Last Updated on June 3, 2022 by themigrationnews
‘Sex, Slavery and the Trafficked Woman,’ written by Ramona Vijeyarasa, contains a systemic analysis of human trafficking and the conventional notions about the nature and characteristics of its victims, which are dominated by narratives of the victims being extremely poor, illiterate, and female. The author is a human rights lawyer and academician who delves deeply into gender issues and social justice. The book spans 284 pages, contains nine chapters divided into three sections, and was first published in 2016. Appended at the end of the book is a questionnaire to the refugees under study, an overview of the data collected, and an exhaustive bibliography with references to the important arguments and conclusions. The book attempts to deconstruct the complex issue of trafficking in persons in the light of empirical evidence derived from extensive fieldwork in Ghana, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
Part one of the book, which consists of three chapters, delineates the most important aspects of human trafficking and outlines the viewpoints and conclusions of the main stakeholders in the issue. The second part, which has four chapters, aims at disproving the belief that the quintessential victim of trafficking is poor, uneducated, coerced, and female. Part three offers alternative approaches and possible solutions to the problem.
The author, in the first chapter, presents an overview of the mainstream trafficking framework and of the structure of the book. The second chapter analyses the agendas of the various stakeholders, namely, the media, governments, religious institutions, and international organisations, which exert tremendous influence in shaping the academic and legal discourse on human trafficking (p. 19). Based on these agendas, different archetypes of victims, which are, the poor, the female, the uneducated, the coerced, the weak, and the naive, are created. This stereotyping approach which gives preponderance to sexual exploitation, leads to the marginalization of equally important concerns like forced labour in men and women.
In the fifth chapter, the author’s research work in Ukraine and Vietnam is widely cited for dispelling the traditional notion that naiveness and lack of education of the victims are prime factors that act as causes of migration (p. 101). It is found that the migrants from Ukraine who end up in exploitative situations are generally more educated than the average Ukrainian. Many of them have a university education and are graduates. The lack of opportunities in the home country and the desire for better prospects motivate them to make the decision to migrate. This natural human desire for a better standard of living in a foreign country motivates the educated Ukrainian to confront risks. Why the educated Ukrainians and Vietnamese do not find satisfactory accommodation in their respective societies is partly explained by the low quality of education in these countries (p.109). In Ukraine, particularly, the lack of qualified teaching staff and infrastructure is cited as one of the reasons for the poor outcome of education. Thus the better educated Ukrainian and Vietnamese, knowingly and aware of the consequences, take the decision to migrate. Another interesting aspect of the issue is that it is often the better educated, and the younger siblings decide to migrate, landing themselves in risky situations. The level of education plays a role in the decision-making process of the would-be migrants, which means many migrants voluntarily choose to migrate. Thus, the preconception that the victims are enticed to accept these exploitative conditions through coercion and misrepresentation is also disproved (chapter 4).
The sixth chapter examines the stereotype of ‘poverty-driven migration.’ The main cause of internal migration, that is, mainly migration from rural areas to urban centres remains the poverty and lack of employment opportunities. This urban migration is an age-old phenomenon. Poverty induces people in Ghana to sell their children to recruiters and traffickers (p.118). Many of these children end up as conscripted child labourers in the fishing industry. Obviously, the reason is extreme poverty. However, there is a category of migrants who do not live in abject poverty yet, are not satisfied with their life, and opt for migration (p.123). This is the proverbial case of ‘searching for greener pastures. Economic refugees who are found in Western European countries and North American countries mostly belong to this category. These migrant families are not tormented by extreme poverty. However, they look for a better standard of life, the image of which is instilled mainly by the media. So, the two categories of the poor- the very poor and the relatively poor, are vulnerable to temptations of migration which may entail sexual and labour exploitation.
Chapter eight deals with the present-day legal framework provided by international agencies like the UN and national criminal justice systems and focuses more on organized trafficking (p. 172), where the trafficker is considered a violator and is sought to be prosecuted. This prosecution-oriented approach tends to ignore the victim-oriented perspective. Thus, if it is proved that the victim has given lawfully valid consent to the transaction, the trafficker has loopholes to escape from indictment and punishment. In such a situation, it is the burden of the prosecutor to prove that consent was obtained through coercion, misrepresentation, or other illegal means. This procedure again offers the victims the proclivity to deny having given consent even when they originally were aware of the possible consequences of the consent they originally gave (p. 44). Thus, the general tendency of international and national legal systems to regard migration mainly as organized trafficking and to focus on prosecuting the organised traffickers is flawed.
In the final chapter, the author makes some important suggestions to rectify some of the flaws in handling the issue of migration. From a legal point of view, the thrust of the migration protocols on fixing responsibility on the trafficker is justified. However, this criminal justice approach can be supplemented by adding a contractual angle between the victims and the traffickers and transporters (p. 176). Thus, when the agreement between the trafficker and the victim at the initial stage is considered a contract, all the usual legal factors that invalidate a civil contract, like coercion, fraud, misrepresentation, etc., in the deal become relevant and helpful.
The attempt of the author to take a comprehensive view of the issue of human trafficking is definitely commendable. Instead of looking at it from a criminal perspective, the author highlights the relevance of poverty and illiteracy as the primary motivating factors. The author reiterates the importance of considering the rights of the victims as human rights deserving a humane approach even in cases where the victims voluntarily opted for migration but eventually landed in situations of exploitation and injustice.
This book is a welcome departure from the run-of-the-mill approaches to the problem of migration. The author has succeeded in disproving certain assumptions that have long prevailed in studies on this issue. Thus, the author opens new perspectives in the discourse. New studies in the field will certainly benefit from the findings of the author.
Tawafuddin Azimi is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Programme in International Relations and Politics at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. He has completed his Bachelor’s in Law and Political Science at the Bamiyan province, Afghanistan. During the six months internship with UNDP, he got well acquainted with legal procedures of investigation of crimes, prosecution process, examination and cross-examination of witnesses and the formalities associated with judgments and decrees issued by courts. He has worked on the staff of the Bamiyan Attorney for two years. He is a voracious reader and has a keen interest in studying international relations, gender justice issues and political developments.