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.
Most in the anti-human trafficking and modern slavery community agree that trafficking activities are aided and facilitated by corruption. Yet research shows that the available data supporting this assumption is thin. More evidence is needed to bette...Read More
The climate emergency poses a huge threat to human rights. In order to address the climate crisis, a transition to an economy respectful of the planet is urgently required. As part of this green transition, moving away from fossil energy sources, to...Read More
Arise supported an incisive report into the Polish response to Ukrainian war refugees. The research analyses the responses of central government, regional authorities, civil society organisations, and households. It tracks the circumstances, experie...Read More
The research described in this report set out to build a better understanding of the scale of child sexual abuse (CSA) encountered by local authority children’s services in Wales, and to explore how concerns regarding CSA are identified, recorded ...Read More
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