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Sex Trafficking: A Systematic Review of Operational Definitions
Sex Trafficking: A Systematic Review of Operational Definitions
Firdavs Khaydarov
Minnesota State University, Mankato
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Sex trafficking: A systematic review of operational definitions
By
Firdavs Khaydarov
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
Masters of Art
In
Clinical Psychology
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota
May 2020
May 2020
Sex trafficking: A systematic review of operational definitions
Firdavs Khaydarov
This thesis has been examined and approved by the following members of the student’s
committee.
________________________________
Dr. Eric Sprankle
________________________________
Dr. Angelica Aguirre
________________________________
Dr. Dennis Waskul
Abstract
Objective: Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation constitutes about 59% of
detected victims of trafficking, which makes it the most prevalent form of human
exploitation globally. In the existing literature, there is a lack of a precise and consistent
conceptualization of this phenomenon, which poses a significant challenge in its study. The
purpose of this inquiry is to fill in the gap in the existing literature by identifying and
analyzing existing operational definitions of sex trafficking pertinent to psychological
scholarly literature.
Methods: Meta-ethnographic approach to qualitative research was utilized in this study. To
identify pertinent literature, a systematic review of the scholarly articles across multiple
ProQuest databases took place. A specific emphasis was placed on scientific literature
inquiring into sex trafficking in the adult (>18) population.
Results: The results of the study indicated that 33% of the publications utilized operational
definition of sex trafficking provided by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection
Act (TVPA), followed by 30% provided by Palermo Protocol. A significant portion of
publication (30%) did not employ a definition.
Conclusions: The overall findings suggest that the most salient characteristics of sex
trafficking employed in definitions were the presence of act of recruitment, harboring and
transportation with the means of coercion, force, fraud and deception for the purpose of the
commercial sex act.
Keywords: operational definition, sex trafficking, meta-ethnography
Dedicated to my beloved parents for their years of selfless commitment to our family.
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to faculty and staff in our department, especially to
Eric Sprankle, Jeff Buchanan, Dan Houlihan, and Angelica Aguirre for their guidance
and encouragement throughout this program. Likewise, I would like to express my
gratitude to Dr. Dennis Waskul for being part of the thesis committee. Lastly, a special
thanks to classmates, friends, and family for their unconditional support, without which I
would not have come so far.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
1
Chapter 2
Literature Review ………………………………………………………………………………………………….
7
Past and Present ………………………………………………………………………………………….
7
Conceptual Issues ……………………………………………………………………………………..
11
Migration ………………………………………………………………………………………
11
Sex Work ………………………………………………………………………………………
13
Stakeholders …………………………………………………………………………………………….
14
Global Alliance Against Trafficking Women (GAATW)
……………………
14
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International (CATW) …………
15
Methodological Issues ……………………………………………………………………………….
17
Chapter 3
Methodology
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
19
Meta-ethnography
…………………………………………………………………………………….
20
Study inclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………
22
Search strategy
…………………………………………………………………………………………
22
Data extraction
…………………………………………………………………………………………
24
Synthesis
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
24
Expressing the Synthesis ……………………………………………………………………………
24
Chapter 4
Results ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
25
Chapter 5
Discussion
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
27
Limitations
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
28
Recommendations …………………………………………………………………………………….
29
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
31
Tables and Figures
…………………………………………………………………………………….
42
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
In the turn of the 19th century, with the convergence of the monetary system, developments
in shipping and communications technologies, global markets began to emerge (Obstfeld &
Taylor, 2003). The advent of globalization brought about colossal changes in form of the
unprecedented tide of capital, services, and labor flow among nearly every nation in the world
(Jones, Engstrom, Hilliard, & Diaz, 2007). In the same period, global migration began to
increase. A major long-distance migration flow in the Americas alone constituted 55-58 million
between 1846-1940, with 65 percent of those migrants settling in the United States (McKeown,
2004). Indeed, the increasing trend of migration among the nations continues to be observed to
this date. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2015 there were
an estimated 244 million international migrants globally, which was a significant increase from
an estimated 155 million people in 2000 (McAuliffe, & Ruhs, 2017). Massive migration has not
been without far-reaching consequences. Not only are migrants frequently regarded as outsiders
in their respective host countries, but they also lack legal protections and rights which makes
them particularly vulnerable to exploitation (Jones et al., 2007). Nowhere is exploitation more
apparent than in human trafficking, which has been regarded by some scholars as the “dark side
of globalization” (Kempadoo, Sanghera, & Pattanaik, 2015, p 6).
Human trafficking is not a recent phenomenon; records of slave trade exist from the
beginning of civilization itself. What sets modern-day slavery apart from its precedent historical
form is that exploiting vulnerable human beings is far more profitable today than it was when the
sale of human beings was conducted in open markets (Sigmon, 2008). When trading slaves was
legal, slaveholders invested large sums of money to legally purchase and own people to work the
land or for other forms of servitude. Today, without a substantial amount of investment,
2
exploiters can generate immense profits from trafficking other human beings into forced labor or
servitude in a variety of settings (Sigmon, 2008). Furthermore, it is often the case that trafficked
individuals undergo psychological and physical abuse. The research literature indicates that the
prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety among this
population are common, with a substantial increase in substance abuse and self-harming
behavior (Borschmann, Oram, Kinner, Dutta, Zimmerman & Howard, 2017).
The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that human trafficking generates
approximately $150 billion in profit globally each year (ILO, 2014). Victims of trafficking are
primarily trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Other forms of exploitation also
have been noted, for instance, reports indicate that some trafficked victims are being used as
beggars, forced or sham marriages, organ removal, or child soldiers. Moreover, different patterns
of trafficking with different forms of exploitation have been observed among different regions.
Trafficking children for illegal adoption, for example, is primarily reported in Central and South
American countries, while forced marriage is commonly reported in parts of South-East Asia
(UNODC, 2018).
It has been noted that different countries play different roles in trafficking, some
functioning as sending, transit, and receiving countries. For instance, the U.S. has been regarded
as a predominantly receiving country, while countries such as Ukraine as primarily a sending
country. On the other hand, Thailand, it has been noted, functions as both sending and receiving,
as well as a transit country (Jones et al., 2007). Given the complex nature of this phenomenon, it
is difficult to precisely determine what factors contribute to an individual being trafficked.
Nonetheless, available evidence suggests that poverty, social unrest, governmental corruption,
population pressure and lack of opportunity are determinants of trafficking from a country, while
3
the availability of employment, economic well-being, opportunity, governmental corruption, and
demographic profile are determinants of trafficking to a country (Bales, 2007).
In the last decade, sex trafficking has become a monumental global issue because of the
adverse impact it has on vast number of individuals. Trafficking for sexual exploitation, which
constitutes about 59% of detected victims of trafficking, is the most prevalent form of human
exploitation globally. The highest revenue generated from sex trafficking is in Asia, with an
estimate of $32 billion annually, that is mainly attributed to a large number of victims present in
the region. On the other hand, annual profit per victim is highest in developed economies, with
an estimate of $80,000 per victim (ILO, 2014). Due to the immense amount of profits generated
from sex trafficking, by some estimates, it has become the third most profitable illicit activity
following the trafficking of drugs and arms (UNICEF, 2005). Women constitute 68% of victims,
while girls account for 26% of trafficked victims for sexual exploitation. Both men and boys, on
the other hand, account for combined six percent of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation
(UNODC, 2018).
Sex trafficking is detected in European sub-region, in North and Central America and the
Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific (UNODC, 2018). In fact, the U.S. ranks as the world`s
second-largest destination country, following Germany, for women and children for the purpose
of sexual exploitation (Schauer & Wheaton, 2006). The estimates regarding the numbers of
individuals trafficked into the U.S. each year varies considerably. According to initial estimates
presented in the of The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (2000)
approximately 50,000 individuals were trafficked into the U.S. predominantly from Mexico and
the Philippines. In 2003, the U.S. State Department reported the estimates were reduced
significantly to 18,000 – 20,000, while subsequent reports 2005 and 2006 altered to an estimate
4
of 14,500 – 17,00 individuals trafficked into the U.S. (United States, 2009). In a report presented
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2007), 1264 foreign nationals were
certified as victims of human trafficking. Among adults (n = 1153) and minors (n = 111), the
victims were disproportionally female. Trafficking cases presented above predominantly focus
on international trafficking victims into the U.S., yet according to some estimates, 199,000
incidents of sexual exploitation of minors occur within the U.S. Federal Human Trafficking
Report (2018) indicated that over 51 percent of active human trafficking cases involved children
in sex trafficking cases (Clawson, Dutch, Solomon, & Grace, 2009). To address the issue of sex
trafficking, U.S. government enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA)
which has been reauthorized in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2013 (Doonan, 2016).
Over the last two decades, there have been coordinated effort among governments to
combat sex trafficking. Yet the policies enacted to combat this phenomenon, at times, have
resulted in adverse consequences. For instance, according to Bernstein (2010), sex trafficking is
becoming increasingly conflated with adult sex work in public policy and media. He goes on to
point out that trafficking as it is presented in the current legal framework and international
protocols could encompass other forms of exploitative labor, yet most emphasis, as it stands, is
diverted to combat far fewer instances of sex trafficking. To make this point, Bernstein (2010)
quotes Brian McLaren, a progressive evangelical author and activist, who stated in an interview
“It`s disturbing that nonprofits can raise money to fight sex trafficking in Cambodia but it`s
much harder to raise awareness about bad trade policies in the U.S. that keep Cambodia poor so
that it needs sex trafficking” (p.49). Furthermore, Bernstein (2010) points out a parallel between
the moral panic surrounding sex trafficking and the white slavery scare in the early twentieth
century.
5
The moral panic surrounding sex trafficking is apparent in such a phenomenon as “Super
Bowl sex trafficking.” The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National
Football league which occurs in the U.S. According to Martin and Hill (2019), between 2010 and
2016 a vast number of print media, 76 percent, reported stories that established a connection
between the Super Bowl with commercial sex and sex trafficking. Media outlets presented
“Super Bowl sex trafficking” as a pressing issue for the hosting cities, which usually resulted in
increased policing of sex workers. Yet, the empirical evidence does not bear the myth created
surrounding sex trafficking and this particular sporting event (Martin & Hill, 2019). There is also
empirical evidence which suggests that media`s sensationalistic portrayals of the issue have
resulted in conceptual confusion between trafficking, smuggling and illegal immigration
(Houston-Kolnik, Todd, & Wilson, 2016).
Disentangling sex work from trafficking is notoriously difficult because estimating the
extent to which the use of force and coercion in trafficking has been largely guesswork (Zhang,
2009). The conflation of sex trafficking with sex work has, in turn, had a significant impact on
those working in the sex industry by choice or circumstance and those working by force or fraud
(Vanwesenbeeck, 2017). As Vanwesenbeeck (2017) pointed out, sex work policies have been
largely reduced to policies against trafficking. These policies have been characterized as
“waterbed politics” in that the sex workers have been pushed and shoved around with undue
restrictions and regulations. According to the International Committee on the Rights of Sex
Workers in Europe (ICRSE) criminalization of sex work increases the risk of violence, arrests,
blackmail, deportation, and other human rights violations. Indeed, Vanwesenbeeck (2017) in her
thorough review of literature, highlighted the harms done to sex workers due to criminalization
6
in form of escalating risks of STIs/HIV, increase in violence, disruption to working routines and
relations, and reducing access to healthcare, etc.
Current Study
Having a clear and consistent operational definition of sex trafficking is important when
studying this phenomenon. The operational definition will play a fundamental role in data
collecting and in particular it will significantly affect the subsequent depiction of the studied
phenomenon. To the author`s knowledge, there is no existing literature that explicitly examines
operational definitions of sex trafficking utilized in the psychological research literature.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to fill in the gap in the existing literature by identifying
and analyzing existing operational definitions of sex trafficking pertinent to scientific literature
in psychological sciences. Moreover, a meta-ethnographic approach was employed for the
current investigation. Meta-ethnography is a form of qualitative research that is used to
synthesizing understanding from ethnographic accounts. It is characterized as analogous to meta-
analysis (Noblit & Hare, 1988). Meta-ethnography was originally developed for the field of
education and its scope of use has been extended to other areas of science (Cosco, Prina, Perales,
Stephan, & Brayne, 2014). It is the author`s contention to determine the extent of the utility of
meta-ethnography as a psychological research methodology.
7
Chapter 2: Literature Review
The literature review is organized into four parts. In the first part, historical precedence
for the coinage of the term sex trafficking is presented. In the second part, conceptual difficulties
associated with defining sex trafficking and other closely intertwined issues are examined. Then
a brief discussion of important stockholders who drive the narratives surrounding this issue is
highlighted. Lastly, some methodological challenges associated with the prevalence data of this
phenomenon would be presented.
Past and Present
Historical records pertinent to sexual exploitation dates back to ancient times which was
prevalent among most nations (Thompson, & Haley, 2018). It was common after a conquest to
enslave the defeated population, as evident from Biblical records when Moses ordered Israelites
to exploit 32000 girls after defeating the Midianites, which is reported in passages such as this:
“…all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves…”
(Numbers 31:18). The same attitude is observed among ancient Greece, as passages from
Homer`s Iliad attest: “Let there be no scramble to get home, then, till every man of you has slept
with a Trojan wife and been paid for the toil and groans that Helen caused him” (Vikman, 2005
p.24). Occurrences presented above were observed among many other ancient nations. A
significant distinction between sex trafficking and sexual slavery rests on the fact that slavery
was a legitimate enterprise recognized by the states, while the former is not.
The earliest mention of the notion of sex trafficking began to emerge in the latter part of
the 19th century. Josephine Butler was an important figure who helped to propel the movement
against the procurement of women for “immoral purposes” across borders. Her vigorous
campaign against the British Contagious Disease Acts led to the founding of the International
8
Abolitionist Federation (IAF) in 1875. For abolitionists, prostitution was regarded as an outrage
against all womanhood. In her writings, Josephine Butler described the exploitation of women
prevalent at the period as: “a system of slavery, of buying and selling of human beings, of
oppression, of imprisonment, and of slow murder, which was not for the rich man`s cotton fields
but for the secure gratification of man`s lust” (De Vries, 2005 p.44).
With the coming years, a significant shift occurred from prostitution to what has been
commonly termed the “white slave trade”. While prostitution was regarded as a sinful aspect of
the prevailing society, the white slave trade was regarded as the product of modern industrial
society. This view had an important implication, whereby prostitutes were essentially regarded as
immoral women, while the white slaves were viewed as exploited innocent girls. The issue of
trafficking generated attention from the international community, at the time, due to concerns
over the exportation of European women to brothels. The international abolitionist movement
lobbied nations to change laws to place a ban on the white slave trade. A significant victory for
IAF came in 1904 when the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave
Traffic was signed by 16 states, which was specifically designed to end trafficking with respect
to “whites only.” (De Vries, 2005).
A few years later, in 1910, the International Convention for the Suppression of the White
Slave Traffic was adopted. The treaty bound its signatories to “severely punish any person who
hired, abducted or enticed for immoral purposes any women under the age of twenty-one” and
those who use “violence, threats, fraud or any compulsion on a woman over twenty-one to
accomplish the same purpose, even if he or she committed the acts constituting the offense in
different countries” (Tiefenbrun, 2002 p.146). Unlike the treaty of 1904 which addressed only
fraudulent or abusive recruitment of women in another country, the new treaty expanded the
9
scope of crime to include recruitment for prostitution within national boundaries (Doezema,
2002).
The next significant stage in the development of the notion of sex trafficking came in
1949, with the signing of the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. Article 1 of the treaty states that:
The Parties to the present Convention agree to punish any person who, to gratify the
passions of another:
(1) Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person, even
with the consent of that person;
(2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of that person
(UNGA, 1949 p.1).
One important aspect of this historic treaty lies in the fact that the distinction between “free” and
“forced” prostitution was not made.
In 2000, U.S Congress passed the federal statute of The Victims of Trafficking and
Violence Protection Act (TVPA). The purpose of TVPA was to combat trafficking in person to
ensure just and effective punishment of traffickers, and to protect their victims. In TVPA, sex
trafficking was conceptualized as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act. Similar to the Convention for the
Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
conceptualization of sex trafficking in TVPA had no distinction between “free” and “forced”
prostitution. A victim of sex trafficking includes anyone who has received assistance with
migration for the purposes of prostitution. But unlike its predecessor, category of Severe Forms
of Trafficking in Persons was added:
10
The term ‘‘severe forms of trafficking in persons’’ means:
(A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion,
or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or
(B) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for
labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of
subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery (U.S. Congress,
2000 – sec 103, 8).
Inclusion of the severe form of trafficking provision had an important implication for
those trafficked victims who qualified for the provision. Substantial protection was offered in the
form of safeguard against inappropriate incarceration, fines, or other penalties for being in the
country illegally. Other benefits in the form of visas and work permits, welfare support, and even
possibility of permanent residency for those who qualify were provided (U.S. Congress, 2000 –
sec 102, 19).
Another important contemporary conceptualization of sex trafficking was introduced in
2000 by the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children (Palermo Protocol). According to the Palermo Protocol,
“trafficking in persons” is defined as:
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring 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
11
labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of
organs (U.N., 2000 Article 3 p.2).
The protocol further qualifies the conceptualization with Article 3 (b), which states that consent
is irrelevant when the victim is a child or when any means noted in Article 3 (a) is utilized (U.N.,
2000a).
Conceptual Issues
Sex trafficking is closely associated with other issues such as migration and sex work. In
this part of the literature review, a brief overview of the trafficking and its relation to different
forms of migration would be discussed. A specific emphasis would be placed on disentangling
the issue of trafficking from smuggling. Furthermore, a distinction between sex trafficking and
sex work would be made, primarily revolving around the notion of consent.
Migration
The overlap between issues of migration and trafficking has posed a significant challenge
for both academics and policymakers. For instance, if an individual, with assistance from a third
party, migrates to a foreign country to work in the sex industry willingly – would they be
considered an economic migrant or a trafficked individual? This individual might fail to meet the
criteria for sex trafficking victims under the guidelines of trafficking in person laid out in the
Palermo Protocol, on the other hand, they would qualify under sex trafficking victim in TVPA.
For policymakers, it is crucial to be able to distinguish between victims of trafficking, asylum
seekers and undocumented migrants.
First of all, it is important to highlight that seeking asylum is not a criminal act. An
asylum seeker is a person who meets the UN criteria for consideration of refugee status. A
refugee is defined as a person who:
12
owing to a well- founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail
himself of the protection of that country… (Iselin & Adams, 2003 p. 2)
On the other hand, the lack of conceptual clarity between smuggling and trafficking
allows room for confusion and conflation between the terms. According to the Palermo Protocol
smuggling refers to “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly a financial or other
material benefits, of the illegal entry of a person into a state party of which the person is not a
national or a permanent resident” (U.N., 2000b). An important distinction that can be made
between smuggling and trafficking is the transnational nature of smuggling, whereas trafficking
occurring both within and across states. Palermo Protocol further notes that the notion of legal or
illegal entry to a state does not apply to trafficking, whereas smuggling can only refer to illegal
entry. Finally, smuggling and trafficking substantially differ in the levels of agency ascribed to
the individual. In the case of smuggling some level of agency attributed to the individual, while
with the later agency is almost nonexistent (Campana & Varese, 2015). From these conceptual
frameworks, a trafficked individual is most often viewed as a victim of crime, whereas the
smuggled individual is regarded complicit in crime committed against the state. Consequently,
whether an individual is considered trafficked or smuggled in large part determines the rights that
they may receive in the country of destination.
The core elements of the Palermo Protocol`s conceptualization of trafficking, such as
“deception” and “coercion” can serve as a valuable indicator in distinguishing this phenomenon
from migration, smuggling and other forms of labor. Nonetheless, ample criticism has been
leveled against Palermo Protocol conceptualization of both trafficking and smuggling. Notably,
13
Hathaway (2008) argued that trafficking is defined too narrowly, while Salt (2000) argued for
the combination of both trafficking and smuggling. Researchers also have pointed out that
adaptation of policies towards trafficking and smuggling were largely driven in part due to
growing intolerance of all forms of irregular migration (Gallagher, 2002). While the distinction
between smuggling and trafficking is important for the states to regulate migrant entry into the
respective nations, it is important to highlight that they are not necessarily helpful for victims of
sexual exploitation.
Sex Work
Because of the lack of specificity prevailing in contemporary definitions of sex
trafficking, contentions have risen on the precise interpretation of what constitutes sex
trafficking. One such central issue is of consent, to be precise, the role of consent role in
providing demarcation between sex trafficking and sex work. The notion of sex work is in itself
a complex construct, present in a variety of different forms (Harcourt, 2005). For the purpose of
this review, the definition of sex work provided by Vanwesenbeeck (2001) will be utilized: sex
work defined as the explicit and direct exchange of sexual services for any monetary gain.
Throughout the discussion, the word prostitution will be interchangeably used with sex work.
Historically, it has been noted that efforts to combat trafficking have ended up serving
justification for taking measures that are oppressive against sex workers. Activist groups have
emerged to address the adverse consequences experienced by those who, in their own volition,
chose sex work as their occupation (Doezema, 2002).
Within the discourse of sex work, two major frameworks have emerged. One is
compatible with the traditional abolitionism view, which originated in radical feminist thought,
that postulates prostitution as the epitome of women`s oppression (Outshoorn, 2005). While
14
another framework, developed out of liberal and socialist feminist thought, regarded prostitution
as a form of labor which ought to be protected as an occupation (Outshoorn, 2005). Inability to
resolve deep division about what sex work is and its relationship to trafficking culminated in full
display in the process of drafting Palermo Protocol. During the two years in which the Palermo
negotiation took place, the Global Alliance Against Trafficking Women (GAATW), inspired by
the global sex worker rights movement, advocated recognition of sex work as a legitimate form
of occupation. On the other hand, led by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)
argue that prostitution is a form of sexual violence that can never be consented to or chosen as a
profession. These differences were most ferociously fought out around the pivotal term: consent
(Doezema, 2005).
Stakeholders
Various stakeholders play an important role in driving the discussion surrounding sex
trafficking. When discussing sex trafficking it is important to explore the influence of these
stakeholders over the policy and research with regards to this issue. In the present review, the
emphasis will be placed on two such stakeholders: Global Alliance Against Trafficking in
Women (GAATW) and Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International (CATW).
Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW)
In 1994, activists who were concerned about the contemporary discourse surrounding
trafficking in women established the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW)
in Thailand (https://gaatw.org/about-us). Over the next two decades, GAATW morphed into a
network of over 100 organizational members and a wide community of partners and allies. The
alliance came into existence from a collective consensus to identify factors contributing to
trafficking, while utilizing the human right framework, and centering around voices of trafficked
15
persons for policy decisions. GAATW highlights the importance of active alteration of the
political, economic, social, and legal systems and structures that contributes to the perpetuation
and maintenance of trafficking in persons and other violations of human rights.
GAATW has taken pro-rights or sex workers approach, which views sex work as a
possible option to generate income, which should be respected (Outshoorn, 2005). Their views
entail that individuals have the right to sexual self-determination, even it means individuals
choosing to engage in sex work. Adherents to this framework view the dismissal of consent as
infantilizing and disempowering the choices that adults make (Meshkovska, Siegel, Stutterheim,
& Bos, 2015). Individuals can be, and some are, victims of sex trafficking, but that does not
entail that all those who cross borders to engage in sex work are victims of forced prostitution. In
fact, many do migrate in order to work in the sex industry to make a living (Agustín, 2006).
Furthermore, adherents to the sex work position argue that criminalizing prostitution has
only driven sex industries underground, leaving sex workers at a potentially greater risk for harm
and exploitation (Limoncelli, 2009). Because under the given framework prostitution is regarded
as a form of labor, advocacy groups focus on policy solutions that enable them to fight forced
prostitution and improve working conditions for those who engage in sex work (Outshoorn,
2005). It would mean efforts to improve working conditions, right to employment benefits such
as healthcare and social security, and more generally to enable sex workers to enjoy the same
labor rights available to other forms of labor. Nonetheless, it is important to highlight a particular
weakness inherent to this framework, that is, the difficulty in drawing a line between forced
prostitution and sex work as a choice.
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International (CATW)
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is a worldwide network of a non-
16
governmental organization dedicated to eliminating human trafficking, prostitution, and other
forms of commercial sex (www.catwinternational.org). A central question to the abolitionist
approach to prostitution is why men have the right to “demand that women`s bodies are sold as
commodities in the capitalist market” (Miriam, 2005 p.2). This discourse, which has been called
“the sexual domination discourse,” views prostitution as the epitome of women`s oppression
(Outshoorn, 2005). Specifically, prostitution is regarded as sexual slavery, which is an extreme
manifestation of sexual violence against women. According to this discourse, trafficking is
closely tied to prostitution, as the legitimization of prostitution would pave the way to more
trafficking. Policy wise, abolitionists advocate to abolish prostitution and penalize all those
profiting from sexual exploitation, except the prostitutes (Outshoorn, 2005). Abolitionists view
consent in the context of human trafficking only make a distinction between “deserving and
undeserving” victims (Meshkovska et al., 2015 p.383).
What is needed is an inclusive, unambiguous definition that protects and provide support
to all victims, and offers no loopholes for traffickers (Raymond, 2002). Abolitionists
acknowledge the fact that many sell sexual services as a way to secure needs for themselves and
their family, however, what they oppose to is whether selling sex ought to be a legitimate
economic choice for women (Miriam, 2005). Furthermore, they argue that sex work neither can
or should be regarded as empowering for women, when the whole practice is driven by male
demand (Miriam, 2005). Abolitionists argue that when pro-rights advocates destigmatize and
dignify prostitution, not only do they inadvertently dignify the sex industry, but also legitimize
buyers as customers and pimps as “third party business agents or brokers” (Raymond, 2002
p.496). A common criticism levied against abolitionists is their tendency to rob individuals`
agency, typified in their common representation of victims as a naïve woman deprived of the
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ability to choose and lacking agency (Zhang, 2009). It is notable that the past abolitionist
framework played as a pivotal instrument in restricting young women from traveling altogether,
in order to stop sex trafficking from occurring (Doezema, 2002).
The disagreement between the two divergent views on sex trafficking has not been
resolved to this date. For instance, according to CATW interpretation of the Palermo Protocol,
any migration pertinent to prostitution falls under trafficking (Raymond, 2002), while GAATW
maintains that the inclusion of “force” or “coercion” in the protocol clearly indicates
demarcation between sex work and trafficking (Doezema, 2005). Because the definition of sex
trafficking laid out in the Palermo Protocol does not explicitly favor either camp, responsibility
has shifted to individual governments in whether to treat sex work as labor or to criminalize it,
thereby prosecuting those who engage in sex work in the name of trafficking.
Methodological Issues
Over the past two-decade, global public awareness concerning trafficking in person has
increased dramatically. The same period also witnessed a substantial increase in the number of
studies and publications on the same topic. Yet, from existing studies, not all use a precise
definition, and neither is there a consistent definition of trafficking across a multitude of
publications (Nawyn, Birdal, & Glogower, 2013). The absence of a precise and consistent
definition of trafficking poses a significant challenge in thoroughly studying this phenomenon.
According to Nawyn et al. (2013), existing empirical data suggests that the “modern-day
slavery” described by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government agencies bears
little resemblance to Trans-Atlantic African Slave Trade which it has been widely equated.
Moreover, researchers have pointed out that the reports provided by governmental and
nongovernmental agencies tended to overestimate the number of trafficking victims (Musto,
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2009). Likewise, there is a multitude of research that points out the discordance among various
statistical data about the prevalence of this phenomenon. For instance, according to a 2009 report
compiled by International Labor Organization (ILO), an estimate of 12.3 million people find
themselves in forced labor or commercial sexual servitude, while Bales (2005) estimated 27
million people living in slavery-like conditions (Silver, Karakurt, & Boysen, 2015). Given these
divergent estimates about the prevalence of trafficking, the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime acknowledges that “statistical goal [accurate prevalence] may prove to be unachievable”
(Jones et al., 2007 p.108).
Most of the challenge in studying human trafficking stems from the fact that the population
under inquiry are a hidden population. According to Tyldum and Brunovskis (2005) “A hidden
population is a group of individuals for whom the size and boundaries are unknown, and for
whom no sampling frame exists” (p.18). There are other factors, such as, the stakeholders
holding access to relevant information and having political agendas that determine how the
information is utilized. In his seminal work, Ronald Weitzer (2005) accused a moral crusade as
driving the current discussions on human trafficking in Western countries. As he points out:
in no area of the social sciences has ideology contaminated knowledge more pervasively
than in writings on the sex industry. Too often in this area, the canons of scientific
inquiry are suspended and research deliberately skewed to serve a particular political
agenda. Much of this work has been done by writers who regard the sex industry as a
despicable institution and who are active in campaigns to abolish it (p.934).
There is some evidence which points out the lack of empirical data, and a strong reliance
on anecdotal evidence in the human trafficking literature. In their review of human trafficking
literature, Gozdziak and Bump (2008) determined that more than half of journal articles that they
