“Victims of Trafficking”: The Feminisation of Poverty and Migration in the Gendered Narratives of Human Trafficking

Abstract

This paper argues that the feminisation of migration has heightened the awareness of human trafficking, yet the feminisation of poverty is a social concept that is yet to be fully understood within the context of human trafficking. The false notion of "return" has been given as a solution to those individuals who are "out of place" or have been displaced as "victims of trafficking". This article will discuss the Right to Remain visa applications of 12 women who were trafficked from post-Soviet countries to Israel, by examining the impact that gender, level of poverty and each woman's decision to migrate has had on her life. In addition, this article will analyse the life experiences of the 12 women who experienced human trafficking. It will explore the idea that each woman is a "victim of trafficking" and that, conversely, this may be understood as a means to negate a more nuanced understanding of women's mobility. Finally, this article will provide an intersectional analysis of trafficking flows in the world today.

Toward a Framework for Global Public Health Action Against Trafficking in Women and Girls

“…Economic factors such as poverty and unemployment are major structural determinants of trafficking in women and girls—and indeed, gendered migration flows worldwide. In particular, the “feminization of poverty,” which was first coined in the 1970s to refer to the increased income poverty in female‐headed households despite women's growing financial independence and presence in the labor force (Pearce, ), remains a major driving force of the gendered trafficking patterns observed today (Russell, ). In their search for improved economic conditions, women are increasingly pressured to migrate and to take on precarious offers, making them opportune targets for criminal and trafficking networks (Hughes, ; Raymond, D'Cunha, Dzuhayatin, Hynes, & Rodriguez, ; United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime [UNODC], ).…”

Abject spaces and mimicry: rethinking the embodied effects of spatial containment in trafficking for sexual exploitation

“…I must also question why I was offered these letters, much as I might like to think it was based upon a rapport built with the NGO, and what version of human trafficking they portray that the NGO who supplied them might want to make public 15 . As Kelly 16 reflects, "the good intentions of NGOs are rooted in a belief that by viewing women as 'forced', this will in turn mean they are seen as 'deserving victims' by the community, and reintegration will be unproblematic.…”

Representations of Transnational Human Trafficking: A Critical Review

“…Similarly, there is little attention, in both the media and legislation, to pull factors, including the global demand for cheap labour (Avendaño & Fanning, 2013;Duong, 2014;Feingold, 2005;Kelly, 2005;Kara, 2010;Limoncelli, 2009;O'Brien, 2016;Segrave, 2009;Sharma, 2005) and cheap sex (Kara, 2010;Limoncelli, 2009;Moore & Goldberg, 2015;Russell, 2014;Segrave, 2009;Sharma, 2005). Even in academic research on trafficking, 'demand' is often only addressed almost incidentally, with a few notable exceptions (see Kara, 2010).…”

“…The stereotypical global victim of trafficking is '[a] young, naïve woman who seeks a better life away from her rural home by answering an advertisement to become a waitress or a nanny and then ends up a sex slave, repeatedly raped, brutalised, and resold to other mafia pimps' (Lobasz, 2009, p. 340): she is female (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012;Andrijasevic & Mai, 2016;Columb, 2015;De Shalit et al, 2014;de Villiers, 2016;Dijk, 2013;Duong, 2014;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Hall, 2015;Johnston, Friedman, & Sobel, 2015;Lobasz, 2009;O'Brien, 2016;Pajnik, 2010;Plambech, 2016;Russell, 2014;Sanchez, 2016;Sanford et al, 2016;Sharma, 2005;Small, 2012;Sobel, 2016;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016;Yick, 2010), young (Andrijasevic & Mai, 2016;de Villiers, 2016;Dijk, 2013;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Hall, 2015;Hua & Nigorizawa, 2010;Johnston et al, 2015;Kara, 2010;Lobasz, 2009;O'Brien, 2016;Sanchez, 2016;Sanford et al, 2016;Small, 2012;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016;Yick, 2010), and unwilling to per...…”

“…Meanwhile, nation states and state-sanctioned (male) actors responding to threats within their borders are set up as 'saviours' (De Shalit et al, 2014;de Villiers, 2016;Hill, 2016;Hua & Nigorizawa, 2010;Krsmanovic, 2016;O'Brien, 2016;Pajnik, 2010;Russell, 2014;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Van der Pijl, Oude Breuil, & Siegel, 2011).…”