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.
In recent years labour shortages in the UK have intensified and in attempt to mitigate these gaps in the workforce a large number of labour visas are granted to migrant workers each year. Workers who come to the UK on temporary labour visa...Read More
The shift of economic production from higher labour standard regimes in the global North to lower standard regimes in the South is undermining enforcement of global labour standards. Responding to criticisms from the ‘anti-sweatshop’ movement, c...Read More
Violence and harassment at work causes harm to individuals, families, businesses and societies. It affects people’s lives, dignity, health and wellbeing. It also exacerbates inequality in societies and undermines business productivity. There shoul...Read More
This report from 2005 researches the weaknesses of social auditing. Social audits to check working conditions in production facilities emerged in the mid-1990s after a number of high profile companies were widely scrutinized for substandard working ...Read More
2025 © Copyright, RESPECT International. All Rights Reserved. Website Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
