What are the intended/unintended consequences of anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking policies?
Anti-trafficking policies and the fear of women being trafficked into the European sex industry is making it increasingly difficult for migrant women from the global south to get legal visas to enter Europe.
Women from Thailand are one of the largest groups of women migrants working in the European sex industry. Twenty-five years ago Thai women did not need visas to enter Europe, but now many are only able to obtain tourist visas for just eight days. They willingly borrow and risk thousands of euros to pay for their trip, then seek to earn as much money in the sex industry as possible before they are deported.
