French Abstract: La question de la traite sexuelle est devenue de plus en plus politisee ces dernieres annees suite aux efforts d'une croisade morale influente. Cet article examine la fabrication sociale de la traite sexuelle (et plus generalement de la prostitution) dans le discours des principaux militants et des organisations membres de cette croisade, et conclut que ses allegations principales sont problematiques, non fondees ou demontrablement fausses. L'analyse met en lumiere l'adoption et l'institutionnalisation croissantes de l’ideologie de la croisade dans la politique et la pratique du gouvernement americain.English Abstract: The issue of sex trafficking has become increasingly politicized in recent years due to the efforts of an influential moral crusade. This article examines the social construction of sex trafficking (and prostitution more generally) in the discourse of leading activists and organizations within the crusade, and concludes that the central claims are problematic, unsubstantiated, or demonstrably false. The analysis documents the increasing endorsement and institutionalization of crusade ideology in U.S. government policy and practice.

La Fabrication Sociale De La Traite Sexuelle: Idéologie Et Institutionnalisation D’Une Croisade Morale (The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking: Ideology and Institutionalization of a Moral Crusade)

The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 is the first national legislation to use the term ‘modern slavery’ and to explicitly target ‘slavery’ as opposed to ‘human trafficking’, ‘forced labour’, or other terms. This article explains the development of UK modern slavery policy, which did not arise as a rational response to a defined problem, but has gradually emerged from the policy process as a moderately structured problem. Problem structuring took place in two phases. The first phase was marked by a series of problematisations and policy responses, with disjunctions between the constructed policy problem and the social problem. Elite problematisations excluded alternatives, although the final shape of policy remained open. Policy built up incrementally, running ahead of research so that the policy frame was limited to sexual exploitation while marginalising labour exploitation concerns. In the second phase, unresolved problems of legislation were questioned under the influence of a new moralistic policy frame, an international discourse on slavery, supported by elite political actors. Campaign groups and licit industry also became more influential, increasing the policy scope to take in more types of exploitation. This generated a second round of legislative problematisation, ultimately embedded in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The two-phase process and prevailing top-down policy direction worked against human rights discourses and victim protection. Modern slavery remains a moderately structured problem, with more work necessary to address unintended consequences and implementation difficulties, including enhancing multi-agency working.

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From Human Trafficking to Modern Slavery: The Development of Anti-Trafficking Policy in the UK

A form of criminal exploitation rarely mentioned in the academic literature has recently emerged, evolved and taken meaningful hold in the UK. Hundreds of cases of ‘cuckooing’ have been reported, where heroin and crack cocaine dealers associated with the so-called ‘County Lines’ supply methodology have taken over the homes of local residents and created outposts to facilitate their supply operations in satellite locations. Dominant narratives surrounding this practice have stressed its exploitative nature and the vulnerabilities of those involved. Combining qualitative data from two studies, this paper critically analyses the model of cuckooing and the experiences of those affected. In turn it explores the impact of County Lines on affected areas and local populations, a topic that has received little academic scrutiny. Four typologies of cuckooing are constructed, highlighting its variance and complexity. Findings also suggest it to be a growing method of criminal exploitation beyond drug supply with a possible burgeoning presence being realised internationally.

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The variable and evolving nature of ‘cuckooing’ as a form of criminal exploitation in street level drug markets

Defensor del pueblo

Financing of Organised Crime: Human Trafficking in Focus

Human trafficking for criminal exploitation is one of the lesser-known forms of human trafficking The failure of the criminal justice system to identify the victims of this type of trafficking can lead to a failure to take the victim-centred approach to trafficking espoused in the international legal instruments that regulate the matter, an approach that emphasises the protection of victims and respect for their rights In light of earlier findings of the existence of unidentified victims of human trafficking for criminal exploitation in several European countries — the UK, Ireland, Spain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands — a qualitative study was conducted, consisting of 37 in-depth interviews with practising criminal justice professionals and victim service providers in Spain Because undetected victims of human trafficking for criminal exploitation are usually treated as offenders, the main aim of this research with professionals was to determine the causes of the criminal justice system’s failure to identify the victims of this specific form of trafficking in order to prevent them from remaining hidden victims

Human Trafficking for Criminal Exploitation: The Failure to Identify Victims

The international policy currently adopted to combat the growing phenomenon of trafficking in human beings (THB) is victim centred. The policy intends to fully address this phenomenon, focusing on victim protection as well as preventing and criminalising such conduct. In Spain, efforts are underway to achieve internationally established standards. However, the research we present here shows how much work remains to be done, particularly in trafficking cases that are less well known, such as trafficking for exploiting victims in criminal activities. Our research aimed to better understand the processes of trafficking for criminal exploitation and to determine whether the criminal justice system is prepared to detect and protect victims of such processes. The qualitative study we developed investigates cases of 45 migrant women held in two Spanish prisons and evidences that there are individuals victimised in the highest degree. At least ten respondents had been victims of trafficking, and not only were they not identified as such by legal authorities, they were also imprisoned for a crime that their traffickers forced them to commit.

Trafficked Women in Prison: The Problem of Double Victimisation

The victim-centred approach to human trafficking emphasises the protection of victims and respect for their rights. For this protection to be effective, victims must be treated as such in their pas...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0269758018766161

Human trafficking for criminal exploitation: Effects suffered by victims in their passage through the criminal justice system:

Forced marriages were criminalized in Spain in 2015, both as a specific form of coercion (offence against liberty) and as a type of human trafficking. However, the criminalisation was carried out with limited data on existing cases and without empirical research questioning whether forced marriages were taking place in Spain and what specific individuals were at risk. This paper presents the main findings of an empirical study aimed at detecting the existence of victims of forced marriage in this country and at describing the dynamics and characteristics of the processes which led to their victimisation. A total of 150 support organizations operating in Spain reported their knowledge of the extent and dynamics of forced marriages, revealing the existence of people forced to marry against their will, including some legal residents and even Spanish nationals. The research identifies at least 57 victims who have received assistance from support organizations. People most at risk were very young women, usually from North African, Sub Saharan African or Central Asian, as well as, to a lesser extent, Roma, and with a large percentage of Spanish nationals and legal residents. Mechanisms used to compel the victims are usually subtle, far from those more incisive active means required in the Spanish legislation. The results contribute to the debate on what is tolerable in today’s globalized society and underscore the need to understand this reality before regulating it.

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Prevalence, dynamics and characteristics of forced marriage in Spain

The aim of this study is to analyse the effects on sex workers of new regulations that ban the practice of street prostitution in Spain. This country has not traditionally maintained a clear policy regarding prostitution. However, in recent years there has been a clear turn towards the criminalization of behaviours related to voluntary prostitution. The city councils of several Spanish cities have banned the practice of street prostitution and sanctioned it with fines issued to both prostitutes and clients. Even if few studies on prostitution have been carried out in Spain, none of them had yet analysed the effects of the adoption of civic ordinances on sex workers. In this paper we present the results of an empirical research carried out with a sample of 79 sex workers – in 20 cases with in-depth interviews – to explore the effects of the new regulation on their labour conditions.

Núria Torres

Papers

Human Trafficking for Criminal Exploitation: The Failure to Identify Victims

Trafficked Women in Prison: The Problem of Double Victimisation

Human trafficking for criminal exploitation: Effects suffered by victims in their passage through the criminal justice system:

Prevalence, dynamics and characteristics of forced marriage in Spain

Effects of the criminalizing policy of sex work in Spain