AIDS Act, ensuring that it is consistent with US and international human rights laws and public health norms. Other requests include: instituting a practice of consultation with a broad range of experts before an agency or office issues programme directives; and ensuring that all scientific and programme evidence is regularly reviewed by experienced researchers and programme managers. [adapted from author]

This report looks at the recruitment into prostitution in Norway of foreign women, focusing on the processes which led to their recruitment, the role of enforcement, exploitation and trafficking, and how women found their way out again.

The report argues that exploitation may take on different forms, and it is not always clear where a line can be drawn between trafficking and voluntary prostitution.

The study’s findings include:

• not only poverty can explain why trafficking takes place – other reasons include that women decide to enter prostitution, or to travel abroad in search of opportunities, usually in response to an acute crisis
• having relevant information is one of the main resources that enable women to avoid, or escape, a situation of exploitation
• identifying trafficking demands the establishment of trust
• routines for reception or first contact with women, offering psychological assistance or contact with social workers, security considerations and information are vital in order to establish trust.

This study examines the factors that lead to the exploitation of trafficked women and children. It assesses attitudes of employers of domestic workers in Sweden, Thailand, India and Italy and clients of sex workers in Denmark, Thailand, India and Italy.

The report suggests that three related factors are key to explaining the exploitative conditions experienced by many migrant domestic and sex workers: the unregulated nature of the labour market segments in which they work; the abundant supply of exploitable labour; and the power and malleability of social norms regulating the behaviour of employers and clients. It emphasises that the continued expansion of any unregulated market is likely to require and facilitate the exploitation of vulnerable labour.

Policy implications include:

• it is necessary to attempt to regulate markets and also address areas of vulnerability, such as immigration and citizenship status, lack of access to support networks and economic status
• states can significantly change markets and the possibilities for exploiting unfree labour, for example through steps to limit workers’ dependence on employers for the right to stay. Expanding opportunities for women to legally migrate would help to reduce the “push” into the domestic and sex sectors. Non-state actors also have a role to play in networking and facilitating the organising of migrant women in these sectors
• policy makers need to pay much closer attention to the unintended and negative consequences of legislating prostitution or of regulating (or the lack of it) domestic work and care services, and of immigration and citizenship laws for different groups involved. There is a need for coordinated thinking across different policy areas.

In UN Conventions, prostitution is often defined as a human rights violation on a level with slavery. A recent research report issued by Anti-Slavery International argues against such identification and calls for a redefinition of prostitution as sex work. Studies revealed that prostitutes, or sex workers, face working conditions that are similar in nature to those experienced by others working in low status jobs in the informal sector. The researcher examines existing human rights and labour standards and suggests that these should be extended to cover sex work in order to provide protection from abuse in many forms.