Moving beyond contemporary discourses: children, prostitution, modern slavery and human trafficking

Abstract

The relationship between prostitution, modern slavery and human trafficking is much debated in the academic literature. By contrast, discussion of children’s involvement in prostitution as a form of modern slavery and human trafficking constitutes a silent consensus. Drawing on the findings of a participatory study with girls and young women in Malawi, we prize open that consensus, illuminating the poverty of contemporary discourses that link children’s involvement in prostitution with modern slavery and human trafficking, and identifying a series of tensions that confound the development of conceptual clarity. We develop our argument by exploring the potential of the capability approach, rooted in principles of social justice and human rights, to offer an alternative understanding of children’s engagement and ongoing involvement in prostitution, and a critical lens through which to reframe the relationship between children, prostitution, modern slavery and human trafficking.

Patriarchal Hegemony in the Novel “Women at Point Zero” by Nawal El Saadawi

“…" Two incidents of exploitation experienced by Firdaus above, the first is that his body is used as mere lust by Bayoumi and his friends, and the second is that his body is used as a paid prostitute while Firdaus receives nothing but Sharifa enjoys the money behind Firdaus' prostitution. These conditions are conceptualized as prostitutions since these are a sexual exploitation reflecting unequal power between men and women (Chamley & Nkhoma, 2020).…”

Identification work: Ambivalence, qualms and resistance in social workers’ identification of trafficking victims

“…Simultaneously, a growing body of research criticises simplistic understandings of vulnerability, migration, and exploitation in anti-trafficking policies, and 'modern slavery' discourses (Brace and Davidson, 2018;Charnley and Nkhoma, 2020;Chuang, 2015;Kempadoo, 2017). Examination of discursive and ideological elements of human trafficking policies has raised important discussions, not least about the power and control directed towards those assumed to be trafficking victims (Dottridge, 2007;FitzGerald, 2016;Kempadoo et al, 2015).…”