Given the definition ambiguities identified, it is easy to see how much of the data collected is problematic or impossible to aggregate. The number of woman trafficked is often taken from estimates of the number of foreign sex workers.
‘In the last few years, statistics on 'trafficked' women have been produced in a variety of uncontrolled ways, some based on NGO or police estimates based on direct contact, others on government numbers of deportations or overstayed visas. I have seen a statistic on the number of one country's women working in Europe turned into the number of its 'trafficked' women, with no explanation...” Laura Agustin, from ‘Sex, Gender and Migrations: Facing Up to Ambiguous Realities’ (Soundings, spring 2003, No. 23)
The Natasha Trade focuses on ‘traditional’ prostitution, neglecting a broader range of sex work such as pornography, erotic dancing, peep shows and internet sex, etc. The statistics are often extrapolated, estimated, and distorted to such an extent that it is difficult to believe that we have any good sense of the volume of women migrating, trafficked, and/or engaged in sex work.
Most research on prostitution is undertaken with somewhat foregone conclusions in mind. Due to difficulties with collecting quantitative data on sex work and sex workers, selective qualitative analysis is produced and reproduced. It is all too easy to find extreme examples of both slave-like and degrading and economically rewarding and empowering sex work situations. Two key concepts arise in trafficking, consent and exploitation. Some sex workers are self-employed, economically successful women who choose sex work out of a range of possible options. However women who chose sex work are rarely choosing from among a list of professions that would offer similar economic remuneration and flexibility. Not all sex workers choose sex work over starvation for themselves and their children, but many choose it over low-paying manufacturing or agricultural jobs.
The Natasha trade article did not seek to produce new data on the problem of trafficking in human beings but to document the evidence base as it currently exists. A true insight into trafficking may not be identified as suggested by Marek Okolski (2002). “The prostitutes themselves tend to adjust the narrative stories concerning various episodes or aspects of their life or profession, according to the perceived expectation, curiosity and focus of interlocutor. This is typical of persons aware of being in irregular situations.” The research relied on therefore may not be valid and may be a distorted version of the truth.
Certain aspects of the journal conforms to critical criminology, exploring assumptions and ideas reflecting power and power relationships, interlinking with gender, class and poverty issues. The article section on the gendered supply and demand challenges a frequent assumption that poverty is the most important factor in determine which countries will become the sending countries.
Growing inequality within a nation is likely to increase the pressure to emigrate, due to the feminisation of poverty which is a direct result of the transition to a market economy in central and Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin wall. Poverty among women, who account for between 70% and 95% of official unemployment figures, and their continuing marginalisation in society, force many to seek a better life. However, the extent to which women will turn to sex work, either local or requiring domestic or international migration, is historically and culturally contingent. One of the consequences of the new situation created by the fall of the Soviet empire was the development of networks of ’businessmen’ as a manifestation of organised crime in central and eastern Europe, resulting in more criminal activities.
Poverty and inequity are root causes of trafficking. Gender discrimination within the family and the community, as well as a tolerance of violence against women comes into play. Migrant women are treated as second-class citizens in their countries of destination. They are discriminated against in terms of wages, job security and working conditions. When illegally employed, they cannot access labour laws. They are not given equal access to the law or treated equally under the law. Work opportunities for them are limited largely to domestic work or in the sex industry where their right to work, freedom of movement, reproductive rights, right to acquire, change or retain their nationality, right to health and other basic human rights are violated.
The Natasha Trade article has no references to trafficking in males. This one-dimensional focus means that the potentially changing dynamics of trafficking may not be identified. As a result an ‘emerging’ problem may become ‘endemic’ before policy makers can put in place appropriate interventions.
Developed economies profit from the traffic in human beings, it is only the large multi-national corporations that are able to employ slave labour in their countries of origin. Huge resources are needed in the first place in order to set up the transport system through which goods can be moved across the world. The sex industry is profitable and, by some accounts, growing. When considering the impacts on international financial flows, what matters is who is receiving from the income generated within the industry. The sex workers themselves often keep little of their earnings. It is all social classes ranging from the rich, upper and ruling -class protractors who profit most money from the trade down to the smugglers who work in the poorer countries, who may profit least from the trade. According to Interpol, a pimp in Europe can earn approximately EUR 110 000 per year.
Migration often involves self-perpetuating networks (Okolski 2002). Tabet (1989) cites many examples of prostitutes and ex-prostitutes owning businesses, buying or building houses, and buying livestock. Even women who have not been economically successful often lie about the nature of their experiences (Skrobanek, et.al., 1997). To avoid the stigma associated with sex work, former sex workers will say they held jobs in the manufacturing or care sector; this makes the next generation of would-be migrants more apt to believe the stories of deceptive recruiters or traffickers.
It is often reported that trafficking is embedded in international networks of organized crime. While there are certainly huge numbers of people involved in trafficking and migration beyond the migrants themselves, the degree to which the systems are organized can be questioned (Finckenauer 2001). The assumption that organized criminal networks are responsible for all trafficking is part of a discourse which portrays migrants as victims and trafficking as a uniform evil. It silences the question of demand and supply factors.
Illegal migration can be divided into three types of functions: recruitment and organization of migrants in their home countries, transportation of migrants, and integration of migrants into destination countries (Okolski 2002). These categories can be further divided, and it is often the case that smuggling involves a loose hierarchy of persons. Women who report on their experiences of being trafficked usually cannot give any information on the larger organization of their traffickers as they deal with only a handful of people throughout the process. Some criminals remain hidden as illegal jobs are passed down to inferior people resulting in an unrepresentative range of offenders.
Trafficking in conclusion is a highly profitable business which involves different parties all having a direct influence in the success of the crimes. It is a highly silenced business and the main culprits are often hidden. Trafficking is a wide area and most research has been done in regards to the sending countries. Difficulties arise when discussing this topic area as mentioned, a true insight into the problems and causes may not be evident due to over exaggerated statistics and ambiguous stories reflecting ones experiences being given to researchers. Globalisation and global inequalities may have a large part to play in the causes and successes of the human trafficking business as a whole, giving some countries an advantage over others in terms of power and money. All the issues mentioned need to be addressed in order to come to more clear, reliable, focused evidence reflecting the true interactions, experiences and input from those who are involved directly or indirectly in the Transnational Trafficking of Women.
Bibliography.
Agustín D’Andrea, Laura. June 2002. ‘The (crying) need for different kinds of research.’ Research for Sex Workers 5: 30-32. From
Agustín, Laura. 2003. ‘Sex, Gender and Migrations: Facing Up to Ambiguous Realities.’ Soundings 23. From
Donna Hughes. January 2001. ’. Journal of International Affairs, spring 2000. From
Finckenauer, James O. 2001. ‘Russian Transnational Organized Crime and Human Trafficking.’ In Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives. Pp. 166-186. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Okolski, Marek. 2001. ‘Trafficking in Women in the Baltic States: Sociological Model.’ In Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Baltic States: Social and Legal Aspects. Pp. 93-151. Helsinki: International Organization for Migration.
Tabet, Paola. 1989. ‘“I’m the Meat, I’m the Knife”: Sexual Service, Migration and Repression in Some African Societies.’ In A Vindication of the Rights of Whores. Gail Pheterson, ed. Pp. 204-226. Seattle: Seal Press.
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