Human Trafficking and Feminism

Running head: INTERSECTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND FEMINISM

The Intersection of Human Trafficking and Feminism

Presented at the 2014 Southeastern Womens Study Association (SEWSA) Conference

University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Wilmington, NC

Human Trafficking and Feminism

Abstract
Human trafficking has an ever increasing impact worldwide as more and more persons
are trafficked for the profit of others. In the last century, feminists have worked to rein in the
exploitation of prostitutes and trafficked women. However, divisions, centered on an inability to
agree on the relationship between prostitution and trafficking, exist in the philosophy of
abolitionist feminists and radical abolitionist critics. At the center is the issue of consent,
particularly in context to what establishes consent and whether one can, in reality, consent to
being a prostitute, sex worker, or any other form of indentured servitude, willingly or otherwise.
Feminists have lobbied states and international organizations in opposition to human
trafficking since the mid-nineteenth century. One issue raised by feminists has been the treatment
of trafficked persons as criminals subject to incarceration or deportation, while the trafficker, in
most instances, receives little to no punishment. Typically, the primary focus of government is a
matter of people entering countries illegally, not the rights of victims who are treated as
voluntary undocumented migrants. According to feminists, the linkage of protection and
assistance for victims to their cooperation with authorities are flawed from a human rights
perspective; subordinating victims needs to the security of the state.
Abolitionists focus on patriarchy as the source of the oppression of women, align
prostitution with the trafficking of persons for sexual exploitation, as well as advocate for the
abolition of prostitution and better protection for victims. Critics of abolitionist feminists
attribute the oppression of women to capitalism, object to the concept prostitution is intrinsically
harmful, and support the decriminalization of prostitution, arguing that existing anti-trafficking
measures are counterproductive, if not harmful, by stereotyping trafficking victims.

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Ultimately, the divide has created an impasse that has sidelined the real issue improving
the lives of sex workers as well as their safety and security. Abolitionists fusion of human
trafficking with sex trafficking presumes the elimination of prostitution will not only end sex
trafficking, but promote gender equality. Radical abolitionist critics highlight problems in the
theoretical and policy implications. Theoretically, it risks reification of gender stereotypes
regarding the purity and helplessness of women. This paper will examine the conflicting
perspectives amongst feminists regarding the issue of human trafficking, including a deeper
exploration of feminists approaches to the subject as well as the division, the affects of politics,
and feminist film theory.
Introduction
One of the primary focuses of the feminist movement is improving the lives and
circumstances of women, especially exploited women. However, feminists are divided on the
role of prostitution in human trafficking as well as the issue of consent, particularly in context to
what establishes consent and whether one can, in reality, consent to being a prostitute, sex
worker, and any other form of indentured servitude, willingly or otherwise. Rather than improve
their human rights, the conflict only serves to prolong the violence and oppression of sexually
exploited persons.
The focus of feminist abolitionists aligns prostitution with the trafficking of persons for
sexual exploitation; in addition to advocating for the abolition of prostitution and better
protection for victims. Critics of abolitionists, object to the concept that prostitution is
intrinsically harmful. Decriminalization of prostitution is supported by those critical of
abolitionists, arguing that existing anti-trafficking measures are counterproductive, if not

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harmful, by stereotyping trafficking victims. For decades these issues have created a deep
divided between abolitionists and their more radical critics, with no resolution in sight.
The sometimes heated debate between feminists nearly jeopardized negotiations in 2000
when the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons
(hereafter, UN Protocol) was being drafted. Abolitionists claimed advocates of sex workers
rights were in the pay of pimps and traffickers (Lobasz, 2009, p. 334), while abolitionists
critics were suspicious of the alliance between abolitionists and pro-life evangelical Christians.
Furthermore, the impasse has sidelined the real issue improving the lives of sex workers as
well as their safety and security. This paper will, first, define human trafficking in accordance
with the UN Protocol as defined in Article 3, and then begin to explore the intersection of human
trafficking and feminism by looking at human rights and feminist interests in human trafficking,
transformation of Denmarks human trafficking policy, feminists approaches to human
trafficking, feminist debates surrounding trafficking, determining exploitation or expectations,
feminism from a Right-Wing perspective, and Feminist Film Theory. While human trafficking,
as defined by article 3 of the UN Protocol, includes forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour
or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (United
Nations, 2004, Article 3), unless otherwise stated this paper addresses the sexual form of human
trafficking.
The Issues of Human Trafficking
Clarifying Human Trafficking
The definition of human trafficking is ambiguous and can be a thorny issue, open to
interpretation for some individuals or groups. For the sake of clarity, trafficking in this paper
conforms to that of UN Protocol as defined in Article 3:

Human Trafficking and Feminism

(a) Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer,

harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of
coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of
vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent
of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar
to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth
in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in
subparagraph (a) have been used;
(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the
purpose of exploitation shall be considered trafficking in persons even if this does not
involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article;
(d) Child shall mean any person under eighteen years of age. (United Nations, 2004,
Article 3: Use of terms, p. 42).
Human Rights in Human Trafficking
Trafficking of persons is understood first and foremost as an issue of human rights. Just
by its nature, trafficking of persons violates the human rights of trafficked individuals. Often the
policies intended to protect the human rights of trafficked persons take a backseat to the interests
of the state. Asad and Grewal raise questions about human rights in the non-Western world. Asad
(2000) asserts less attention is given to human rights violations in Euro-America than in the nonWestern world. According to Grewal (2005), it was assumed that internationalism would offer

Human Trafficking and Feminism

the promise of equality, peace, and justice, but the assumption waned with the fragmentation of
oppressive states and emerging cosmopolitan groups. Some NGOs and states came to use the
concept of human rights not to ensure the rights of subjects, but rather as an ethical regime used
in a range of instrumentalizations of governance (p. 122). Further, issues of security may be
incorporated in ways that threaten the human rights of trafficking victims, and, possibly, lead to
the re-trafficking of victims. Unlike prior periods in history when the virtue of women was
central to debates, activists today use a language of injury and rights to substantiate a wide range
of anti-trafficking interventions.
The crusade against global violence of women was the one form of feminist activism that
drew right-wing support. Protestant evangelicals, in the late 1990s, seized the problem in a
calculated effort to expand their base through the vehicle of human rights, allying with feminists
to produce the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. International politics and human rights are
often in conflict; for example the convergence of Western philosophy with that of Islamic law,
especially in the case of sharia law. Grewal (2005) raises questions about the ability to enforce
human rights when the laws of many powerful patriarchies states do not provide protection for
women.
While in agreement on the need to protect the human rights of trafficked persons,
feminists disagree on who should be considered as victims of trafficking, and how to protect
their human rights. Feminists believe linking the protection and assistance for victims to their
cooperation with authorities is flawed from a human rights perspective. Critics of abolitionists
argue legalization of prostitution and establishment of legal framework will ensure the human
rights of sex workers.

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Transformation of Danish Human Trafficking Policy

Add to the fray, transformation of the prostitution policy field in Denmark where several
related discourses battle for meanings assigned to human trafficking. The blend of semi-public,
public, and private actors, representing a number of discourses, contributed to the development
of policy formations based on legislative and social initiatives. Spanger (2010) highlights five
separate discourses that have constituted the field of prostitution: feminist, religious, social
policy, legal policy, and medico-scientific; as well as discuss the role and affect of migrants
involved in sex work.
Since the late 1990s, an increase was seen in the number of migrant female sex workers.
The same period also saw problems in the policy field of prostitution and human trafficking from
national and international processes. Political attention led to the proliferation of punitive action
on human trafficking in 2002. In addition, the Danish government introduced the countrys first
Action Plan, followed by an updated plan in 2007. The Action Plans, which were written into the
prostitution policy field, address specific concerns. The plans concentrate on a number of policy
proposals and measures focused on the development of standards to institute a national definition
for human trafficking, counseling and assistance programs, and a repatriation process for victims
of human trafficking. Another point of the plans is development of new partnerships and
networks between NGOs and public organizations. Danish womens movements have used the
plans in the political efforts to impose a ban on buying sex in Denmark.
In 2004, Kantola and Squires and Outshoorn (2001, 2005) identified a number of
discourses within the field of prostitution policy making that center on the different positions of
sex worker rights advocates and abolitionists: sex work discourse, sexual domination discourse,
and moral order discourse. The view of those in favor of the legitimization, and legalization, of

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sex work diverge significantly from the movement to abolish prostitution. The perspectives and
rhetoric surrounding issues, such as feminism, religion, and human rights, influence these
discourses (as cited by Spanger, 2010, p. 518).
In addressing the five discourses Spanger (2010) identifies: feminist, religious, social
policy legal policy, and medico-scientific (see Table 1). Spanger steps beyond the positions of
sex work advocates and abolitionists in an analysis of the Danish national policy field of
prostitution to emphasize the complexity of interconnected discourses shaped by discursive
ruptures, or moments of failure, and the contrasting, struggling and/or overlapping discourses
that change over a period of time (p. 519). The analysis references the work of Bacchi and
Foucault to investigate how problem representations created and transformed the prostitution
policy field. From 1906 to 2010, the five discourses overlapped, competed, and/or complemented
one another as they struggled to classify prostitution and human trafficking.
Spanger (2010) describes discursive ruptures as the challenge and disparities, as well as
recognizability, through which these disturbances are cataloged, and how they affect discourses.
In 1874, prostitution laws were based on the notion prostitution was a necessary evil. From 1874
until 1950, juridical and medico-scientific overlapped. Medico-scientific discourse, which
developed from the concept of eugenics, accepted mens sexuality as a natural sexual need.
Thus, juridical and medico-scientific discourses rationalized mens purchase of sex, but
identified female sex workers as fallen women. During which time, prostitution was
problematized as a threat to marriage and the appropriate sexual behavior of women.
It should be noted religious philosophy and womens movements in Denmark crusaded in
opposition to legalization of prostitution and advocated for equal accountability between men,
the purchasers, and women, the suppliers. Religious discourse and feminist discourse overlapped

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in regards to the moral aspect of sexual behavior. This discursive provided an opening for
feminists on the issue of trafficking.
A new discourse, social policy, came about during the 1950s to 1960, as eugenics and the
medico-scientific discourse disappeared. Social measures were instituted, and the focus of
authorities changed to concentrate on social inheritance and background, and psychological
condition. In 1973, prostitutes began to be considered victims suffering from individual damages.
Social policy discourse dominated the prostitution policy field.
Despite the impact of the womens movement during in the 1970s and 1980s, feminist
discourse did not influence social work or the debate on prostitution. In the late 1990s, with the
growth and recognition of human trafficking, feminist discourse began to influence prostitution
policy. The concept of socio-economic gender inequality was recognized, and feminists argued
that prostitution was not a natural phenomenon, nor were men buying and women selling sex
fortuitous.
Human trafficking, grounded particularly in feminist and social policy discourse, but with
some juridical and medico-scientific discourses playing a part, produced new policy problems.
The policy field has experienced, on a discursive level, changes in terms of expanding,
formalizing and centralizing public administration, social, health and juridical efforts (Spanger,
2011, p.527). Policy changes in the 2002 and 2007 Action Plans led to a breakthrough for
feminist discourse. Grounded in feminist, social policy, and juridical discourses, a problem with
the characterization of human trafficking is the perception displaced women from Eastern
Europe and Third World are the primary participants/victims in the sex industry. The
characterization of human trafficking victims as being forced or lured from their homes has
prompted a proposal to repatriate and reintegrate victims. Suggestion of this nature only serve to

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single out the presence of foreign prostitutes the as problem, or, worse yet, victims goal to
remain in the country of current residence are silenced.
Social policy is currently the most visible and dominates discourse in Denmark. While
feminist discourse does not prevail, Action Plans has welcomed the feminist discourse
perspective. Feminist discourse, which distinguishes prostitution as violence against women and
a sign of gender inequality, is predominantly represented by Reden International (RI). RI
instigates public debates and fights against human trafficking with a clear agenda on prostitution;
one that has mobilized political parties, womens organizations, unions, and the like that
represent Danish feminist discourse. Spanger (2011) attributes the organizations lower standing
within Action Plans, as the reason feminist discourse appears hidden and, sometimes, silenced.
Social political enterprises have led to a third discursive rupture, gaining greater acceptance of
feminine discourse.
Feminist Interest in Human Trafficking
One may ask why or how sexual slavery/trafficking/violence against females became
such an important issue for feminists. For one, sexual violence, as a political theme, was sexy
and sophisticated, inducing a gratifying, yet horrific response among a Western audience.
Stansell (2010) surmises the creation of an ersatz cosmopolitanism among feminists seeking
international credibility (p. 52) played a role. Further, knowledge or details about the country of
focus economically or politically were not necessary. Violence against women was easily
recognized, emoting sympathy, but required little to no consideration for the motivations or
purpose of the organizations responsible, perpetrators, or victims. Stansell recalls the quote of
one enthusiast describing the effortless access to universality: Despite vast differences in the
way violence is manifested, be it as domestic battery or rape during wartime, the omnipresence

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of violence in womens live provides them with a unifying agenda (as cited by Stansell, 2010, p.
52).
Surprisingly, a link with historical connections to the Victorian age of innocence and evil
in twentieth-century internationalism and an association with male barbarism of the nineteenthcentury prevailed. Though limited to the home, American women saw themselves as champions
of vulnerable, powerless women in foreign lands. As citizens of a liberal democracy they
perceived their plight as less than that of women living in countries or regions with no legal
recourse or under the control of domestic terror.
Feminist Approaches to Human Trafficking
Feminists have lobbied states and international organizations in opposition to human
trafficking since the mid-nineteenth century. One issue raised by feminists has been the treatment
of trafficked persons as criminals subject to incarceration or deportation, while the trafficker, in
most instances, receives little to no punishment. Typically, the primary focus of government is a
matter of people entering countries illegally, not the rights of victims who are treated as
voluntary undocumented migrants. According to feminists, the linkage of protection and
assistance for victims to their cooperation with authorities are flawed from a human rights
perspective; subordinating victims needs to the security of the state. Feminists argue such
practices are counterproductive.
While human trafficking is not a military threat, under a traditional security approach it is
considered a threat to the state. Customarily, responses to human trafficking have concentrated
on border security as well as the quick deportation of trafficked individuals. Feminists stress the
role of trafficked persons as victims, rather than focusing on trafficked persons as a threat to the
state. Lobasz (2009) asserts that following the end of the Cold War state security was broadened

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to include economics, the environment, and health in addition to deepen approaches to

security through additional levels of analysis (p. 320). Feminist, however, have avoided the
conventional view of security, instead taking into consideration the security of trafficked persons
in comparison to security threats posed by traffickers and the state. For example, the states
traditional approach to a security threat against the state posed by the trafficking of
undocumented migrants would include border security, migration controls, international law
enforcement cooperation (p. 321). Conversely, a feminist approach to threats against the people
by traffickers, border patrol, law enforcement officials, and abusive employers and clients could
involve social services, human rights, safe migration, worker protections, attention to status of
prostitution (p. 321).
Feminist study of trafficking grew from analysis of trafficked persons experiences,
particularly the sexual exploitation of trafficked women. They have challenged traditional
management of security on two levels the ethical and the pragmatic. Ethical arguments are
based on three assertions: (1) trafficking of humans is a violation of human rights; (2) under
international law states are duty-bound to prevent human rights abuses; (3) and, thus far, state
efforts to confront human trafficking have been substandard in the protection of human rights,
and may actually play a role in the violation of those rights. Feminists contend that by neglecting
the voice of trafficked persons the state violates the human rights of those individuals. From a
pragmatic perspective, rather than resolve the problem, traditional security approaches have
served to produce further complications with repressive border patrols making migration more
complex and treacherous as well as increasing the vulnerability of the individuals. In addition,
those who are deported are prone to being re-trafficked.

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Merely expanding security is insufficient. To do so risks the possibility of reproducing

gender and racial stereotypes by discounting the agency of women, or instituting standards for
victimization that most victims would be unable to meet. Further risks exist in, possibly,
prejudicially placing the sexual trafficking of white women over that of women and men of all
races trafficked for, but not exclusive to, the sex trade. The feminist approach to the human
insecurity of trafficking by and large follows that proposed in the 1994 United Nations Human
Development Report.
Feminist Debates Regarding Human Trafficking
The first contemporary campaign against human trafficking, which began at the turn of
the twentieth century, focused on the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation. The modernday renewal of feminists interest in ending sex trafficking and the launch of the anti-trafficking
movement is credited to Kathleen Barrys 1979 publication of Female Sexual Slavery. She
regarded the fight against trafficking as a fight against all prostitution, rejecting a distinction
between forced and voluntary prostitution. She explained her position by reasoning that women
who believe their participation in prostitution is voluntary have fallen prey to a false
consciousness as a survival strategy (as cited by Lobasz, 2009, p. 335). Through a Freirian
culture of silence they are not only actively supporting their own exploitation, but the
patriarchal exploitation of other women.
According to Lobasz (2009), female sexual slavery, which includes prostitute, battered
wife, incestuously assaulted child, veiled woman, purchased bride (p.335) encompasses all
women in patriarchal orders, regardless of class, ethnicity, or nationality. Barry does not
distinguish prostituted women as a distinct group, but as women whose sexual exploitation is
similar to the experiences of all sexually exploited women. She rejected the separation of

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forced prostitution and voluntary prostitution, and by extension linked prostitution with
trafficking. Feminists motivated by Barry, and led by the Coalition Against the Traffic in Women
(CATW), were the precursor to feminists abolitionists that believe criminalization of prostitution
is essential to bringing an end human trafficking. These feminists established an unforeseen
alliance with American evangelical Christians, and are identified as prostitution abolitionists.
A competing approach to abolitionists surfaced from a group of radical feminists critical
of the grouping of prostitution with trafficking, and the notion that attacking prostitution would
bring an end to trafficking. Their criticism faults the traditional security approach to trafficking
as well as abolitionists, arguing human trafficking epitomizes a larger problem with the abuse of
migrant and low-wage laborers that include, but are not solely represented by prostitutes and sex
workers. They maintain sex work is not synonymous with human trafficking, nor inherently
identified with low-status occupations or low-wage industries.
Determining Exploitation or Expectations
Romona Vijeyarasa, a doctoral candidate in the School of Social Sciences at the
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, argues the disparity continues a decade
after the peak of debates between abolitionists and pro-sex-worker advocates, previously
identified as abolitionist critics, during the 2000 negotiations held at the UN Protocol. Vijeyarasa
(2010) posits debating what does and does not constitute consent serves only to leave migrant
women in the sex industry in destination countries whether coerced or voluntary no more
protected than before the UN Protocol came into force (p. 11). Her paper aimed to advance a
search for common ground on the framing of prostitution, trafficking, and undocumented
migration with a suggestion of mutual interests between the opposing factions, allowing both to
unite in advocating for the rights of all victims of trafficking, including those of willing

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victims that face unexpected exploitation and abuse not anticipated as they embarked on quest
for a better opportunity.
The question of consent, which is at the heart of the argument between abolitionists and
their critics, was later addressed at a 2005 assessment of UN Protocol negotiations with no
resolution, but a recognition of the difficulty of displacing consent. Vijeyarasas paper asserts
that both groups have alienated key stakeholders. Furthermore, the debate, for the most part, has
served to dismiss the prospect of cooperation by migrant women in delineating what leads to
trafficking. On other occasions, arguments have promoted wide-ranging applications of the term
trafficking, pushing aside experiences of non-trafficked and exploited migrants. Vijeyarasa
asserts efforts would be better served in the joint advocacy of migrant womens rights, and the
duty of governments to protect the rights of vulnerable undocumented individuals. Although they
are subject to traffic-like conditions, willing victims can be refused protection and assistance by
governments. Abandoning this conflict-ridden territory may allow abolitionists and pro-sexworkers to unite by focusing on unmet expectations of all trafficked persons.
According to Vijeyarasa, from the abolitionists perspective, with consideration to
documented harms of prostitution, opposing trafficking while promoting prostitution as
justifiable labor is contradictory. Abolitionists discourse rejects the concept of free choice,
contending women are not free agents who rationally choose prostitution over other work for the
advantages offered by sex work. Conversely, pro-sex-workers regard themselves as activists for
the rights of sex workers, promoting legislation of sex work as the primary objective in attempts
to garner better working conditions and protection of workers. They differentiate sex work as a
type of labor, distinguishable from trafficking, based on womens use of their bodies to earn a
living. Unlike trafficking, it is absent of exploitation, coercion, or deceit. The voluntariness of

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prostitution, emphasized by abolitionists critics, has hampered global recognition of the initial
voluntariness entailed in situations that end in trafficking.
Feminism from a Right-Wing Perspective
The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan served to undermine feminists accomplishments
garnered over previous decades of hard work. The political swing towards conservative rightwing values, sponsored by organizations such as the Moral Majority, the Hyde Amendment, and
Stop-ERA, was a green-light to anti-feminist agenda (Stansell, 2010, p. 49). The entrance of
the New Right, a group of Christian religious leaders endorsed by conservative business leaders,
spurred a wave of conservative political and cultural principles. Systemic changes were not
isolated to a federal level, feminist legislative and policy initiatives crumpled on state and
municipal levels as well. New Right anti-feminist became the voice for American women.
Sidelined, but not trampled, American feminists began to focus on the global womens
movement. Global feminism, endorsed by U.S. foundations and left-to-center womens groups,
joined forces with feminist groups abroad; particularly on the issue of violence against women.
Domestic violence, in the form of rape, domestic abuse, and sexual harassment, gained attention
in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s, initiating changes to police
procedures, government funding for hot lines and shelters as well as counseling and education
programs. The American perspective was infused in international circles. As recently as the 1979
United Nations World Conference, violence against women was not a topic of discussion. It was
not until the 1985 Nairobi United Nations conference that the subject of violence was openly
addressed.
While American outrage towards violence against women grew, it was only in 1983, at an
international conference, that violence against women was linked to sexual slavery,

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characterized as forced prostitution, prostitution otherwise judged voluntary, and consensual

heterosexuality including marriage (Stansell, 2010, p. 51). Feminists achieved a milestone at the
1993 Vienna Conference for Human Rights when womens rights were included in the
conference agenda. At this point, clitoridectomy, sexual harassment, date rape, and the mass rape
of women in the Bosnian War and Rwandan genocide were added as descriptors of sexual
slavery. At the time, the trafficking of domestic and agricultural workers was not recognized.
While teaching at Princeton, Stansell witnessed the inclusion of sexual violence in classes on
global feminism and ardent young feminists (p.51) seek NGO internships in India and
Southeast Asia.
Feminist Film Theory
Galuscas (2012) article Slave Hunters, Brothel Busters, and Feminist Interventions:
Investigative Journalists as Anti-Sex-Trafficking Humanitarians, explores the critique of current
anti-trafficking humanitarianism following what the author calls Foucaults popular regime of
truth (p. 1) in nineteenth-century scandal exposing journalism, its twenty-first century
conception and distribution, and overlapping with modern United States government discourse
and policies. Through the use of feminist film theory and feminist scholarship, Galusca
illustrates how journalistic truth about sex trafficking is influenced by journalists illustrative and
rational expression of emotions as well as a sexual connection to vulnerable bodies. The concept
was demonstrated by speakers at a Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)
presentation of A Conversation among Men about Sex Trafficking when metaphors like
hyenas were used to describe when governmental funding was torn away from womens
movements such as CATW. Insinuations were made to anti-prostitution obligations, originating
not only in realistic political assessments, but especially related to the emotional reactions to

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alleged sexual violence of innate perceptions of the sex industry to make young girls aware of
male lust or pornification (p. 2).
Foucaults regime of truth refers to the mode of statements and dialogue assumed by
society as the truth. The author uses the term to define the multitude of narratives and chronicles
of trafficked women fabricated through visual media based on a set of norms. As Galusca
explains, the subjective choices made by journalist frame the viewer or readers perception of
events. Foucault argued truth is a thing of this world linked in a circular relation with systems of
power (as cited by Galusca, 2012, p. 5). A battle of discourse and rules surround the truth,
ultimately deciding the true from the false. Ethical conduct and scientific truth influence the form
taken by the truthdifferent ways of telling the truth and different functions for truth.
Journalist discourses on prostitution persist and plays a role in the disciplinary discourse
of womens sexuality, and become part of a broader humanitarian politics. In this article, Galusca
used feminist film theory in looking at anti-trafficking approaches that serve to marginalize
important voices in the global anti-trafficking fight (p. 15). These chronic preconceptions about
the exploitation of sex workers create a false consciousness making it virtually impossible for
prostitutes to perceive their own exploitation. Journalists use of such melodramatic rhetoric is
regarded as acts of heroism and feminist interventions that save victims of trafficking. Galusca
proposes the over use of labels such as sex-trafficked victims and prostituted women lead to a
supposed global crisis that begs for a horde of state interventions, despite their repressive nature.
Conclusion
Divisions exist in feminist political thought among abolitionists feminists and their
radical critics. Abolitionists focus on patriarchy as the source of womens oppression; whereas,
their counterparts contribute the oppression of women to capitalism. For Segrave, the debate on

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inclusion of prostitution has limited the progression of feminist engagement with trafficking in
persons and the exploitation of women more broadly (as cited by Jeffreys, 2009, p. 317).
Limoncelli believes the inability to come to a consensus on sexual labor has curbed efforts on the
theorization of trafficking as wells as compromised feminist strategies to aid women. It is her
opinion the debates on trafficking tend to either ignore or tacitly reproduce neo-liberal
assumptions about the free market and benefits of globalization for women (as cited by Jeffreys,
2009, p. 317).
According to Jeffreys (2009), prior to the 1980s, the feminists stance on sex work,
which evolved to include the trafficking of women into acts of prostitution, arose from and
symbolized the subordination of women. Afterward the dominant perspective, by many feminist,
on sex work was transformed to consider it as legitimate work, and an example of womens
agency. The sexual liberalism of the time rendered pornography and prostitution as liberating;
rebuffing ideas of abuse against women. Profitability, not for the individuals exploited, but rather
the entities, including banks used by the industry to finance sex work activity, credit card
companies that allowed fast and easy access to consumers, telecommunication companies, and,
more importantly, governments profiting from legalized taxable income, could not be easily
dismissed.
More recently, feminists have sought to rein in the exploitation of prostitutes and
trafficked women. Attitudes towards sex work have changed, once again, to recognize the
physical and psychological harm experienced. Abolitionists have successfully tied prostitution
and human trafficking to the United Nations concept of harmful practices to the health of women
and girls. The work of feminists on trafficking and prostitution tourism has concentrated on the
development of an industry with considerable profitability.

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While in agreement on the need to protect the rights of trafficked persons, feminists
disagree on who to consider as victims of trafficking, and how to protect the rights of victims.
Abolitionists and their more radical critics have been deeply divided for decades, with no
resolution in sight. At the core of the divide is the issue of consent, particularly in context to what
establishes consent and whether one can, in reality, consent to being a prostitute, sex worker, or
any other form of indentured servitude, willingly or otherwise. Abolitionists concentrate, for the
most part, on women trafficked for sexual exploitation; as well as advocating for abolishment of
prostitution and better protection for victims. The other camp, abolitionist critics, dispute that
prostitution is inherently harmful. Their oppositional view to abolitionists thought surfaced with
a group of feminists critical of the grouping of prostitution with trafficking. They supported
decriminalization of prostitution, arguing that existing anti-trafficking measures are
counterproductive, if not harmful, by stereotyping trafficking victims.
Feminists have shown the inadequacy of traditional security tactics to human trafficking,
on both moral and pragmatic grounds. At issue is who or what is being secured. If the answer is
the state, counter trafficking measures will focus on border control policies and deem trafficked
persons as criminals, not victims, further threatening trafficked persons human rights, and,
possibly, lead to their re-trafficking. Broadening the security scope to include trafficked
individuals could reduce their vulnerability by providing social services and human rights
protections.
Despite opposing standpoints, abolitionists and their critics do agree on a need for the
security of human trafficking victims, especially women. Abolitionists fusion of human
trafficking with sex trafficking presumes the elimination of prostitution will not only end sex
trafficking, but promote gender equality. However, their critics highlight the problems in the

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21

theoretical and policy implications. Theoretically, it risks reification of gender stereotypes

regarding the purity and helplessness of women. In practical regards, this approach disregards
individuals not trafficked for sex purposes, and fails to take into account the rights of sex
workers. Abolitionist critics offer further insights to the shortcomings of this approach. First, not
all trafficked persons, and not all women, are trafficked for sexual purposes. Additionally, they
believe it is possible, with no coercion, for women to consent to sex work. They call for the
legalization of prostitution and the establishment of legal frameworks that ensure human rights
protection for all sex workers.
Lobasz (2009) posits it is vital that scholars, activists, and policy makers protect and
empower trafficked persons as well as take into account the consequences of how trafficked
persons are produced as subjects. She calls attention to the effects portrayals of this nature may
have in perpetuating sexist and racist stereotypes that may cause harm to trafficked persons. The
representation of trafficked persons, and how they may be regarded in a manner that empowers
rather further exploits them, is necessary.
Despite the different attitudes between abolitionists and their critics, the transformation
work in Denmark has done much to advance the issue of human trafficking. Their Action Plans
address specific concerns, and concentrate on policy proposals and measures that introduce a
national definition, establish counseling and assistance programs for victims as well as a
repatriation process. The Danish model is one other countries should consider, or is at the least a
starting point.

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22

References
Asad, T. (2000). What do human rights do? An anthropological enquiry. Theory & Event, 4(4), 127.
Galusca, R. (2012). Slave hunters, brothel busters, and feminist interventions: Investigative
journalists as anti-sex-trafficking humanitarians. Feminist Formations, 24(2), 1-24.
Grewal, I. (2005). Transnational America: Feminisms, diasporas, neoliberalisms (p. 121-157).
Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Jeffreys, S. (2009). Prostitution, trafficking and feminism: An update on the debate. Women's
Studies International Forum, 32(4), 316-320.
Lobasz, J. (2009). Beyond border security: Feminist approaches to human trafficking. Security
Studies, 18, 319-344.
Spanger, M. (2011). Human trafficking as a lever for feminist voices? Transformation of the
Danish policy field of prostitution. Critical Social Policy, 31, 517-539.
Stansell, C. (2010). Global feminism in a conservative age: Possibilities and pieties since 1980.
Dissent, 57(2), 49-53.
United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. (2004). Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish
trafficking in persons, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations
Convention against transnational organized crime and the protocols thereto [Electronic
version]. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from:
(http://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNTOC/Publications/TOC
%20Convention/TOCebook-e.pdf).

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