No, though many mainstream anti-trafficking campaigns have had beneficial effects. They have raised the issue of human trafficking on a global scale, and have helped to encourage national and international action to protect victims. However, they also suffer from serious limitations, which means that their overall contribution can sometimes be less than positive.
Most importantly, they are constrained by a widespread tendency to organise exclusively around the issue of human trafficking, which frequently ends up diluting the relationship between human trafficking and other forms of oppression and marginalisation. Too many campaigns feed into the formula that trafficking is an exceptional problem requiring exceptional remedies, rather than the result of systemic oppression requiring systemic solutions for all workers. Moreover, too many anti-trafficking campaigns use stories of vulnerability and victimhood to illustrate the scope of the problem, yet fail to meaningfully engage with survivors in creating and controlling these narratives.
Migrant domestic workers hold posters demanding the same basic labour rights as those of the Lebanese workers during a march in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2014. Hussein Malla/AP/Press Association. All rights reserved.
