Human trafficking as a lever for feminist voices? Transformations of the Danish policy field of prostitution

Spanger, Marlene

doi:10.1177/0261018311410527

Cited by 31 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…A number of feminist studies in political science (Bacchi 2009;Dahl, 2000Dahl, , 2017Kantola and Squires 2004;Lombardo and Forest 2012;Peterson 2011;Spanger 2011) pay attention to the systems of meaning and language within policy and politics, arguing that there are no objective social and political problems 'out there', but that such problems are created in the process of policy formation. To understand the struggle between different representations of a problem, Bacchi (2009) draws on the work of Michel Foucault to develop a methodological toolkit for critical discourse analysis.…”

Section: Discursive Framings Of Policy Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Global Care Chains through the Perspective of Heterogeneous States, Discursive Framings and Multi-Level Governance

Spanger¹,

Dahl²,

Peterson

2017

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

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In investigating global and regional care chains, scholars have traditionally adopted a sociological bottom-up approach, but more attention has recently been focussed on the role of the state. Despite this new attention to states and how they condition care chains, the existing frameworks cannot grasp the complexity of potential struggles and tensions within states and at the various state levels. In outlining a broad and tentative analytical framework for exploration of the role of the state in shaping global care chains, this theoretical article combines feminist state theory, discursive policy analysis and multi-level governance theories. Paying attention to the role of the state, we focus on the framing of policy problems that are important for care chains and on potential tensions between different framings within a state and across the different state levels. We argue that these framings should be investigated in both receiving and sending states.

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Section: Discursive Framings Of Policy Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Global Care Chains through the Perspective of Heterogeneous States, Discursive Framings and Multi-Level Governance

Spanger¹,

Dahl²,

Peterson

2017

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

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“…Thus, no labour rights are associated with sex work in Denmark. Rather, the state's articulation of sex work derives from a social policy discourse (Spanger 2011). Migrant sex workers are offered social and health 98 M. Spanger counselling by the state.…”

Section: Female Thai Migrants Selling Sexual Services In Denmarkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Migrant sex workers are offered social and health 98 M. Spanger counselling by the state. Within the policy field of prostitution and human trafficking, which includes social work targeting migrants selling sex, this social group is predominantly considered to consist of victims of human trafficking (Spanger 2011). This means that they become represented as women who have no alternatives and who lead a miserable life in poverty.…”

Section: Female Thai Migrants Selling Sexual Services In Denmarkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing Love in the Borderland of Transnational Sex Work: Female Thai Migrants in Denmark

Spanger

2013

NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research

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By bringing love to the fore as an unfixed category, this article analyses the highly complex lives of female Thai migrants who sell sex in Denmark. In doing so, the article challenges the static and rather normative binary categories of "sex work" versus "prostitution" and "empowered woman" versus "victim of human trafficking" that are produced in the literature on sex work and prostitution. This binary approach is likely to portray the lives and subject positions of female migrants who sell sex in a rather one-sided way. The article argues that the category of love is highly relevant in studies of transnational sex work if we want to grasp the complexity of the lives of female migrants who sell sexual services.

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“…On the other hand, non-abolitionists aim to end sex trafficking but support women's rights to engage in sex work (Kempadoo & Doezema 1998;Soderlund 2005;Agustin 2008;Spanger 2011;Ahmed & Seshu 2012). Some non-abolitionists claim that many women who are constructed as victims of sex trafficking are autonomous individuals whose behaviour is to some extent motivated by economic considerations and who have made rational choices to work in the sex industry (Butcher 2003;Agustin 2008;Meyers 2014).These writers are critical of the 'rescue industry' that has grown up around sex trafficking and the moralising discourse adopted by feminist abolitionists who view women as passive victims of sexual exploitation (Cavalieri 2011).…”

Section: Feminist Perspectives On Sex Traffickingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women who cannot provide a valid reason for travel are assumed to be trafficked and are subsequently intercepted or detained and brought under the protection of NGOs for an 'indefinite period' (Lee 2014, p. 216). Critics point out that that these strategies not only violate women's migration rights but also perpetuate an image of women from developing countries as being unable to freely consent to prostitution, and hence need to be 'rescued' from the sex industry (Gunnell 2004, Agustin 2008Spanger 2011;Lee 2014).These images are reinforced by the Nepalese media (Rana 2002) as well as the international press, popular films and documentaries (Baker 2013(Baker , 2014. Gunnell (2004) further argues that 'stopping trafficking' could be problematic for an impoverished country like Nepal where it is believed that foreign money, which women earn through prostitution is an important source of income for some families.…”

Section: Feminist Perspectives On Sex Traffickingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex trafficking in Nepal: women’s experiences of reintegration

Sharma¹

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A much neglected area of research concerns the reintegration of formerly sex trafficked women.Very little is known about Nepalese women's experiences following their return from brothels in India to their families in Nepal. This research explored the reintegration experiences of twenty formerly trafficked Nepalese women who were released, rescued or had escaped from Indian brothels and returned to live in Nepal. The study sought to answer two questions: how do women survivors of sex trafficking experience reintegration; and what are the barriers and the supporting factors that facilitate reintegration. The data was collected through in-depth interviews. At the time of interview the participants were living in one of three different settings: with their families in a rural village; independently or with their husbands in Kathmandu; or in rehabilitation centres run by anti-trafficking Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Kathmandu.Qualitative data analysis revealed that despite the participants sharing the same identity as a returnee from sex trafficking, reintegration is not a uniform experience. The proposition that reintegration is a unique experience is demonstrated in three case studies. At the same time the women in this study shared a number of common experiences. For instance, the effects of the abuse which women experienced in the brothels continued to impact the women's day to day living long after their return.Most of the twenty women who returned to Nepal with the support of NGOs perceived that many of their choices were governed by NGO staff and they therefore lacked autonomy. While waiting to return to their families, these women reported NGO practices such as being sent for HIV tests without their consent, being pressured to take legal action against their traffickers and disclosure of their trafficking history to their families. These practices violated their rights to self-determination.A few women who returned independently from India to Nepal were able to exercise some autonomy in planning how and when they would return to their families and how they would present themselves to their families. However, the journey home to Nepal for some independent returnees was unpredictable and unsafe in comparison to those women who were assisted by NGOs.The majority of the twenty returnee women were welcomed by their parents. Nevertheless, all participants who had returned to their home and community were vulnerable to prejudice and discrimination, particularly from community members. The discriminatory practices meted out by community members constitute a denial of basic social or civil rights of access to facilities, and inclusion in society. Some women's experiences further suggest that NGOs played a negative role ii in their reintegration largely due to NGO staff failing to adequately assess a returnee's family situation and lack of follow up and support for the women once they returned home.Community discrimination, lack of access to health facilities and HIV/AIDs medication, and limited job...

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Human trafficking as a lever for feminist voices? Transformations of the Danish policy field of prostitution

Cited by 31 publications

References 18 publications

Rethinking Global Care Chains through the Perspective of Heterogeneous States, Discursive Framings and Multi-Level Governance

Rethinking Global Care Chains through the Perspective of Heterogeneous States, Discursive Framings and Multi-Level Governance

Doing Love in the Borderland of Transnational Sex Work: Female Thai Migrants in Denmark

Sex trafficking in Nepal: women’s experiences of reintegration

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