Antitrafficking criminalisation

Boukli, Avi (2023) Antitrafficking criminalisation. In, Boukli, Avi (ed.) Zemiology and Human Trafficking. 1 ed. Routledge. (doi:10.4324/9781315296654-2).

Abstract

Criminalisation in the context of trafficking has been examined as if it is a ‘good’, measurable, grounded, and globally effective approach that prioritises the elimination of modern (or otherwise) slavery. Insisting on the metonymic use of the term trafficking for slavery and vice versa, the former executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, in his critique of the term trafficking, asserted that ‘the term trafficking in persons can be misleading: It places emphasis on the transaction aspects of a crime that is more accurately described as enslavement. Exploitation of people, day after day. For years on end’. This chapter considers the international emergence of the emerging antitrafficking norm of criminalisation in two distinct but interconnected, subsequent periods. During the early explosion era (2000-2015), the metonymic use of trafficking for sex and vice versa led to the securitisation of sex work, and the migratisation of trafficking. A rather diverse, and often clashing, civil society activism also contributed to the final formation of this field. The later expansion phase (2015-2023) was affected by wider geopolitical changes, such as dealing with the aftermath of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and most recently, the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It was characterised by the gradual replacement of the term trafficking by modern slavery, described as the recolonisation of slavery. The element of transnational movement was gradually deemed obsolete, with nationalist narratives turning the lens upon victimhood of citizens (as opposed to foreign nationals), particularly minors. Technological advancements also played a key part, often substituting the movement element, such as in county lines cases and cases of online sexual exploitation. As the analysis shows, criminalisation has been characterised by the digitalisation of widening inequalities between employers and employees, and between colonial powers and colonised.

This record has no associated files available for download.

Contributors

Author: Avi Boukli

Download statistics