Anti-Trafficking Review
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‘Not A Sufficient Reason’: LGBTQ asylum seekers in the Russian asylum system
Full text linkThis article provides an analysis of the Russian asylum system with a specific focus on its treatment of LGBTQ asylum seekers. I analysed existing literature on the Russian asylum system and examined asylum decisions from first-instance and second-instance immigration authorities and appeal decisions issued by the Basmanny district court of Moscow and the Moscow city court. While there seems to be no unified approach as to whether LGBTQ asylum seekers constitute a particular social group in the sense of the UN Refugee Convention, there is a consistent trend of refusing international protection to LGBTQ asylum seekers at all levels. The relevant bodies either ignore the systematic persecution LGBTQ persons face in the countries of origin or simply dismiss the arguments put forward by the applicants and conclude that there is no proof of the existence of personal risks in case of return. Such an approach further pushes the applicants into a semi-underground existence
Queerness, Sex Work, and Refugee Status in Nairobi: A conversation with Queer Sex Workers Initiative for Refugees
Full text linkIn this interview, the author speaks with Queer Sex Workers Initiative for Refugees: a Nairobi-based grassroots service-provision and advocacy group formed by queer refugees in Kenya who are engaged in sex work. The interview explores the question of how queer identity experiences interact with the policing of borders, labour issues, and refugee status. It teases out the ramifications of the compounding factors of migration and criminalisation of sex work and gender diversity, across borders, to show how these produce discrimination, loss of livelihood, and vulnerability to violence
Traffickers and Victims: Opposite sides of the same coin?
Full text linkHong Kong Dignity Institute (HKDI) provides direct assistance to victims of trafficking and seeks to break cycles of exploitation through institutional change. Drawing from first-hand testimonials of over 30 individuals we have assisted since 2019 and insight from our civil society partners, in this article, we outline our observations of traffickers and their modus operandi in three prevalent trafficking scenarios in Hong Kong. Our experience suggests that trafficking networks are composed of a complex and fluid interplay of actors with blurred emotional lines between the traffickers and victims. We conclude that anti-trafficking efforts in Hong Kong are hampered by difficulties in identifying traffickers given the elusive nature of their activities
Queering Protracted Displacement: Lessons from Internally Displaced Persons in the Philippines
Full text linkIn this short paper, we apply a queer lens to challenge the current parameters of protracted refugee situations (PRS), as outlined in international legal instruments, by drawing on stories of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Philippines affected by the Zamboanga Siege in 2013. We argue that PRS is not a status that displaced individuals transition in and out of, and that the reliance on nation-states to implement international protections can exacerbate the already tenuous situations of IDPs. The perception of prolonged displacement lingers well beyond traditional durable solutions of return, local integration, and resettlement, shaping IDPs’ longing for home
Truth as a Victim: The challenge of anti-trafficking education in the age of Q
Full text linkThe QAnon conspiracy threatens anti-trafficking education because of its broad dissemination and focus on a range of myths about trafficking. These myths are rooted in historic and ongoing misinformation about abductions, exploitation, and community threats. This article examines the extent of QAnon’s co-optation of human trafficking discourses and evaluates its connection to trafficking myths, particularly related to gender, race, class, and agency. From this perspective, the article considers how anti-trafficking education can respond to these myths and build a pedagogy in the age of Q
A Train-the-Trainer Programme to Deliver High Quality Education for Healthcare Providers
Full text linkA promising practice for educating anti-trafficking stakeholders in healthcare emerged through an innovative train-the-trainer programme from a National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioner’s initiative called the Alliance for Children in Trafficking (ACT). The purpose of this training is to provide effective, high-quality education development with wide dissemination and reach. The obstacles to in-person education due to COVID-19 resulted in a pivot to a virtual platform to continue the ACT Advocate programme. This paper considers the engagement of the nursing profession in operationalising the ACT Advocate programme as a way to lead advocacy and education efforts, using a public health approach, for effective responses to child trafficking
Child Trafficking vs. Child Sexual Exploitation: Critical reflection on the UK media reports
Full text linkThis article explores how UK media narratives construct sexual exploitation of British children as a phenomenon to be approached differently than sexual exploitation of trafficked minors who are non-British nationals. Qualitative analysis of media articles that frame infamous child sexual exploitation cases as occurrences of human trafficking shows that they bank on the motifs from the historical white slavery myth. Thereby, these articles endorse the stereotypes of white victim and foreign trafficker and obscure the diversity of trafficking victims, perpetrators, and experiences. Furthermore, comparison between media reports focusing on cases involving British minors, on the one hand, and minors from abroad, on the other hand, reveals that only the former problematise inadequate victim assistance and systemic failures in dealing with sexual exploitation of minors. This leaves structural causes of child trafficking unaddressed, promotes differential treatment of victims based on their nationality, and stigmatises whole communities as immoral and crime-prone
Pedagogical Approaches to Human Trafficking Through Applied Research Laboratories
Full text linkHuman trafficking is a phenomenon that lends itself to hands-on pedagogical practices and undergraduate research that, in turn, can create localised knowledge with anti-trafficking stakeholders. Research labs focused on human trafficking are one-on-one or small group applied research settings that build a bridge between the university and anti-trafficking stakeholders over multiple semesters. In this paper, I argue that one way of involving students in the anti-trafficking field is through research laboratories, like the Human Trafficking Research Lab (HTRL) at Millikin University. I explore how the HTRL develops pedagogical practices to enable students to work collaboratively with a faculty member and carry out the research process from idea to final draft. Multiple learning outcomes were found, including mentorship, a larger understanding of political science as a discipline, data compilation, presentation and critical thinking skills, and job or graduate school placement. I determined that the HTRL at Millikin offers students hands-on experience with community-engaged projects, including grappling with the ethical implications of knowledge production in social justice advocacy
The Perfect Victim: ‘Young girls’, domestic trafficking, and anti-prostitution politics in Canada
Full text linkThis article explores debates among politicians in Ontario, Canada, regarding anti-trafficking legislation introduced in 2016 and 2017. We find that contemporary discussions in the political sphere have shifted away from concerns about the trafficking of migrant exotic dancers and toward the sexual exploitation of girls and young women, represented as idealised, inculpable victims. We suggest that this conflates the diverse experiences of girls and adult women, configures them all as child-like, and renders both groups as being in need of state protection. The new ‘perfect victim’ serves to legitimise policy approaches that criminalise sexual services, despite those laws being deemed harmful to sex workers in courts and other venues
Human Trafficking Education for Emergency Department Providers
Full text linkMany trafficked persons receive medical care in the Emergency Department (ED); however, ED staff have historically not been educated about human trafficking. In this article, we describe interventions aimed to train ED providers on the issue of trafficking. We performed a scoping review of the existing literature and found 17 studies that describe such interventions: 14 trainings implemented in the ED, two taught at conferences for ED providers, and one assessing a state-mandated training. These studies demonstrate that even brief education can improve provider confidence in screening and treating patients that experienced trafficking. We advocate for interventions to promote a team-based approach specific to the ED setting, acknowledge the importance of survivors’ input on curriculum development, and assess outcomes using pre- and post-surveys