Page 47 - FMR64_Trafficking and smuggling & Climate crisis and local communities_2020_web

FMR 64 Trafficking and smuggling 47

June 2020 www.fmreview.org/issue64

to identify victims such as ‘raid and rescue’ programming these are broadly referred to
operations led by NGOs or by the police are as (re)integration or social inclusion services.
typically violent and traumatic events for The automatic, inaccurate conflation of
both sex workers and victims of trafficking. 6 all sex work with trafficking, and the view of
Our research shows that the peer-led all prostitution as exploitation, prevent many
interventions, by contrast, are person-focused anti-trafficking organisations from seeing
and sensitive to the realities of the industry. the similarities between their agenda and
In some of the countries in which work and that of sex workers’ organisations.
we conducted our research, sex worker Yet the two are not incompatible: sex worker
organisations have formed pragmatic, if organisations can address situations of
sometimes uneasy, cooperation with State trafficking, and anti-trafficking organisations
bodies and NGOs to address suspected cases can respect the rights of sex workers. We hope
of trafficking. For example, in South Africa, that the GAATW research can lead to a new
SWEAT and Sisonke have occasionally approach that respects sex workers’ decisions
collaborated with the National Human and agency and recognises them as essential
Trafficking Resource Line, and in India partners in combatting human trafficking.
some police officers recognise the need to Borislav Gerasimov borislav@gaatw.org
work with VAMP to prevent trafficking. Programme Coordinator Communications and
However, in most cases sex worker
organisations are excluded at the institutional Advocacy, Global Alliance Against Traffic in
Women www.gaatw.org; Editor, Anti-Trafficking
and policy levels. In Spain, the organisation Review www.antitraffickingreview.org
Hetaira was denied a place in the national
anti-trafficking NGO network. In South 1. bit.ly/UN-Palermo-Protocol
Africa, SWEAT had to leave the Western 2. Bernstein E (2018) Brokered Subjects: Sex, Trafficking, and the
Politics of Freedom, The University of Chicago Press
Cape Counter-Trafficking Coalition 3. See for example Chuang J (2010) ‘Rescuing Trafficking from
due to hostilities from other members Ideological Capture: Prostitution Reform and Anti-Trafficking
relating to their position on sex work. Law and Policy’, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol 158(6):
1655–1728, bit.ly/Chuang-2010
A shared agenda 4. A 2006 issue of FMR, ‘People trafficking: upholding rights and
understanding vulnerabilites’, was produced with the support and
Ultimately, sex worker organisations are advice of GAATW. www.fmreview.org/peopletrafficking
workers’ rights organisations whose primary 5. GAATW (2018) Sex Workers Organising for Change: Self-
mandate is to ensure that the human, representation, community mobilisation, and working conditions
economic, social, political and labour rights of bit.ly/GAATW-Organising-for-Change-2018
their constituents are respected by State and 6. Ahmed A and Seshu M (2012) ‘“We have the right not to be
‘rescued’...”: When Anti-Trafficking Programmes Undermine the
non-State actors. At some level, their work is Health and Well-Being of Sex Workers’, Anti-Trafficking Review, Vol
very similar to the work of the anti-trafficking 1: 149–165 https://doi.org/10.14197/atr.201219
NGOs which are members of GAATW. For
example, sex worker organisations provide Options for accessing FMR
information about rights and working Do you like to read online or in print, or listen to
conditions, and where to seek help in cases of podcasts?
rights violations. In the anti-trafficking field, • Read each issue online, either the full issue in pdf
this is commonly referred to as prevention, format or individual articles in html or pdf format:
awareness-raising or empowerment. In cases www.fmreview.org
of rights violations including trafficking, • Listen to FMR podcasts at https://podcasts.ox.ac.
sex worker organisations offer assistance uk/series (search for ‘forced migration review’)
with: filing complaints and dealing with the • Request a print copy of the full magazine or its
police, courts and immigration authorities; accompanying Editors’ briefing (with QR codes
meeting basic needs; providing psychosocial and web links): www.fmreview.org/request/print
counselling and family mediation; and Alternatively, sign up for email alerts at
helping women return to the community www.fmreview.org/request/alerts or join us on
and find employment. In anti-trafficking Twitter or Facebook.