Unavoidable Exploitation? Conflict, Agency and Human Trafficking

Kidd, Alicia

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-40838-1_3

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Despite these constrained circumstances, individuals continue to exercise agency, even if 'some of these choices will lead to exploitation'. 22 As with many other countries, there have long been ambiguous statistics and broad claims regarding the extent of human trafficking in Ukraine. These are often based on dubious assessments, extrapolations, and the regurgitation of unverified secondary sources.…”

Section: Sensationalist Anti-trafficking Narratives and An Unheralded...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-politicising Anti-Trafficking: Migration, labour, and the war in Ukraine

Mendel,

Sharapov

2024

ATR

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Drawing on multi-method research, this article demonstrates that the risks of large-scale trafficking due to the war in Ukraine were mitigated by granting Ukrainians more extensive rights than typically afforded to refugees. This shows the advantages of rights-based approaches to migration and labour exploitation. We draw on Bakhtin’s and Žižek’s work on the carnivalesque to argue that mainstream anti-trafficking initiatives—which are depoliticised and able to win support and funding from across the political spectrum—often serve merely as theatrical and distracting sideshows diverting attention from more impactful activities and the normalised exploitation within capitalism. However, avoiding trafficking is insufficient if Ukrainian citizens and residents still endure exploitative conditions. A weakened legal framework for workers’ rights within Ukraine alongside inadequate labour protections across Europe have facilitated such exploitation. In contrast to the depoliticised stance of the anti-trafficking industry, this article concludes that more explicitly political actions supporting migrants’ rights, workers’ rights, and access to welfare and public services will not only more effectively challenge trafficking but also prevent other exploitation of migrants.

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Section: Sensationalist Anti-trafficking Narratives and An Unheralded...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-politicising Anti-Trafficking: Migration, labour, and the war in Ukraine

Mendel,

Sharapov

2024

ATR

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“…Their focus on 'two distinct states: that of smuggled person with agency to that of trafficked person without agency' (Campana & Varese, 2016: 93) sits uncomfortably with the growing literature on the importance (and complexities) of agency within trafficking (see, e.g., Achilli 2023;Cockbain et al 2022;Jennings et al 2022;Kidd 2020). Thus, people may freely agree to travel and work, but be deceived about the conditions involved 5 : something which may also play out in smuggling relations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the ‘Blurred Boundary’: Human Smuggling and Trafficking on the Central Mediterranean Route to Europe

Bish,

Cockbain,

Walsh

et al. 2024

Journal of Illicit Economies and Development

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Objectives: This study examines the convergence of smuggling and trafficking in persons along the Central Mediterranean Route (CMR) to Europe. We explore where and how these phenomena blur, impacting states' obligations and policy decisions. Methods:We analyse 71 interviews with migrants who travelled on the CMR in 2018 and 2019, with a focus on 17 participants who experienced forced labour. Results:We find clear overlaps and crossovers between smuggling of migrants, forced labour, debt bondage, extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking. Notably, we observed transitions from trafficking to smuggling -a phenomenon rarely reported. This includes cases where people negotiated boat crossings with their traffickers as a means of escaping detention. The concept of exploitation as a 'purpose' of trafficking, not clearly defined in international law, complicates the distinction between smuggling and trafficking. For example, instances where individuals were coerced onto boats by armed men could be considered trafficking, should extortion through the extraction of significant sums of money for dangerous sea crossings be recognised as a 'purpose of exploitation'. In our investigation into conditions of detention during these journeys, we argue that the deliberate use of torture for ransom, forced labour and extortion in certain facilities meets the 'purpose' criteria for exploitation, meaning migrants subjected to these conditions could reasonably be considered to have been trafficked. Conclusion:Given the challenges in neatly categorising some experiences as either smuggling or trafficking under international law, we call for humanitarian protection based on the hardships that people experienced en route, rather than on dichotomous legal categorisations or on their initial motivations for leaving. 71 Bish et al.

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War, Displacement, and Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Findings from an evidence-gathering Roundtable in Response to the War in Ukraine

Cockbain

Sidebottom

2022

Journal of Human Trafficking

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Unavoidable Exploitation? Conflict, Agency and Human Trafficking

Cited by 4 publications

References 6 publications

Re-politicising Anti-Trafficking: Migration, labour, and the war in Ukraine

Re-politicising Anti-Trafficking: Migration, labour, and the war in Ukraine

Exploring the ‘Blurred Boundary’: Human Smuggling and Trafficking on the Central Mediterranean Route to Europe

War, Displacement, and Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Findings from an evidence-gathering Roundtable in Response to the War in Ukraine

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