2nd Edition
Sex Trafficking and Modern Slavery The Absence of Evidence
The second volume of Sex Trafficking: International context and response
Human trafficking and modern slavery have captured the imagination and attention of the international community. This book builds on the authors’ first volume, Sex Trafficking: International context and response. Much has changed since the first volume was published, not least the shift away from sex trafficking to modern slavery as the dominant focus in policy and advocacy. Yet, as the authors argue, little has changed with regards to how nations respond. This volume re-examines the international counter-trafficking scholarship and policy response, to offer an analysis based on original and new data. This book lays the ground for specific forms of research and inquiry that are necessary to better understand and respond to the range of exploitative practices and conditions that give rise to human trafficking.
This book offers a detailed analysis of the dominant response to human trafficking, which is framed by the criminal justice process. Examining the identification of victims, the investigation of cases, victim support, prosecutorial decisions and repatriation practices, the authors draw upon original research from Australia, Serbia and Thailand: three diverse nations that, like nations across the globe, have invested heavily in criminalisation as the dominant response to counter trafficking. They argue that exploitation sits at the nexus of global migration patterns and emphasise the importance of speaking to those directly affected by counter-trafficking policies and those directly involved in their implementation in order to produce empirical data to inform how we make sense of the numbers that are produced, the outcome of the policies and how we ought to determine success in this context.
An empirical, criminologically informed opportunity to reconsider the dominant ways of understanding and strategies of responding to human trafficking, this multi-disciplinary book will be of interest to those engaged in criminology, sociology, law, political science, public policy and gender studies.
1. Introduction
2. Search and ‘Rescue’
3. In Pursuit of Justice: Identifying victims within the criminal justice system
4. In the Care of the State
5. Prosecution
6. Beyond the Criminal Justice Process: The return ‘home’
7. Conclusion
Biography
Marie Segrave is an Associate Professor in Criminology at Monash University and leads the Traffi cking and Labour Exploitation research agenda of the Border Crossing Observatory.She is also an ARC DECRA Fellow researching unlawful migrant labour, exploitation and regulation (2014–2018).
Sanja Milivojevic is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at La Trobe University. Her primary research interest is migration and borders. Sanja’s latest book Sexting and Young People is published by Palgrave (with Crofts, Lee and McGovern).
Sharon Pickering is Professor of Criminology and Head of the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. She is co-director of the Border Crossing Observatory and author of 14 books.
"In sharp contrast to the myths and sensationalism that permeate anti-sex trafficking initiatives, this impressive book draws on original empirical research in three nations to expose the complex, but all-too-ordinary, dynamics that are at the foundation of trafficking and exploitation, including barriers to citizenship, border fortification, and economic and political marginalization. The authors poignantly reveal the collateral damage caused by contemporary law and order approaches to trafficking and persuasively argue that to significantly reduce exploitation 'a framework of response is needed where migration and mobility are at the forefront.' This book is absolutely essential reading for anyone willing to honestly examine the sources of human trafficking so that we might end it."
- Nancy A. Wonders, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University, USA
"Drawing on original and recent empirical research across such diverse settings as Australia, Thailand and Europe, Sex Trafficking and Modern Slavery offers an insightful analysis of contemporary counter-trafficking strategies and the ‘collateral damage’ that they produce. The book does a wonderful job at systematically debunking the persistent myths and assumptions about trafficking and makes for fascinating reading. It will be of wide interest not only to critical feminist criminologists but to academics from a range of disciplines, as well as practitioners, activists and policy-makers."
- Katja Franko, Professor in the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Norway
