UNDER THE GUISE OF PROTECTION:
CONDITIONALITY OF REFLECTION PERIOD IN THE
NETHERLANDS FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING
By: Mridula Shobinath (11206977)
Academic article submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
Research Master of Social Science Degree
2016 - 2018
University of Amsterdam
Graduate School of Social Sciences
Abstract:
In order to understand the limitations in a supposed “victim centric” approach to anti-trafficking policy, this article takes the case of the Netherlands. The study aimed to explain why the Dutch anti-trafficking policy still has a conditional aspect to its reflection period that is offered to victims of human trafficking. To do, a qualitative research was conducted over a period of three months during which data was collected from five victims of sex trafficking, two sex workers and three experts on human trafficking. The analysis of the data along with the literature showed that support for victims of trafficking is dependent on the migration status of the victim and is tied to the migration policies of the country. This conclusion was reached by placing the research question within the a framework of theories on transnational migration and risk which then gives context to the role of victimization in anti-trafficking policies in the Netherlands.
Introduction:
Human trafficking is a global phenomenon that has been recognised as one of the most heinous and lucrative transnational crimes that threatens the safety and dignity of individuals who have become victim to it. No country in the world could possibly say that it is immune to the crime of trafficking in human beings, and hence governments of more than 170 countries have announced their support on various occasions to ensure the eradication of the crime, protection for victims, punishment for the traffickers, and prevention of trafficking. Due to the scale on which human trafficking takes place, the international community has recognised that it would be pointless to aim for anti-trafficking measures without the cooperation of various actors across the world that might include governments, political institutions, intergovernmental organisation, and non-governmental organisations.
The Netherlands has recently been in the news for proposing sanctions against six human traffickers at the United Nations Security Council where it is a non-permanent member. 1 The Dutch government has been spearheading this proposal after contributing to exposing the involvement of Eritreans in trafficking networks that lead to Libya wherein human trafficking and human smuggling are being conflated. As seen by this proposal, the
1 https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/06/1011751
Netherlands is highly motivated to curb trafficking and not only propose but also undertake various anti-trafficking policies within their own country. The Dutch are, therefore, undoubtedly actively involved in practicing policies that tries to stop human trafficking. However, according to the US Trafficking in Persons Report (2018) the Netherlands, despite meeting the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking, falls short in certain areas such as support and protection for victims, and collection of data for the reporting period . 2 This observation is not new, in fact it has been mentioned by the Human Rights Lawyer, Dr. Conny Rijken several times in the past decade. In her paper written in collaboration with Judge Dagmar Koster titled A Human Rights Based Approach to Trafficking in Human Beings in Theory and Practice , Dr. Rijken introduces what she calls a Victim Assistance and Protection Package (VAPP) that aims to fill the current gap in the Dutch as well as in other European countries’ anti-trafficking policies (Rijken & Koster, 2008).
In order to understand this rift within the anti-trafficking policy in the Netherlands, we must place it within the context of anti-trafficking efforts in the European Union. Most anti-trafficking policy documents published by the EU or national governments specifically state that their approach is "victim centric". By this, it could be assumed, what the EU means is that the anti-trafficking efforts prioritise the well-being and recovery of the victims. As part of this approach, national governments in the EU are required by The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings to provide a mandatory recovery period known as a 'reflection period' for a minimum of 30 days to any individual who could, under reasonable grounds, be a victim. During this period, the 3 victims have access to various resources that aims to help them start their recovery processes. Beyond that, it is also eminent that during the reflection period, the availability of the services and benefits do not depend on the immigration status or the victim's willingness to cooperate with law enforcement, thereby ensuring that the victims are not burdened. As is with most countries, the Netherlands only provides a limited amount of time for reflection which amounts to a maximum period of 90 days, after which the extension is conditional, meaning that continued support for the victims shall only be provided upon their cooperation with authorities in order to convict their traffickers. In
2 https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/282798.pdf
3https://rm.coe.int/168008371d
special cases, temporary or non-temporary residence permits can be provided to non-EU victims on humanitarian grounds.
Through this article, I hope to shed light on the aspect of victimization of victims of human trafficking that is founded within the narratives of transnational migration and risk. By analysing the theory of victimization, I hope to provide an answer that can explain why the conditional aspect of the reflection period in the anti-trafficking policy in the Netherlands still exists. In order to do so, I draw upon the literature and data collected during my fieldwork in the Netherlands, mainly in Amsterdam, where I conducted in-depth interviews with five victims of sex trafficking, two sex workers and three experts of human trafficking. For my data collection, I used qualitative methods of narrative interviews for the victims of sex trafficking, semi-structured interviews for the sex workers and experts of human trafficking, and participant observation for sex workers as they were identified to be the most appropriate methods for this particular study. This is because, especially for the victims of sex trafficking it is not the event itself that has to be explained but the story of their life that was affected by the event. As for the experts and sex workers, I had specific questions regarding the sex work policies, criminal justice system and anti-trafficking policies that required insight from their professional experience of either working or conducting research in the sex industry or the field of human trafficking. All the interviews lasted for an average of 45 minutes depending on whom I was talking to. As expected, the narrative interviews with the victims of sex trafficking took the longest ranging anywhere between 40 to 70 minutes.
The field work started in April 2018 and ended in June 2018, however the period of fieldwork consisted of not only meeting with my respondents but also of setting up the interviews and taking the time to build rapport with them. I was able to gain access to these persons through the network that was developed during my time working as a research intern at INTERVICT in Tilburg University on a project funded by the European Union titled DESIrE: Demand for Sexual Exploitation in Europe. The project aims to generate a better understanding of the impact of different approaches to sex work legislation and policies on the prevalence of trafficking in human beings in a comparative study between the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Croatia. While working for a year on
the project, I was regularly part of stakeholders’ meetings where several experts from NGOs focused on anti-trafficking initiatives, psychiatric support for victims, and sex workers union came together. Two victims of trafficking were approached through this network because they fit the profile of victims who have been through the process of reflection period and have had their own experiences with the criminal justice system, and also because they were willing to share that experience. The other three victims of sex trafficking were introduced to me by one of the victims as they were women who had met each other during their stay in a shelter. Since I wanted to avoid re-victimizing the women as much as possible, I took some time to self-reflect on the purpose of my research and on how to make these women feel comfortable when they recollect their traumatic pasts, and perhaps even present. Therefore, I ensured that the interviews would be conducted in a private and comfortable setting. In order to establish rapport, I reached out to the women well in advance over text messages or phone calls to briefly explain my research project, and to confirm the date, time, and location for the interviews as well as to ensure them that the interviews would prioritize their mental well-being over anything else so that they could inform me in case they do not want to continue with the appointment. Surprisingly, all of the five interviewees mentioned after our meeting that they felt safe and listened to during the interviews. One of the interviewees who has had prior experience with helping on a research project mentioned that she prefers a narrative form to the interviews rather than a structured interview because when people ask pointed question she feels like they only care about her story and not about her. Conducting the narrative interviews with these women was the most demanding part of the fieldwork. As someone who is a victim of sexual assault myself, it was easier to connect to these women who had all been trafficked and sexually exploited but it was also taxing. However, all the five separate interviews with the victims of sex trafficking were completed successfully by the end of May 2018.
While conducting my fieldwork, it became clear to me that the discussion on human trafficking in the Netherlands cannot be undertaken without the context of legalised sex work in the country. Therefore, I spent a few days talking to sex workers at the Prostitution Information Centre (PIC) in De Wallen in Amsterdam, Achterdam in Alkmaar, and the red light districts in the Hague. The atmosphere at PIC was the most striking. From what I could understand from my casual conversations and my participant observations, I noted that the sex workers in PIC are actively part of the centre because they uphold the same
values upon which the former sex worker Mariska Majoor founded this centre, i.e., to provide access to information and educate our society about sex work. The small centre is home to a number of interesting publications and such, and the sex workers who are to be found in the centre are happy to answer your queries regarding the topic. It is here that I introduced myself and my research project, and the sex workers present at the centre were willing to talk to me about the history of the red light district. However, since it was upon my initial meeting that those conversations took, I made an appointment to return to PIC with my topic list to conduct the interviews formally. In the red light district in the Hague and Alkmaar, I only conversed with women who were working at the windows. Interestingly, the sex workers were open to simply chatting and seemed to trust me quite quickly. Therefore, I officially collected only two interviews (in Amsterdam) while I informally talked and observed more than 25 sex workers in these areas.
The article starts out by looking at the relationship between transnational migration and human trafficking. This section tries to explain how migrants depend on their social networks to facilitate their migration process, and how these networks could lead to the migrants being trafficked. It is then followed by the section on risk that tries to understand how risk is defined in terms of the victims as well as from the governments. These two sections are required to set the base for the theory of victimization that forms the core of the reasoning behind why the Dutch government has a conditionality aspect for support of the victims of trafficking. In the last section, a brief introduction to the theory of procedural justice is provided as it was a theme that arose during the interviews. Finally, I conclude by tracing the line of reason through the three theories, and offering new questions that can lead this topic for a more wholesome research in the future.
Transnational Migration and Human Trafficking: What is the connection?
Discussion on the issue of human trafficking is almost impossible without the aspect of migration. Most academic debates as well as policies across the world have factored in the migration status of a trafficking victim. To illustrate, we only have to take a look at United Nations’ 'Palermo Protocols' that contains a protocol titled Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Person, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime that has 173 nation-state parties. It
was adopted after a long-wrought discussion on safety of women and children on a transnational and global setting within the context of a globalized world. Within this document, human trafficking has been defined as:
Trafficking in persons is 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 purposes of
exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery,
servitude or the removal of organs.
(UN, 2004, pg.42)
As one would notice, the terms 'transportation' and 'transfer' have been used as criteria to identify cases of trafficking because of the international communities' attention on 'movement' as being a cause of aggravation for sexual exploitation of women and children (Gallagher, 2011). This inevitably cemented the role of migration in discussion on human trafficking since the Palermo Protocol has been the foundation for several other anti-trafficking policies, such as the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings adopted by the European Union in 2005. Experts in the field of human trafficking recognize the role that migration plays within the structure of policy making in institutions such as the European Union, especially in regards to support for the victims of trafficking in human beings. A Dutch expert, who is a medical doctor as well as a doctoral degree holder in policy analysis, has had more than 9 years experience of working in the netherlands helping victims of trafficking in human beings with their protection and reintegration says:
Everyone likes to think we are doing it for the victims. Of course. We are. We are but at the same
time the narratives in which human trafficking is situated in that of migration. No doubt! The
humanitarian narrative.. it’s tried to be brought to.. How do you say it? Yes, the forefront by
stakeholders such as NGOs but policymakers at the EU operate within the narrative of migration. (Dutch Expert (1) on THB: Amsterdam, 2018)
A Ukrainian researcher, MSc sociologist by training, who started out by conducting studies related to the topic of migration, and subsequently began working on research projects concerning human trafficking within the Netherlands for the past two years says:
Is it possible to talk about human trafficking without talking about migration? I don’t think so. It is
about people, you know. And people move. It could be for whatever reason, but people move. Because
of this the EU is.. suspicious? They have to think about the migration status of the victims because
victim or not they are still in a country that is not their home. Policymakers and stakeholders want
to help but not at the cost of their own country and resources.
(Ukranian Researcher on THB: Amsterdam, 2018)
The term 'migration' can hold various meanings depending on how one chooses to define it. The following definition is quite simple and the most use it can be of is that it can be adapted according to the context one would like to explore. According to the International Organization for Migration:
Migration is a population movement, encompassing any kind of movement of people, whatever its
length, composition and causes; it includes migration of refugees, displaced person, economic
migrants, and person moving for other purposes…
(IOM, 2013) Economic globalization that boomed in the 1990s brought along with it a larger flow of people moving from their home countries to other parts of the world. Sociologists Levitt & Jaworsky (2007) note in their article titled Transnational Migration Studies: Past Developments and Future Trends that “contemporary migrants and their predecessors maintained a variety of ties to their home countries while they became incorporated into the countries where they settled” (pg. 130). Even though migration was never perceived as a one-way process, it was only acknowledged in the 1990s that migrant lives concomitantly exist within and across various layers of transnational social settings. Unsurprisingly, in order to capture the complexities of new migratory patterns, migration studies underwent several changes and the addition of the theory of transnational migration was one of them. In their article titled From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration, anthropologists Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch, and Cristina Szanton Blanc provide a definition for the term “transnational migration”:
Transnational migration is the process by which immigrants forge and sustain simultaneous
multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement. In
identifying a new process of migration, scholars of transnational migration emphasize the ongoing
and continuing ways in which current-day immigrants construct and reconstitute their simultaneous
embeddedness in more than one society.
(Schiller et. al, 1995)
According to Schiller et. al, the theory of transnational migration hopes to unpack the nuances of social affinities between the migrant’s origin and settlement society. With the change in patterns of migration across the world, it is necessary to reevaluate existing theories on migration to see whether they reflect the realities of how migrants navigate their lives. Schiller’s quote tries to explain how migrants do not just bring their cultures and values from the origin countries, but also take certain specific cultural traits or values back from the settlement countries, creating a steady method of incorporation in the new society while retaining the embeddedness in their origin societies. The incorporation of this theory into migration studies might seem futile to some scholars of sociology due to the fact that it has more or less always been assumed that migrants maintain relations to their countries of origin (Waldinger & Fitzgerald, 2004). However, a case could be made against this critique by noting that before the introduction of the theory of transnational migration, assimilation theories did not explicitly investigate the aspect of transnationalism but instead bulk of migration research focused on the patterns of assimilation of immigrants in their destination countries. It is in this existing gap that scholars like Schiller (1992), Basch (1994), Mahler (1998), Portes et. al (1999), Levitt (2001) found the space to develop their understanding of transnational migration which in turn is now capable of adding to the discussion on human trafficking. Transnational migration can be placed within the discussion of human trafficking when exploring the migration trajectory that was chosen by some victims. This trajectory involves individuals depending on their social networks to find work in other countries, and their migration facilitators taking advantage of their situation (Kapur, 2002). As in the case with a 22 year old victim of sex trafficking from Uganda (hereafter Victim N) who was held in prison without a trial for identifying as a lesbian, and hence trying to migrate out of the country through her social network but is then trafficked for prostitution said during our interview:
I thought I was escaping the situation at home. I listened to my girlfriend who had a friend working
in the German embassy in Uganda. They made my papers like passport and visa. I thought they
were helping, you know? They told me that Europe does not have a problem with LGBT+ people, so I
will be safe there. I listened to my girlfriend and her friends, and thought I’ll be safe when I go to
Europe. I don’t know if my girlfriend knew but I think her friend must have known, yes? How else
can that happen? Someone who helped me was also helping the people who took me.
(Victim N, Ugandan Woman: Amsterdam, 2018)
Anti-LGBT laws in Uganda were proposed to be included in the law and passed in 2014 only to have been nullified by Uganda’s Constitutional Court after 6 months due to what was cited as incorrect procedural grounds . However, a poll shows that the majority of 4 public in the country still view non-heteronormativity as morally repugnant . From my 5 interview with Victim N, it was reaffirmed that the LGBT+ community are vulnerable and that most of the community do not disclose their sexuality to their family or friends in fear of being imprisoned. In such a situation, persons like Victim N are forced to turn to other individuals who seem to be capable of helping. In her particular case, while fleeing for her life from the police she turned to her girlfriend and their friend to find a way to leave the country to migrate to Europe because they knew an individual who worked in the German embassy. This incident is an example of how a social network can be used to target vulnerable people for trafficking.
Literature on transnationalism shows that migration studies have had a number of works that is focused on explaining the flow of migrants through social networks perspective (Masey, 1993). A number of instances show that many migrants view social networks as being the most important aspect that they depend on when looking for jobs or accommodation outside of their home countries. Compared to a few decades earlier, it has become easier with the globalization of labor markets and media because of the advent of technology to share information transnationally through these social networks (Foner, 2000). They find that having such networks can provide them with a support system that tends to their emotional needs (such as feeling homesick or lonely) as well as access to
4https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7pFotabJnTmYzFiMWJmY2UtYWYxMi00MDY2LWI4NWYtYTVlO
WU1OTEzMzk0/edit?pli=1&hl=en
5http://www.pewforum.org/files/2010/04/sub-saharan-africa-topline.pdf
important social and economic information that they otherwise might not be privy to (Vertovec, 2002). According to the sociologist Charles Tilly (1990), “By and large the effective units of migration were (and are) neither individual nor households but sets of people linked by acquaintance, kinship, and work experience”. This aspect was highlighted during my fieldwork by the interviews with sex workers who came to or stayed in the Netherlands to be part of the sex industry willingly. These women credit their stability and well-being in the job to their social network that helped them all throughout their migration journey. For them, the support that their social network provided did not end as soon as they moved to the Netherlands, instead continued support has made them feel content with how their life is here.
A Romanian sex worker who moved to the Netherlands at the age of 20 years to find work in the sex industry because of her dissatisfaction with the job opportunities and low wage in her country says:
Finding work at home was so difficult, but a friend who does sex work in the Netherlands told me
that I could do it too. So, one day I came to this country with her to become a sex worker. She told me
everything I have to do here so that I can work. Like find house, register.. She’s been working here
for many, many years. So she knows everything!
(Romanian Sex Worker, 23 years old: Alkmaar, 2018)
Another sex worker (who requested that her home country not be disclosed) had been studying in the Netherlands for a little more than two years when she made the decision to prolong her stay in the country. When talking about her decision to become a sex worker, she cannot leave out the social network that helped her:
A friend.. She was not a friend when I met her, was just an acquaintance but now she is one of my
best friends... I became a sex worker with her support. Of course, when I decided to stay in the
Netherlands for longer after coming from my home country, I immediately knew that I want work in
this industry for two reasons. One, I could make money. Two, I was curious about being a sex
worker. But it was nerve-wracking to do it myself. So, having my friend support me through the
process has given me the opportunity to create a life here in the Netherlands.
(Anonymous Former Sex Worker: Amsterdam, 2018)
Both quotes show us how these women were willing to become part of the sex industry after receiving support from their friends or acquaintances in their social network. From my analysis I find that these women trusted the information that their social network provided them with, and hence was able to make an informed decision. Interestingly, these networks are not only used during or after the process of migration but it is just as much, if not more, important pre-migration. This observation ties deeply into the local histories of migration where a constant flow of individuals who share the same or similar socio-cultural traits exist. Moreover, there is a clear distinction between the types of social networks that are used by skilled and unskilled laborers where the former depends on their network of colleagues or other individuals based in organizational settings, while the latter relied on kin and friendship-based networks (Meyer, 2001). Being part of an expat population in the United Arab Emirates for more than ten years, I have noted through personal observations that in situations where migrants make use of consultancy firms, they choose the firms depending on the kind of perceived access and socio-cultural networks the firm has in the destination countries. I am part of a particular pattern of migration where individuals and families have been moving from the coastal state of Kerala in India to various countries in the Middle-East such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar for decades. Since the pattern of migration here spans across generations, migrants approach firms with whom their parents/grandparents have prior experience so that there is an element of perceived trust. Moreover, because of the continuous migration from Kerala to the Gulf Countries, these firms have a sizable expat population who create their own community, making it easier and more comfortable for new migrants to be part of the same socio-cultural setting in the destination country as from their origin country. My interviews in the Netherlands with victims of trafficking and with sex workers did not reaffirm my observations from UAE as none of the interviewees had used firms to come to the Netherlands, instead depending on kin or friendship-based networks. However, some literature in migration studies show how migration brokers (in more structured migratory patterns such as the one from Kerala to Gulf, migration brokers work for firms) are highly normalized and even the preferred method of migration since they are considered to be one of the few people in the community who would know the necessary means to obtaining a visa through their connections or even luck (Alpes, 2010).
Aspects of Risk in the realm of Human Trafficking
Notions of risk has been ever present within the debates surrounding human trafficking and migration. However, how the concept of risk is defined depends on which side of the discussion we choose to focus on: the migrants (legal/illegal) or the State. Laura Agustin (2005) who is a sociologist writes about the transnational situation of the world economy wherein major shifts such as moving manufacturing to developing countries and conversion of European states to free markets have spurred women into finding alternative means of earning income. In this situation, migration has become a conventional solution. Interestingly, Agustin notes that economic motivation cannot be the only factor behind migration trajectories. If that were the case, as the Dutch-American sociologist Saskia Sassen (1999) points out, there would be a much higher number of migrants moving to richer countries. Therefore, it is clear that despite of the background a migrant comes from, choice plays an important role in their decision-making. It is here that the first type of risk in regard to migrants reveals itself. As Agustin writes in her article titled Migrants in the Mistresss House: Other Voices in the "Trafficking" Debate:
… (A)mong the many elements to take into account are human desire, and personality types
disposed to take risks and look for adventure, independence, and good opportunities, as well as the
presence of networks already in place, as fragile as they can be.
(Agustin, 2005, pg. 100) This statement shows how women are well aware of personal risks that might be part of a migrant's journey, but still choose to engage in it for various choices that does not always include an economic motivation. Beyond theory, Agustin’s observation could be seen to hold true in my own fieldwork where all victims of trafficking except for one shows that they were agents of their own will. Of course, it could be argued that it is only an illusion of agency, i.e., the ability of these women to make informed decisions and act upon them, that exists because these women were trafficked by their social networks on which they were dependent. However, what makes the case for these victims still possessing agency is the fact that before becoming trapped in a cycle of abuse, they were aware of the risks that was being taken but the desire to be independent or their desire to travel across the world outweighed the risks of migration.
A 27 year old woman from Philippines (hereafter Victim P) who worked as a receptionist in a hotel in Pasay came to the Netherlands because of her desire to break free of routine and to travel said during our interview:
About three years ago, I was tired of being in the same routine where I did not like my work and life.
So, I told my family that I am going to the Netherlands to find work there. Umm.. I still don’t know
why I came here but I remember once meeting a Dutch man during my work. His hair was so
beautiful like in the films.. Maybe I wanted to find love. I was young and naive. My family told me
that we have some relatives here, so I thought that makes it easier for me. When I got here, I
thought to stay with my relatives for some days till I find a job but they never let me leave.
(Victim P, Filipino: Amsterdam, 2018) While a 32 year old Turkish woman, tired of the way she was treated in her society after her divorce, came to the Netherlands with the intention of finding out for herself if she would like living in the country with her son said during the interview:
All I wanted to do was change my life for my son and I. After getting divorced, it was hard to live in
my own city, so when I thought of it I said to myself “J…, go for a holiday. See if you like it. Then
maybe just move there if you like it. There’s nothing for you here”. So I took my son and came to the
Netherlands where I had some friends. I used to read in the newspaper back in my country.. about
girls who were taken to become prostitutes. But I did not think I should be scared for that, I have a
son. I am not very young... My friends threatened to hurt my son if I don’t become a prostitute for
them.
(Victim J, Turkish: Amsterdam, 2018) Of the five victims of sex trafficking that were interviewed, one EU and all three non-EU victims made their own decision to leave their country for various reasons. My analysis shows that the four victims who made conscious decision to migrate were looking for a “better life”. Economic prosperity, a need to find a new beginning away from threat and ostracization, a desire to travel and be independent could all be part of the reason for these women to migrate however the priority has been to find a place that feels more like ‘home’ than they feel in their own countries.
For others, paying off debts is one of the most common reasons for which migrants move to other countries. As mentioned earlier in this paper, we can see that the trafficking debate revolves around a certain idea of a victim that always involves passivity, ignorance,
violence, and deceit. Therefore, when migrants who are aware of risks that could be involved actively undertake sex work or any other form of labour in order to earn money in a relatively short period, they are suddenly not part of the discussion on victims anymore. This is problematic for a number of reasons, one of which is the fact that there will always exist a risk to their personal safety, mental well-being, and their working conditions in the sex industry as it would in any other occupation anywhere in the world. This is also true in cases where there exists dependency on the transnational migrant networks, since
Some facilitators of migration take tremendous advantage of these situations, withholding personal
documents and threatening relatives. Others count on the psychological dependency and
disorientation recently arrived migrants feel. A relationship that began with friendship may end in
disenchantment, abandonment, or abuse.
(Agustin, 2005, pg. 103) Another aspect of debt in the discussion of risks in migration, and human trafficking is the fact that the process of migration (legal/illegal) itself can be quite expensive. To afford this journey, many migrants either take loans from the smugglers or others, thereby acquiring a debt (most of the time huge debts with unreasonable interest rates) that has to be paid off. According to the Report on Migrant Smuggling Networks by Europol-Interpol (2016), migrants are vulnerable to being trafficked into labour or sexual exploitation in order to pay back the debts. This is a particular concern for illegal migrants as they find it difficult to approach the police in fear of deportation or harassment even if they have been trafficked after agreeing to being smuggled or after paying for their smuggling.
On the other hand, the notion of risk as defined from the perspective of the State is quite different. For migrants, as we briefly saw, risk could be any situation that might be dangerous to the safety and well-being of the said migrants. This risk could arise during their journey, after their journey, due to their dependency on their transnational networks, at their workplace, etc. However, for a State the risk would be the (illegal) migrants themselves. The conceptualization of all migrants who do not fit a certain image of an acceptable migrant (white, educated) as a 'risk' is formulated by States under their security regime. As the political scientist Claudia Aradau (2004) has tried to explore in her paper titled The Perverse Politics of Four-Letter Words: Risk and Pity in the securitization of Human Trafficking how 'politics of risk', that internalizes the idea of danger and places it
within the narrative of trafficked women, undermines the efforts of humanitarian discourse that tries to displace the idea of threat and risk from the body of trafficked women.
Where and how does human trafficking come into a picture that involves security studies? Human trafficking is considered as a problem that exists in societies spanning time and distance, which is an elaborate way of saying that human trafficking is a societal problem that must be managed. However, for it to be manageable the risk that comes with it has to be calculable. It is here that space for human trafficking in security studies exists as the government of risk orders reality in a manner wherein risk is calculable (Dean, 2010). Michel Foucault's governmental approach understands risk as being part of various forms of rationality that is calculable so that individuals, collectives and populations can be governed (Burchell et. al, 1991)
According to Aradau (2004) who refers to Dean (1992) and Greco (1993),
The meaning of risk itself is a cluster that can be disentangled only in its functioning: i) risk as a
technical calculation which indicates the likelihood of an event//catastrophe happening; ii) risk in
everyday meaning, i.e., to describe a danger or a hazard; and iii) a clinical appreciation of risk.
(Aradau, 2004, pg. 266)
The (i) meaning of risk is important in the context of government of risk as mentioned earlier. This is also the meaning upon which the idea of insurance has been built, i.e., upon calculating the possibility of a dangerous event happening, one can 'protect' themselves from loss. In term of societies, in order to avoid collective loss such as disruption of social order and peace, risk has to be calculated. The meaning of risk (ii) is the one we are most aware of and the one we use on an everyday basis. This involves things that could be dangerous, but it could also be something that might just be inconvenient. For example, risking not carrying an umbrella even though it might rain because there was not enough space in your bag is not dangerous, just could be an inconvenience if it were to rain later. On the other hand, risking to jaywalk could be dangerous as one might get killed by a vehicle. Finally, the (iii) type of risk comes from psychology and psychiatry wherein "clinical rationality of risk was initially focused on the likelihood of a person (in particular, a mentally ill person) committing a violent act (Aradau, 2004). With the assumption and
calculation of risk comes the idea of prevention from any type of danger, and this is a never ending cycle.
Risk implies a danger which would then have to prevented. While strategies of prevention assume that there must be a danger which means that there is risk. However, since these correlations cannot be proved prior, one can only relay dangerousness as an aspect of a subject or as the French sociologist Robert Castel (1991) describes "dangerousness becomes 'a quality immanent to a subject". It is in this concept of risk calculation that we realize how victims of human trafficking (or any legal/illegal migrant) are provided support after being qualitatively assessed; do they pose a risk to the State? Would they be a risk to the peace and order of the destination country? Aradau (2004) explores the clinical psychologist Robyn Weir's (1996) analysis of clinical risk techniques that have combined disciplinary and security governance in order to find groups that could be considered 'high risk'. These groups are identified as being 'high risk' due to their biography, and such conclusions are made by calculating risk of populations which can be compiled into creating risk profiles. These risk profiles are built on 'objective' requirements for the categorization of vulnerability such as 'poverty, lack of education, and professional opportunities' which are then further individualized on a psychological basis.
The analysis of the in-depth interviews conducted with victims of trafficking shows how except for in one case, non-EU victims were considered a risk to the State due to their migration status. Especially in the cases of victims who did not fit the categorizations of vulnerability, the victims were met with suspicion from the State. Speaking about her experience with state mechanisms that enforce migration policies such as the IND (Immigration and Naturalization Service in Netherlands), Victim N says:
When I applied for asylum.. my lawyer told me to do that because my (trafficking) case was closed
and they wanted me to go back, but it is too dangerous for me there.. So I applied for asylum on the
basis that I cannot go back to my country because I am a lesbian, and we are thrown in jail there or
killed. But the IND asked me to prove I am a lesbian. How do I do that? For the last three years I am
waiting because I feel safe here. I know people here now. But they want me to go back. What do they
think I will do if I stay? I just want to study.. I just want to be safe. They have the.. resources? Yes.
They have the resources to help me be in a country where I won’t be killed for loving another woman. (Victim N, Ugandan: Amsterdam, 2018)
Victim N’s statements show that she recognizes some particular fear the State has to her staying in the Netherlands that might be related to her being an “outsider” because it is not sure what kind of danger and risks she brings by being here. For the other two non-EU victims as well (Victim P and Victim J), they are awaiting the response of IND to be granted a non-temporary residence permit since temporary residence permits are valid only until they cooperate with the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers or for a maximum of one year on humanitarian grounds. It is a very subjective process where individuals who are in positions of power to grant support to victims of trafficking assess the need based on not only observable behaviour and socio-economic background of the victims but also on their own worldviews that might be biased (I personally believe that it is not possible to not have biases since humans are prone to making judgements and having opinions).
Reinforced Image of Victimhood: Double-edged Sword?
A noticeable aspect of the Palermo Protocols, and a majority of anti-trafficking measures, is its emphasis on the vulnerability of women and children. Within the context of Europe, the discussions and debates surrounding human trafficking have been structured around sex work in an overwhelming manner. This particular focus on sex work has created a pathway for security and humanitarian discourses to intersect for policy formulation at the level of European Union. To clarify this statement, an appropriate example would be the European Parliament’s Resolution of 26/02/2014 on Sexual Exploitation and Prostitution and its Impact on Gender Equality (2013/2013(INI)) . Within this resolution, sex work (prostitution) and forced prostitution are both considered to be “forms of slavery incompatible with human dignity and fundamental human rights” and they stress that “...there are several links between prostitution and trafficking, and recognizes that prostitution - both globally and across Europe - feeds the trafficking of vulnerable women and under-age females, a large percentage of whom are between 13-25 years old”. In this particular resolution, the security discourse targets and equates the sex work industry to forced prostitution and connects it to human trafficking, thereby recognizing it as a threat to the possible victims of trafficking as well as the State. On the other hand, the humanitarian discourse is perversely used to discuss how even sex work is incompatible
with human dignity and human rights. By using sex work as the foundation, it has been made easier for policymakers to marry the two discourses in order to create anti-trafficking policies that target the functioning of the sex work industry as a whole. Claudia Aradau (2004) explores what she calls a "perverse relationship between the humanitarian and security articulations" wherein the former tries to re-investigate trafficking as a threat to women who were not only victimized by trafficking networks but also who risk being revictimized by states, while the latter is keen on identifying victims as a cause of insecurity due to the possibility of them being illegal migrants or potential criminals. This intersection of security and humanitarian discourses to victimize sex workers but at the same time securitize the industry is reflected in the recent policies on sex work in Amsterdam as well. In an article written by a freelance editor in 2016 in the Guardian, the implications of introducing Project 1012 that aimed to “clean up” the city centre of Amsterdam by removing tourist shops, restaurants, and closing up windows or buying out buildings in the red light district was noted. This was supposedly done to tackle the 6 problem of human trafficking that was ‘rampant’ in the red light district; So, to help prevent women and children from being trafficked to be exploited in the sex work industry, and to also stop the organized crime rings. In the article, the author quotes Mariska Majoor who is a former sex worker and the founder of the Prostitution Information Centre (PIC) in Amsterdam. According to Majoor who has been quoted in the article, “It’s not so easy to gentrify an area. All the old must go and all the new and fancy people must be attracted. [The government] knew this would not be easy to do in such a famous, complicated area. But human trafficking and organised crime are things that nobody wants - so they focused the debate on that”. Majoor’s reaction seems to be a sentiment that is reflected by others as well in De Wallen as I noticed from my interviews and participant observations where I noted that sex workers were hesitant, compared to the Hague and Alkmaar, to talk to me because I seemed like a tourist (especially because I only speak English). Upon striking up a conversation with some of the sex workers, I was told that they are hesitant to talk to tourists because most of the time they only come to “stare” at the sex workers or to take pictures of them. Speaking about the regulatory policies implemented by the Municipality
6https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jan/15/amsterdam-sex-workers-unlikely-victims-gentrificat
ion-red-light-district
of Amsterdam, a former sex worker who is still active in PROUD, the Dutch Union for Sex Workers says:
It is so clear that they (the government/municipality of Amsterdam) didn’t really take victims or sex
workers, in general, seriously, and their.. their well being seriously either. Because if they did they
would have included more sex workers and more victims to ask “Hey! What do you think good
policies are? Because you have actually experienced this”. Umm.. Yeah, I think that would be one big
thing, but it’s just that even though regulating (the sex industry) had some positive effects it’s made
it more difficult for people to sell sex. All the nit-picky rules you have to follow to maintain your
license, or not get in trouble or not get evicted make it so much harder for people who are just trying
to make a living or even just trying to survive. So, I think the government has not done anything
close.. Because they have resources but they haven’t done any of this for the sex workers. They just
have their own moral agenda… I think the only reason they have left some windows up (in De
Wallen) is because they are generating money from it… Like, what is the logic in closing windows?
How does it help the victims? You are making things worse for people! Sex workers protested against
this and said the same thing. By taking away safe spaces from possible victims (people who could be
identified as a victim of trafficking but are not yet) it’s made worse for them!
(Anonymous Non-Dutch Former Sex Worker: Amsterdam, 2018) Since the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, a multitude of gender-specific issues that had been neglected thus far due to the divide between public and private spheres of life were recognized. To combat the said issues, women's rights movement highlighted the victimization of women in situations of violence. What started out as a strategy to tackle the lack of visibility of human rights abuses against women was soon adopted into a policy narrative when the United Nations General Assembly passed the
Declaration on Violence Against Women in 1993. This parallel can be observed at the EU when the humanitarian discourse that was representative of NGOs who devised the "promoting of women as bearers of human rights, as a counter-strategy to EU's security discourse, gradually came to be taken up by the EU itself" (Aradau, 2004, pg. 253). With the (imperfect) integration of these two discourses comes the question "Who is a victim?". The reason an answer for this question is demanded is because when the state becomes involved in an issue that has unavoidable ties to migration, the characteristics of a victim subject has to be easily identifiable so as to negate the risk they might pose as an illegal migrant. In the context of 'governmental processes' which is defined as "practical interventions with the purpose of managing the phenomenon of trafficking" that arises from the questionable 20
combination of humanitarian and security discourses (ibid), the victims subject is a tangible concept that can be understood and incorporated into practice. This makes it all the more 'necessary' to find an appropriate answer to the question posed above.
In the article titled The Tragedy of Victimization Rhetoric Resurrecting the 'Native' Subject in International Post-Colonial Feminist Legal Politics (2002), the human rights lawyer Ratna Kapur examines how by focusing on violence against women, the international women's rights movement has "reinforced the image of the woman as a victim subject" with the following quote:
The articulation of the victim subject is based on gender essentialism; that is, overgeneralized claims
about women. As Chandra Mohanty points out, essentialism assumes that "women have a coherent
group identity within different cultures... prior to their entry into social relation". Such
generalizations are hegemonic in that they represent the problems of privileged women, who are
often (though not exclusively) white, Western, middle-class, heterosexual women. These
generalizations efface the problems, perspectives and the political concerns of women marginalized
because of their class, race, religion, ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation. The victim subject
ultimately relies on a universal subject: a subject that resembles uncomplicated subject of liberal
discourse. It is a subject that cannot accommodate a multi-layered experience.
(Kapur, 2002, pg. 6) Simply put, for a victim subject to be considered 'ideal', they have to conform to an image of Third World victims, writes Kapur (2002). A brief review of how victims have been positioned within the feminist agenda on an international setting gives us an idea on how the humanitarian discourse has shaped a limiting image of a woman who is a victim to promote women's rights. Kapur’s concern with this approach stems from the fact that not only does it discourage the ability of important feminist insights to be realized, but it also reinforces cultural and gender essentialism in the humanitarian discourse. This point was repeatedly reinforced during my conversations with some victims as well as experts in the field of trafficking who work at care coordination centre for victims. Recounting her life, a Ukrainian woman in her 40s (hereafter Victim I) who was identified as a victim of sex trafficking says:
I spent so many years on the street back in my country. Maybe 10. I don’t know. It was very difficult.
I have children who maybe are now both older than 20. It’s been so long. When I lived on the streets,
I had slept with men before. I needed the money for my children… That? No. It was not prostitution.
It was for my children. When I came to Netherlands, then I was forced to do prostitution. I do not
know why I trusted her (a friend she made while living on the streets) and why I did not think this
would happen to me. I remember thinking all this when I was in Poland. She said we were on a farm
there before she brought me to the Netherlands… It’s been long. So long. I never studied so I did not
know what job to do after I escaped the people who made me a prostitute. So, I stayed there and a
Dutch man then made me do the same… The (Christian Charity) organisation found me and helped
me. It took so long for me to tell them my story but they helped me when they heard it.
(Victim I, Ukrainian Woman: Amsterdam 2018) Whereas,
I had dreams to go to university before it happened, you know? I wanted to become a journalist.. I
was even going to start university in my country before I was thrown out of my house and then
arrested (for identifying as lesbian)... They told me that I have no evidence against my trafficker, so
my case is closed. I have to go back. But how do I go back to a country where they will kill me for
being me? The IND.. they asked me to prove I am a lesbian after I applied for asylum. How can I
prove that? Now I have been waiting for three years. They rejected me already but I am trying again
because where else can I go?
(Victim N, Ugandan Woman, 22 years: Amsterdam 2018)
The manner in which the Victim I’s situation was handled seems to be in complete contrast to how Victim N was treated by the State. In my analysis, I find that the deciding factor in whether a victim is deserving of unconditional support by the State is how well the victims fit the image of a ‘victim subject’. However the construction of the ‘victim subject’ itself seems to be more complex than suggested by Kapur (2002) in that it is not the element of nationality of a Third World country that determines whether someone is deserving of being acknowledged as a victim, but it is aspects such as lack of education or difficult socio-economic background that is usually (and unfairly) associated with Third World countries that determine your status as a victim. If we are to analyze the care and support trajectories of these two victims using the literature available on the topic of ‘victim subject’, it would be expected of the Ugandan victim to receive more support due to her coming from a Third World country. However, as Victim N is someone who is educated and has ambitions to continue her education in university, she does not completely fit the image of a victim who is helpless and vulnerable. This apparently creates room for suspicion on
her experiences as a victim of trafficking. During my fieldwork, I interviewed a Dutch expert who has been working as a coordinator against trafficking in Groningen who said:
In recent years we have been seeing a pattern of women being trafficked to Europe from Uganda. I
have personally seen it here in the Netherlands often.. and there is just something.. not right about
it. There are patterns.. most of them are lesbians and they are all educated. Not something you see
in many victims. Girls from other African countries like Nigeria you can know they are really
trafficked. They don’t have much education. They are poor. It’s not that I think these girls from
Uganda are not trafficked, but they are not honest about their stories. They all say they don’t
remember which airport they came to. So, maybe they are trafficked but their stories are too.. vague?
And also same to each other.
(Dutch Expert (2) on Human Trafficking: Groningen, 2018) As someone who is positioned as a mediator between the State and the victims, the Dutch Expert (2) finds herself in a position where she does not want to discredit the sufferings of Victim N but at the same time also does not want to dismiss the idea of ‘victim subject’ as someone who is poor and uneducated, and hence apparently more vulnerable. On the other hand, Victim I who does fit the image of a ‘victim subject’ in terms of her lack of education and difficult socio-economic background has received more support from the State. From my observation on how the victims depend on support services, I find that it is the experts (especially NGO workers) that are mediators who can support victims’ cause more than the police or the immigration services whose interests have to align with the State because they are not obliged to. That is, as someone who works in the national police or in the IND, you have no option but to strictly protect and enforce the government’s policies. Whereas, as an NGO worker or a researcher, one can be critical about these policies without being held in contempt for not performing their duties. Therefore, it seems to be counterproductive for anti-trafficking initiatives if the organizations that provide support for victims of trafficking approach the victims from biases that stem from ideas on what a victim must look or behave like.
The essence of posing the question "Who is a victim?" is not only in regard to security concerns that a nation-state might have in relation to the migration status, but it also builds on the notions of morality that states might align themselves to. Hans Boutellier (1993) introduced the concept of 'victimalization of morality' wherein he problematizes the way in which morality is defined in most societies, and how victims are deemed worthy of
help only if they fit that particular idea of morality. He has argued that there seems to be no space for a victim-centric model in a justice system in this postmodern era. Victims of human trafficking who are sex workers, migrants (especially illegal), drug users, unemployed individuals, and other ostracized groups, it is difficult to find compassion that is visible in the structures of the criminal justice system rather than the shallow show of compassion that arises out of a hyper-liberal morality. The analysis of the interview with Victim (I) has been difficult due to the vagueness surrounding the details of how she was granted a residence permit. According to the victim, after the mandatory three month reflection she was willing to cooperate with the police in order to convict her trafficker but due to insufficient evidence the case was closed. However, the judge in charge of her case personally wrote to IND to request for a non-temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds. In her own words, Victim I says:
If it weren’t for the (Christian Charity) organisation, I would not be able to talk to you today. They
showed me the way to the Lord, and now He helps me. I never believed in Him before.. but after the
organisation helped me and took care of me, I became a Christian too. It was the Lord’s miracle that
made the judge write to IND to request for a special residence permit for me.
(Victim (I), Ukrainian woman: Amsterdam, 2018, translated from Ukrainian) While this has been an example of the Dutch government supporting a victim unconditionally, it is unclear as to what criteria comprised the humanitarian grounds that was used in order to determine whether this particular victim deserved the non-temporary residence permit over other victims. From my analysis of the interview, it was noted that the new found faith of Victim (I) might have had a role to play in establishing the image of a ‘deserving’ victim. Like mentioned previously, it is difficult to make any concrete conclusions regarding this particular case, however during the interview the victim mentioned how the judge wanted her to live her life peacefully from here on as a good christian which could be read as the judge depending on her personal moral views of who is a deserving victim.
There has, of course, been criticism aimed at Boutellier's theory from scholars such as the criminologist Swaaningen (1997) who believe that by putting the victims' needs at the forefront, the idea that rule of law is independent and power-critical which is known as 'guaranteeism' of criminal law could be shaken which is worrisome. Interestingly, there
seems to be a negation of the fact that by requiring a particular standard of victimhood, the idea of equality before law is already being compromised. By depending on the image of victims who must have aspects of socio-economic background associated with Third World countries, have no agency and is certainly not a 'risk' to the nation-state, the law manages to tilt the scale of justice to only those who fit the picture.
To add another layer to the theory of victimization, we must also look at role female agency plays in the discussion on sex work and human trafficking. As the cultural anthropologist Marie-Louise Janssen (2018) explains on the basis of her research on Chinese masseuses in the Netherlands, female agency is without a doubt imbued in structures of inequality that is a part of one's gender and migrant status, however,
Although their choices are constrained, agency is still present in the different ways in which
expectations and hopes are constructed in these situations and in how the women strategize their
desires by applying an instrumental approach to sexuality... This possibility to choose is an
important difference between exploitative and non-exploitative sex work. Victimhood is located here
within the precarious balance between exploitation and high-risk entrepreneurship.
(Marie-Louise Janssen, 2018) Having the agency and exercising it to choose to be part of the sex work industry should not result in women and men who have been trafficked or smuggled to be treated as anything less than victims.
Procedural Justice: Feeling of Comfort in the Criminal Justice System
When discussing crime, there are multiple aspects that one can focus on: the criminals that commit the crime, the victims that suffer because of the crime, the police who catch the criminals and protect the victims, and the judicial system that punishes the criminal. For the concept of procedural justice, we mainly look at the “right side” of the law: the criminal justice system that includes police, prosecution, courts. The theory of procedural justice is used in contexts where we must identify whether authorities treat victims/witnesses/criminals fairly and if they make decisions fairly.
During my field work, the response of the criminal justice system to the victims of trafficking was one of the main focuses. This aspect to me seemed important to understand
