Based on long-term ethnographic research, including documentary research, qualitative interviews and observations made at a Portuguese shelter for “sex trafficked women,” this paper explores the counter-trafficking apparatus questioning who benefits from it. The discussion explores the contrasts between an institutional commitment to constructing this apparatus and the actuality of procedural efforts purporting to support “trafficking victims.” The author argues that the higher goal of building a countertrafficking apparatus — in itself a political objective — limits the rights of “victims,” making processes that claim to be part of their protection de facto neo-liberal anti-political exercises in reenforcing bureaucratic state power.
A new report, Real Care is Rare. An On-The-Ground Perspective on Blood Diamonds and the Fifth ‘C’, highlights the existence of modern day blood diamonds due to ongoing ties between diamonds and brutal human rights abuse (amongst other ...Read More
The NetClean Report 2017 is a report about child sexual abuse crime – based on a survey completed by 435 police officers in 33 countries, with observations and analyses from 15 leading experts in this field. The 2017 report looks at whether there i...Read More
The fishing industry in Thailand fell under global scrutiny in 2014 for the significant human rights violations at sea. Personal stories of victims who had worked for years at sea with little food and constant physical abuse created enough global at...Read More
The failure of governments to protect workers’ rights in the global economy has left a yawning gap of regulation and helped spawn an $80 billion industry in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social auditing. Yet the experience of the last ...Read More
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