Defining Trafficking/Denying Justice? Forced Labour in Ireland and the Consequences of Trafficking Discourse

Abstract

In 2008 Ireland enacted legislation to define and prosecute human trafficking. The overriding emphasis of the Human Trafficking (Criminal Law) Act is on trafficking as a crime against the state, with provisions to protect victims only vaguely articulated in a separate piece of legislation. The Irish approach thus remains far removed from the victim-centred human-rights-based approach advocated by local lobbyists and international reports, which argue for a shift away from pinpointing movement and coercion as integral to trafficking and focusing instead on exploitation as its essence. The rationale for this was that, while people's movement might initially be deemed to be 'smuggling', their eventual exploitation could constitute 'trafficking'. As this paper will show on the basis of current empirical research into trafficking for forced labour in Ireland, we would concur that exploitation should be understood as the essence of trafficking. Few cases 'tick all the boxes' of a rigid definition of trafficking, yet the exploitation of migrant workers is rife. Ironically the long-awaited enshrining of the crime of human trafficking in Irish law may have the undesirable consequence of drawing a line between the 'deserving' and the 'undeserving' exploited, thereby denying justice to many who migrate for work and find their rights and dignity violated in the process.

‘I Felt Like She Owns Me’: Exploitation and Uncertainty in the Lives of Labour Trafficking Victims in Ireland

“…rendering precarious workers unfree at particular junctures in their sojourns' (Yea and Chok 2018: 2). Moreover, as Coghlan and Wylie, Anderson, and Strauss have all observed in different ways, anti-trafficking measures have the 'undesirable consequence of drawing a line between the "deserving" and the "undeserving" exploited, thereby denying justice to many who migrate for work and find their rights and dignity violated in the process' (Coghlan andWylie 2011: 1513). Nonetheless, the experiences reported to us also suggest that, despite the 'excessive positivity' (Gadd and Broad 2018) of the anti-trafficking paradigm, it is of some practical benefit to an individual to be identified as a victim of labour trafficking-for the lucky few who obtain that status.…”

Supply Chains and Unfree Labor: Regulatory Failure in the Case of Samsung Electronics in Slovakia

“…As the Protocol was established as a supplement to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and located within the sphere of international criminal law, states have tended to view trafficking as a security threat (Gómez-Mera, 2017) to be combatted by strengthening border control and immigration policies (Andrijasevic, 2010;Mai, 2016). The overriding emphasis placed on trafficking as a crime against the state (Coghlan & Wylie, 2011) resulted in vague and often weak provisions for victim protection. For a widely ratified law enforcement tool, the Protocol achieved an extremely low conviction rate for traffickers (Gallagher, 2001;Kangaspunta, 2015).…”

Representations of Transnational Human Trafficking: A Critical Review

“…In media reporting and legislation, structural causes that leave people vulnerable to being trafficked as well as smuggled are systematically ignored (Coghlan & Wylie, 2011;Johnston et al, 2015;O'Brien, 2016;Piper et al, 2015;Sanford et al, 2016;Sharma, 2005;Steele, 2015;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Weitzer, 2007;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016). Wilson and O'Brien (2016, pp.…”

“…The prioritisation of sex trafficking means that issues such as labour exploitation are pushed to the background (Duong, 2014;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Lobasz, 2009;Mendel & Sharapov, 2016, p. 674;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016, p. 41), both in terms of media attention and in terms of policy. Even more concerningly, the representation of victims creates a victim hierarchy, resulting in many non-ideal, but real, victims being denied services and rights, to the extent where they are prosecuted (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012;Chuang, 2015;Coghlan & Wylie, 2011;Cunningham & DeMarni Cromer, 2016;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Feingold, 2005;McAdam, 2013;Meshkovska, Mickovski, Bos, & Siegel, 2016;Piper et al, 2015;Sanford et al, 2016;Segrave, 2009;Sharma, 2005;Stepnitz, 2012;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Wijers, 2015;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016, p. 41). In fact, Kelly (2005, p. 243) estimates that only half of those who need assistance actually receive it.…”

“…In reality, most victims are trafficked for labour exploitation (O'Brien, 2016, p. 210;Feingold, 2005), and HT mainly exists in highly labourintensive, insecure industries, such as agriculture and the gig-economy (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012;Coghlan & Wylie, 2011;Kara, 2010;Kelly, 2005;O'Brien, 2016). Trafficking for domestic services also receives little attention.…”