Don’t call it ‘sex trafficking’
‘Sex trafficking’ isn’t a sub-category of human trafficking, but a rhetorical ploy designed to delegitimate sex work and deny the rights of sex workers. Don’t use it.
DEBATE: What has philanthrocapitalism done to anti-trafficking movement?
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryNow is the time to support sex workers’ rightsSex workers have suffered under the pandemic because most are excluded from both private and public support. Donors...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryPhilanthrocapitalists stand in the way of direct aid, so we have no time for themSex workers and other marginalised communities are in desperate need of rights and direct cash assistance, no...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryPrivate giving for anti-trafficking hides government inactionPhilanthropy in anti-trafficking has brought about important change. But it has also allowed governments to avoid...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe catalysing power of philanthropy in anti-traffickingA few large donors forced a step change in anti-trafficking work when they began to collaborate a few years ago. Now...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe blindness of using venture capital to fight human traffickingVenture capital relies on market-based solutions to maximise short-term gains. That is no way to address worker exploitation.
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryIntroduction to the debateThe injection of billions of dollars of private capital into anti-trafficking work has changed the field. Is that a...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe impact of COVID-19 on working children in Buenos AiresThe pandemic has made work for many children more important that ever.
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe ‘Danish model’ of exploiting migrant workersThe ‘Danish model’ is thought to have strong worker safeguards, but exploitation is still seeping in through the cracks
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: InterviewHow we got here: the story of the Palermo protocol on trafficking'Human trafficking' didn't have to mean what it now does. This is the story of how it got its definition, as told by...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryHow companies talk about modern slaveryLarge companies in the UK are required by law to state what they’re doing about modern slavery. The way they talk...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryLabour migrants’ struggle to subvert anti-trafficking interventions in NepalFor the targets of anti-trafficking measures, they are just one more obstacle to overcome.
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryListening to working children is a legal obligation – not a choiceIf the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour truly seeks to help working children then policymakers...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryOpen letter: change course on the International Year for the Elimination of Child LabourChild labour will not end in 2021, and trying to eliminate it will only endanger working children further. Over 100...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe victims of ‘unknown exploitation’ hiding within the UK National Referral MechanismPotential victims of human trafficking are falling through the cracks of the UK’s National Referral Mechanism. The...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryWage theft: the missing middle in exploitation of migrant workersEnsuring that migrants are paid properly for their work would do more good than anti-trafficking ever will.
PALERMO PROTOCOL 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Anniversaries are a good time to take stock. Over the course of 2020 there were many events focusing upon the Palermo protocol and its legacies, but these all too often took the form of uncritical celebrations rather than meaningful reflections. In this double feature we dive deeper. And when reflecting upon the legacies and effects of the Palermo protocol, there are two vital questions that stand out.
What is exploitation?
Neil Howard
Michael Hardt and Kathi Weeks
Judy Fudge
Alf Gunvald Nilsen
Kamala Kempadoo
Virginia Mantouvalou
Marika McAdam
David Picherit
Marija Jovanovic
Julia O’Connell-Davidson
Joel Quirk
Upendra Baxi
This discussion was financially supported by Humanity United.
Our first question focuses upon the political, legal, and ethical challenges of drawing moral and legal lines between ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ forms of exploitation under capitalism, a system in which profit is the primary goal. What ‘counts’ as exploitation in contexts where the deck is heavily stacked in favour of employers and against workers? If someone consents to work for poor wages and in bad conditions, is that the end of the matter? Should only the most extreme cases of abuse concern us? Or do we need to worry about the vulnerability inherent to all market life?
The trafficking protocol does a poor job of addressing this key question. Although it establishes exploitation as integral to the definition of trafficking, it doesn’t define exploitation itself, nor does it clarify where this begins or ends. We believe that this uncertainty contributes to all kinds of problems. There is a widespread tendency among policymakers and activists to approach exploitation in much the same way as pornography, where ‘you know it when you see it’. This results in a situation where the defining features of exploitation are more often assumed than analysed.
With this in mind, the goal of the first half of our double feature is to sharpen our understanding of this core concept. We have invited leading experts on law, philosophy, economics, and sociology to reflect on what exploitation looks like, how it has been and should be defined, what kinds of political and legal effects follow from different definitions, and what kind of role it should play within political activism and mobilisation. We do not expect to resolve this question once and for all, but asking it publicly and critically is essential.
Are we better off on the inside?
Joel Quirk
Joanna Ewart-James
Nandita Sharma
Maria Grazia Giammarinaro
Mike Dottridge
International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe
Cathy Feingold
Helga Konrad
Mika Leandro
Kathryn Babineau & Jennifer Bair
Bandana Pattanaik
Helmut Sax
Sam Okyere
Marjan Wijers
This discussion was financially supported by Humanity United.
Our second question focuses upon political tactics and strategic calculations. The main goal of this half of our feature is to bring to light the kinds of behind-the-scenes calculations which have influenced how, why, and whether different campaigners and organisations have taken up the cause of combating human trafficking and, now, ‘modern slavery’. We hope to capture many of the issues at stake here by focusing upon one key question: are we better off on the inside? This is a question which frequently comes up in private conversations, but rarely gets discussed in public.
Most experts with first-hand experience of anti-trafficking or anti-slavery interventions and campaigns are well aware that they can be ineffective or compromised by other agendas. However, this recognition tends to be caveated with the claim that it is better to remain on the inside, despite the problems, to be better positioned to try and move things forward more productively over time. This can sometimes result in a degree of self-censorship, since speaking out too loudly or too often can mean risking your access, influence, and funding. Rejecting or resisting dominant models can lead to being left on the outside looking in, which can make it more difficult to have your voice heard or to exert influence over key decisions.
Many of the people and organisations engaged in anti-trafficking or anti-slavery work at least partially justify their approach by appealing to these kinds of arguments. However, there remains a widespread reluctance to talk openly about the trade-offs that come with this decision, so there hasn’t been enough analysis of whether their underlying assumptions stand up to scrutiny.
Yet it is also by no means clear that alternative approaches would be more effective. Critics frequently propose policies that would undoubtedly have beneficial effects, such as separating immigration enforcement from labour inspections, but these also tend to be a tall order politically. Is it better to work towards modest gains that might actually be achievable in the short term, or to embrace more radical positions that are harder to realise?
In a sense, this question is an echo of the old reform or revolution debate. In this scenario, the reformists argue that they’ve never before had such a powerful rallying call as trafficking or modern slavery, and its value as a mobilisation tool outweighs its drawbacks. They also maintain that small and incremental improvements are all that is achievable, and that something is better than nothing.
Advocates for more revolutionary approaches don’t entirely disagree. They understand that shouting slogans from the sidelines that powerful people will ignore will not have immediate (or any) positive impact. But they are much less confident that staying on the inside is beneficial. This is because they regard trafficking as a political tool which ends up legitimating the abuse of migrants, punishing sex workers, and deflecting longstanding efforts to improve the rights and protections afforded to precarious workers. Our current global order is deeply unjust and unequal. How should we respond, they ask, if anti-trafficking and anti-slavery campaigns play a role in helping it to stay that way?
We do not expect to come to a final answer, since this question is heavily influenced by context and position. Nevertheless, we are convinced that the only way to improve current tactics and strategies is to talk about them in depth, and that frank conversation is exactly what we intend to have.
Happy reading.
Editor's choice
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryListen to the experts! Domestic workers fight tied visas in the United KingdomMedia portrayals of domestic workers commonly feature extreme examples of abuse, obscuring the distinctive expertise...
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryTrying to stay afloat without drowning: migrants reopen route to the Spanish Canary IslandsAs COVID-19 measures close borders within Africa, migrants find new ways to stay mobile.
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Published in:Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryLong read: How the Nordic model in France changed everything for sex workersIn 2019, 10 sex workers were killed in France in the span of six months. Critics say that the Nordic model and its...
NEW E-BOOK
After the 'migration crisis'
How Europe works to keep Africans in Africa
Edited by Liliane Mouan, Simon Massey and Cameron Thibos
Migration from Africa to Europe has, since the long summer of migration in 2015, been at the top of the European political agenda. As right-wing parties have gained at the ballot box through their anti-migration rhetoric, the priority for most policymakers has been to look tough and to prevent such an experience from ever happening again. To this end the European Union and individual EU member states have devoted large amounts of resources to trying to keep people in Africa. As this feature demonstrates in great detail, an awful lot has been going on.
Inside Beyond Trafficking and Slavery
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: InterviewCausing harm while trying to help women in sex workA new campaign tries to educate well-meaning people on why they often end up harming sex workers, even when they're...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryCOVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in IndiaLabourers in India barely made ends meet before the pandemic. Many are now facing catastrophe.
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryBreaking down exploitation under the Palermo protocolExploitation comes in many forms, so it's important to be precise about what we mean when we use it.
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house: time to rethink the Palermo protocolThe governments who championed Palermo are never going to trade law enforcement for social justice and human rights....
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryINTERVIEW: Some observations on the anti-trafficking fieldTwo decades since Palermo and we are still missing the wood of exploitation and injustice for the trees of anti-trafficking.
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryIt isn’t just anti-trafficking: we must always ask whose interests we really serveSpace for critical reflection and engagement is shrinking across the NGO sector. The tactical dilemmas presented by...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryAre you better or worse off? Understanding exploitation through comparisonLife rarely features binary choices between forced or free labour. The far more common question is, ‘are you worse...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe art of using supply chains to defend worker rightsThe Fair Food Program protects farmworkers by closing the accountability loophole in the tomato supply chain. But...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryTriple (e)X rating the trafficking protocolWe need to stop talking about trafficking and exploitation and focus instead on the connections between...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryWhat is exploitation in the context of ‘modern slavery’? A legal proposalExploitation in the context of ‘modern slavery’ is defined by three conditions: abuse of vulnerability, excessive...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryPeople power to end exploitation?‘Modern slavery’ sits at the crossroads of racism, patriarchy, and growing inequality. So how do we end it?
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryWhen lawmakers exploit workers, can the law stop them?Illegal sandalwood logging in India is run by local politicians bent on self-enrichment. Why would anybody stand in...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryIs human trafficking truly an intractable problem?Two decades after the Palermo Protocol came into force, is extreme exploitation un-solvable?
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryExploitation in trafficking: questions of context, commerce, and conductIn a world of cultural diversity and economic and social disparity, is it possible to agree on what it means to...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryVulnerability to exploitation is created by lawState laws and policies enable widespread, standardised, and routinised forms of exploitation to exist. To change...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryINTERVIEW: Why the AFL-CIO both sits at the table and marches in the streetsTrade unions know our labour system is broken. But how can we make it work again?
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryWhat is trafficking in a region built on exploitation? Thoughts from the CaribbeanAnti-trafficking law seeks to eradicate what European colonisers once set out to achieve, and the Caribbean has been...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryMissed opportunities and exclusion: sex workers reflect on two decades of anti-traffickingThe Palermo Protocol has targeted sex workers since day one, and whenever sex workers having spoken up against it...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryMarx on exploitation: an ABC for an unequal worldExploitation begins with the terms on which workers sell their labour power to capital. Marx saw that 140 years ago,...
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryThe Palermo Protocols at 20: a missed opportunity for ending traffickingNobody at the top has been interested in tackling the real causes of exploitation.