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What explains sex trafficking?

Lessons from the case of Hungarian women in the

Netherlands

ANNA BOGLÁRKA BÁNÁTI | 11252227

MASTER THESIS | POLITICAL SCIENCE:INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

SUPERVISOR:SEIKI TANAKA

SECOND READER:FRANCA VAN HOOREN

EMAIL: BANANBAB@GMAIL.COM

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CKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank all my expert interviewees for deciding to give me an interview. This thesis largely relies on their contributions, therefore, I am very grateful for the valuable information and the interesting details they provided. A special thanks goes to Viktória Sebhelyi, for all the long emails, full of ideas; and also to Viktória Bangha, without whom I would never have had the opportunity to meet the three amazing women in The Hague's Red Light District. I am also indebted to my sex worker interviewees from The Hague, for trusting me and sharing their stories. I am profoundly grateful to the many young women I approached in the streets of Nyíregyháza, for not running away when I introduced the topic of my survey, and to all the journalists I emailed, for connecting me with the people who later became my interviewees.

I am thankful to Péter Rádai and Attila Molnár for all their suggestions on how to improve my work, as well as to Franca van Hooren, for taking the time to be my second reader. My final thanks goes to my supervisor, Seiki Tanaka, who supported my idea from the very beginning of the research project, for his detailed feedback, for all the smart suggestions he gave me when I got stuck with something, and for telling me to take a day off exactly when it was needed.

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BSTRACT

The aim of this thesis is to examine what leads to sex trafficking in the case of Hungarian women to the Netherlands. In the literature on human trafficking, poverty is the most often cited risk factor to trafficking (e.g. Barner et al., 2014; Mackinnon, 2011; Rouf, 2012). However, it does not fully explain why some women fall victim to sex trafficking, while others do not. In order to investigate what else contributes to sex trafficking, this study examines the role of three other, micro-level variables: family obligations, previous familiarity with prostitution, and existing social network in the Netherlands. This thesis is based on mixed methods: it largely relies on semi-structured interviews with experts and Hungarian sex workers, while these qualitative methods are complemented by a survey, which was conducted in Hungary, Nyíregyháza. The qualitative and quantitative analyses did not fully support the idea that family obligations and previous familiarity with prostitution can be necessarily considered as risk factors to sex trafficking. However, they both confirmed the importance of the role of existing social network in the Netherlands.

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ONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION /4 2. LITERATURE REVIEW /7 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK /9 3.1.Competing theories /10 3.2.Argument /12 4. METHODS /17

4.1.Elements of an ideal research design /17 4.2.Data overview /17

4.3.Qualitative data /19

4.3.1. Selection and procedure /19 4.3.2. Structure /21

4.4.Quantitative data /22 4.4.1. Procedure /22

4.4.2. Structure and Survey Design /24 4.4.2.1.The dependent variable /24

4.4.2.2.Independent and control variables /25 4.4.3. Representativeness and limitations /27 5. RESULTS /27

5.1.Qualitative findings /28 5.1.1. Poverty /29

5.1.2. Family obligations /30

5.1.3. Previous familiarity with prostitution /33 5.1.4. Social network /34

5.1.5. Summary /36

5.2.Quantitative findings /36

5.2.1. Descriptive characteristics /36

5.2.2. Binary logistic regression analysis /37 5.3.Alternative explanations /40

6. DISCUSSION /41

6.1.Introducing a new theoretical model /43 6.2.Limitations /44

6.3.Scope conditions /45 7. CONCLUSION /46

Bibliography /48 Appendix /52

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1. I

NTRODUCTION

The problem of human trafficking has been receiving increased attention from the international community, as well as from the academic sphere, especially since the establishment of the UN Trafficking Protocol (the so-called Palermo Protocol) in 2000. Human trafficking can take many forms: the most common exploitative purposes are, inter alia, organ trafficking, forced labour, forced begging, selling children (often for soldiering), forced marriage and sexual exploitation (UNODC, 2016: 8). The issue of sexual trafficking is a widely examined phenomenon among policymakers and researchers (e.g. Lindholm et al., 2014; Bales, 2007), since it is linked to many other international issues (such as international organised crime and globalisation), as well as to fundamental rights, and to the rights of women and children. Although all types of human trafficking are equally essential to deal with separately, this paper focuses on the phenomenon of sex trafficking.

Some scholars (e.g. Alvarez & Alessi, 2012; Weitzer, 2014) criticise the current discourse on human trafficking for its exaggerated attention on sex trafficking, as it ignores other forms of exploitation. Yet, there are two reasons this thesis also narrows down its focus to sex trafficking. First, this type of trafficking is claimed to be the most prevalent form of human trafficking. According to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 54% of trafficking victims were exploited for sexual reasons in 2014 globally (UNODC, 2016: 6). Second, as the problem of sex trafficking is often intertwined with the question of legalised prostitution, literature on sex trafficking is more contradictory than the one on human trafficking, which is why it is worth exploring further.

Both human and sex trafficking are global problems, to which no country is immune. To some extent, all of them are involved as source, transit or destination countries. Trafficking appears everywhere, irrespective of economic development or geographical location: developed countries are not less affected than developing ones. Although Europe can be considered as a relatively safe area regarding trafficking – at least concerning its anti-trafficking measurements and enforcement efforts –, still more than 30 000 victims were detected between 2010 and 2012 in the European Union; 69% of them were trafficked for sexual exploitation (Eurostat, 2014: 13). Between 2012 and 2014, registered victims of trafficking in 16 countries of Western and Southern Europe came from 137 different source countries (UNODC, 2016: 8). 47% of these victims originated from Central and South-Eastern Europe (UNODC, 2016: 75). In the same period, trafficking flows from Central

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Europe mostly targeted France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (ibid). Between 2010 and 2012 in the EU, most of the detected victims were trafficked from Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland (Eurostat, 2014: 11).

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how women in Central and Eastern Europe become victims of sex trafficking to Western Europe. To do so, the investigation examines the nature of sex trafficking regarding the Netherlands as a destination, and Hungary as a country of origin. Besides poverty, which is one of the most cited contributing factors to both human and sex trafficking, this research focuses on three additional variables: family obligations, previous experience in prostitution, and existing social network in the Netherlands1. The research question of this thesis is, therefore, the following:

Besides poverty, to what extent family obligations, previous experience in prostitution and existing social network contribute to sex trafficking in the case of Hungarian women trafficked to the Netherlands?

The most cited "reason" of sex trafficking is poverty (e.g. Barner et al., 2014; Mackinnon, 2011; Rouf, 2012); however, on its own, it cannot fully explain why some Hungarian women fall victim to sex trafficking, while others do not. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate that, besides poverty, what leads to sex trafficking among Hungarian women. It argues these three additional risk factors increase the likelihood of trafficking. In order to test this argument, this thesis mostly relies on semi-structured interviews with experts on human trafficking and prostitution, which are complemented by a survey which I conducted in Nyíregyháza, Hungary.

This research takes up the challenge of contributing to the existing literature in three ways. First, unlike the vast majority of articles regarding sex trafficking, this research is conducted on the micro-level. Micro-level studies on human trafficking have several advantages over macro-level ones, mostly since they "generate richer insights regarding actors’ lived experiences" (Weitzer, 2015: 232). By involving non macro-level variables, this research aims to help to clarify what gives the "final" push which later leads to trafficking. Second, it attempts to systematically test the influence of these micro-level variables on sex trafficking. By using this approach, this research hopes to reveal more detailed stories behind the phenomenon of sex trafficking, as it does not only study those who fell victim to human trafficking, but also those who can be considered as potential victims in the future. Therefore, unlike most studies which examine either the origin or the destination countries, this thesis

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By the term of "social network", I understand having friends or family members in the Netherlands who already operate in the Dutch sex industry.

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attempts to explore the relation between two specific countries or areas. Third, it seeks to develop a model which does not only incorporate the most often cited risk factors – such as poverty, family obligations and previous experience in prostitution –, but also highlights the role of existing social network in relation to trafficking.

The ideal definition for human trafficking is still a subject of debate within both the academic sphere and the international community. The most common definition for this term was formulated by the Palermo Protocol in 20002. However, this definition of the Protocol on human trafficking has been criticised for several reasons: first, it conflates trafficking of women and children, which require different anti-trafficking measures (George et al., 2010). Furthermore, it does not define the particular forms of trafficking, such as trafficking for sexual exploitation (ibid). Thus, as this thesis focuses on the problem of sex trafficking, it relies on the research-oriented definitions of the Human Trafficking Center. The Human Trafficking Center specifies human trafficking as "the recruitment and/or movement of someone within or across borders, through the abuse of power/ position with the intention of forced exploitation, commercial or otherwise" (Human Trafficking Center, 2013: 1). Similarly, sex trafficking is "the recruitment and/or movement of someone within or across borders, through the abuse of power/position with the intention of sexual exploitation, commercial or otherwise" (ibid). In other words, this thesis defines sex trafficking as an exploitative act, in which a third person, besides the sex worker and her client, is involved financially. It assumes that sex trafficking is not necessarily accompanied by physical abuse or threat, and also presumes that many people involved in sex trafficking would not consider themselves victims as such.

This thesis understands by sex trafficking the form of human trafficking, and uses the terms "trafficking", "sex trafficking" and "trafficking for sexual exploitation" as synonyms. Furthermore, although it acknowledges the difference between the terms "prostitute" and "sex worker", it uses these as synonyms.

The next chapter gives a brief overview of the literature of sex trafficking to summarise its current status and recent trends, as well as to specify where exactly this thesis

2 "The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring 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 labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation is irrelevant where any of the means set forth have been used. The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered trafficking in persons even if this does not involve any of the means set forth." (Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons (United Nations, 2000: 2)).

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attempts to fill the gap in the literature. Afterwards, this study presents the ongoing normative debate in the literature, and, based on this debate, it introduces its theoretical framework and argument. The third chapter delineates the research design, while the forth presents the findings of the qualitative and quantitative analyses, as well as the alternative explanations behind sex trafficking. This is followed by a discussion, where I evaluate the findings of the analyses, and discuss the limitations of this research, as well as present a new theoretical model, which highlights the findings of the analysis. Finally, the last chapter summarises the conclusion of this research, and provides implications on future research.

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ITERATURE REVIEW

As the main aspect of this research is to examine what leads to sex trafficking, this chapter reviews articles on what explains trafficking.

Scholarly articles on the causes of human trafficking can be divided in many ways. They can be categorised in terms of the type of human trafficking they observe. This thesis concentrates on the problem of trafficking for sexual exploitation, bearing in mind that while conceptually important, it is rather difficult to distinguish between different forms of trafficking in reality, as they rarely exist in isolation (Russell, 2014). Within the literature on human trafficking, much of the attention is attributable to sex trafficking (e.g. Alvarez & Alessi, 2012). Studies can also be grouped according to the geographical area they focus on. Human trafficking is a global problem, but this does not necessarily mean that it requires merely a global answer. Specific, country-oriented studies are essential, since different types of mechanisms behind human trafficking require different types of prevention and anti-trafficking measures.

Another way of categorising studies on the causes of human trafficking is according to their level of analysis. Scholars, who systematically examine the driving forces behind human trafficking, and particularly sex trafficking, tend to focus on the macro-level (e.g. Bales, 2007; Barner et al., 2014). Bales (2007) has shown a correlation between human trafficking on the one hand, and some macro-level factors, such as corruption, social exclusion, armed conflicts and wars, and employment opportunities on the other. Most of these factors are related to poverty, which is also considered as one of the driving forces behind sexual trafficking (e.g. Barner et al., 2014; Mackinnon, 2011; Rouf, 2012). However, the fact that these macro-level factors contribute to human trafficking does not mean that they are either necessary, or sufficient causes of trafficking at the micro-level: not everyone who has trouble making ends meet leave their country. Although these macro-level factors are useful tools to describe the

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environment in which human trafficking is most likely to occur, they do not fully explain while some individuals fall victims of trafficking, while others do not.

In order to explore the most important reasons which lead to sex trafficking, one should focus on the micro-level (Weitzer, 2015). According to Weitzer (2015), micro-level studies and research attempts with special populations have at least three advantages over the ones which examine human trafficking on the national and international level: they can present more accurate numbers; they capture the context-specific characteristics of trafficking and trafficking-related issues, such as migration, smuggling and slavery; and they provide more detailed information on actors’ experiences. In other words, micro-level studies have the capacity to capture the complex nature of human trafficking, which is rather difficult to achieve at the aggregated level (Weitzer, 2015: 232).

Although micro-level studies have the potential to reveal more detailed and current information on human trafficking, very few of these examine systematically3 the causes of trafficking. Micro-level enquiries are often based on qualitative data: interviews (Lindholm et al., 2014), police reports (Poelmans et al., 2011), letters (Russell, 2014) and "stories" (Chong, 2014). To the best of my knowledge, there are only a few micro-level studies with the aim of systematically examining factors which might contribute to human trafficking. One example is the study of Lutnick et al. (2015), which scrutinises the causal relationship between sexual abuse and sex trade. This survey-based enquiry is a pioneering work in the sense that the authors did not only examine the occurrence of sexual abuse trauma among sex-traded women, but they extended their survey to similarly marginalised women (Lutnick et al., 2015). Surprisingly, what their findings suggest is that, irrespective whether respondents were involved in sex trade or not, marginalised women experience high levels of sexual abuse (ibid).

For this reason, recently many authors have started to criticise the dominant academic studies on human trafficking for lacking empirical evidence (e.g. Swanson, 2016). As Weitzer (2014: 6-7) puts it, the literature on human trafficking contains mostly "anecdotal or sensationalistic" papers, general overviews or literature critiques, without using original data or empirical basis. In his studies, Weitzer (2014; 2015) identifies four popular claims in the human trafficking literature, regarding the large number of victims, the growing magnitude of trafficking, the importance of trafficking as an organised crime enterprise, and the relationship between labour and sex trafficking. He argues that none of these frequent statements are

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evidence-based, this is why he calls for more micro-level analyses within the field (Weitzer, 2015).

Tyldum & Brunovskis (2005) also share Weitzer’s view. They emphasise the importance of using primary – especially survey-based – data, arguing that "the only thing worse than no data is wrong and misleading data" (Tyldum & Brunovskis, 2005: 30), because, as they argue, the most often used data sources do not fully represent the whole population of victims of trafficking. More importantly, they call for the importance of comparison groups. Similar to Lutnick et al. (2015), they highlight the fact that, although using comparison groups is indispensable in order to fully understand the nature of human trafficking, only a few studies compare those who are at risk of trafficking with the experience of victims (Tyldum & Brunovskis, 2005).

The critique that the dominant literature on human trafficking often lacks of high-quality data can be also applied to studies on sex trafficking. Zhang (2009) critically examined more than a hundred articles on sex trafficking, from six different electronic databases. He focused on the methods, research strategies and recurring themes of trafficking-related articles published after 2000 (Zhang, 2009). He found that only a "handful" of them contained empirical and systematic evidence (Zhang, 2009: 185), and also emphasised the fact that these articles are often based on only a few reports, such as the UNODC’s Global Report or or the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, without questioning the validity of the data they are working with.

Following this line of thinking, the aim of this research is to identify new micro-level variables which can contribute to sex trafficking, and to examine to what extent they influence trafficking. To do so, it focuses on Hungarian prostitutes in the Netherlands as a typical case, and tries to find an answer to the question what explains sex trafficking among Hungarian women.

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HEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter introduces the main argument of this thesis. First, it gives a brief overview of the ongoing debate within the literature on sex trafficking and prostitution. Although the aim of this thesis is not to take sides in this normative debate, there are two reasons it cannot avoid presenting the main cleavages between the radical feminist and the sex work feminist approaches. First, these two theories on prostitution approach the question what leads to sex trafficking in a very different way. This suggests that they have contrasting solutions not only to combating the exploitation of women, but also to the causes of sex trafficking, which,

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consequently, have an influence on my argument. Second, most of the experts I conducted interviews with did take a stand, thus it is assumable that this has an influence on their views on sex trafficking, and, by the same token, on the results of the qualitative analysis. After introducing the main points of this normative debate, the theoretical argument of this thesis is presented.

3.1. Competing theories

Within the literature on the relation of prostitution and sex trafficking, two mainstream schools have emerged in the last decades: the radical feminist approach4 and the sex work feminist model (Marinova & James, 2012; Sullivan, 2003). The discourse on both prostitution and sex trafficking has been fundamentally shaped by these two schools, and they have significant impact on policy-making as well. This section gives a short summary on these two perspectives.

The radical feminist or sexual exploitation approach (e.g. Barry, 1997) considers all types of prostitution exploitative: scholars of this approach argue that prostitution is the oldest form of oppression, "as widespread as the institutionalised sex inequality" (Mackinnon, 2011: 273). In other words, sexual exploitation theory regards prostitution as "a product of lack of choice" (ibid: 274), and violence against women conducted by "the patriarchal global economy" (Swanson, 2016: 593). Conversely, the sex work approach (e.g. Sullivan, 2003) – which sees prostitution as the "oldest profession" (Mackinnon, 2011: 272) – is based on the idea that sex work is "a form of sexual liberation" (Swanson, 2016: 593) and a legitimate profession.

The most contradictory issue regarding the debate between these two theories is their distinct opinion on the question of prostitutes’ agency and victimhood. The radical feminist approach is criticised by the other side for its excessive focus on victimhood and male dominance, and for its neglecting approach on women’s agency (George et al., 2010). As Russell (2014) argues, the term "victim" cannot fully reflect the complexity of sex trafficking, as many women do not see themselves as such. The sex work approach rejects the construct of "victim of trafficking" which labels all women as naive and innocent who needs to be rescued (Russell, 2014; Lindholm et al., 2014). Thus, they call for the distinction between sex trafficking victims and prostitutes (Lindholm et al., 2014), thus a more nuanced approach toward sex trafficking.

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On the other hand, opponents of the sex work theory argue that all prostitutes are victims to some extent, as it is not the kind of occupation which someone would choose freely, without any coercion (George et al., 2010). According to them, the question of consent is irrelevant (Hughes, 20015; in: George et al., 2010: 66), as prostitution always remains a violent form of male dominance, and "a gendered human rights violation" (Barry, 1997: 27). Therefore, for them, incorporating the term "agency" into their approach is meaningless and unnecessary.

This normative debate on whether prostitution is an institutionalised form of women’s expression or rather a way of sexual liberalisation has many practical implications. These two schools suggest very different solutions not only on the regulation of prostitution, but also on the connection between sex trafficking and prostitution. Scholars who represent the radical feminist approach (abolitionists and prohibitionists6) believe that prostitution should not be legalised, as it cannot be seen as a legitimate profession (Raymond, 20027, cited in: Marinova & James, 2012: 234). According to this approach, a state which legalises prostitution "becomes another pimp, living off the earnings of women in prostitution" (Raymond, 20028, cited in: O’Connor & Healy, 2006: 16). In contrast, the sex work approach calls for the decriminalisation of prostitution, as it regards sex workers as independent women who are capable of making their own decisions (Marinova & James, 2012), and sex work as "a personal choice and a private matter between consenting adults" (George et al., 2010: 66).

Another buffer zone between the two theories concerns how they approach the problem of sex trafficking. Those who favour the regulation approach argue that it is not obvious whether there is a causal relation between prostitution and sex trafficking (George et al., 2010). In other words, sex work theorists (e.g. Batsyukova, 2007) believe that it is not prostitution, but exploitation which leads to trafficking. Therefore, legalisation is needed, since the establishment of a regulated and transparent system not only improves the working conditions of sex workers, but also facilitates the combat against sex trafficking (Huisman & Kleemans, 2014). In contrast, abolitionists and prohibitionists typically do not differentiate between "free" and "forced" prostitution, as prostitution and trafficking are fundamentally linked. They consider all prostitutes as victims of a system which is based on the dominance

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Hughes, D. M. (2001). "The 'Natasha' Trade: Transnational Sex Trafficking".

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Prohibitionists and abolitionists both oppose legalised prostitution, but they differ in the way they punish illegal sex work. The prohibitionist approach regards prostitution as an illegal activity, for which the prostitute herself has to pay the penalties, while abolitionism makes the purchase illegal, therefore criminalising only the customer (e.g. Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013; Marinova & James, 2012).

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Raymond, J. (2002). "State Sponsored Prostitution". Paper presented at the Seminar on the Effects of Legalization of Prostitution Activities: A Critical Analysis, organized by the Swedish Government. 5-6 November, Stockholm.

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of men, the aim of which is to profit from the vulnerable position of women (George et al., 2012). According to them, legalisation is not only morally unacceptable, but neither is it an effective tool against human trafficking. Some scholars argue that legalised sex work does not necessarily redound to create an adequate degree of transparency, therefore sex trafficking continues to prosper in countries which adopted the regulation approach (e.g. Gibly, 2012; Huisman & Kleemans, 2014). Cho et al. (2013) argue that legalisation even increases the demand and supply for human trafficking.

Recently, some third-way scholars turned their attention away from the debate between radical and sex work feminists. Swanson (2016) criticise the legalisation debate for two reasons. First, it does not explain some important variations, such as culture and traditions, gender inequality, and the impact of global society (Swanson, 2016). Similar to Weitzer’s (2014; 2015) suggestions, which criticise contemporary literature on human trafficking for lacking systematic, evidence-based research, she finds that existing laws on trafficking and prostitution are often flawed, as they are based on "over-generalisation and faulty assumptions" (Swanson, 2016: 594). Second, she claims that due to the ongoing debate on prostitution, greater issues, such as "poverty, substance abuse, gender inequality, and desperation, which arguably are the driving forces behind human trafficking", are highly neglected (ibid).

This thesis does not engage in the normative debate between the radical feminist and the sex work feminist theories, as the overall aim of this research is to understand better the risk factors behind sex trafficking. However, it does not exclude the possibility that women’s personal decisions indeed have a role in sex trafficking. Thus, part of the argument of this thesis assumes a certain degree of agency from women involved in sex trafficking. The contradictory question of agency will be revisited later again in the Discussion chapter.

3.2. Argument

Due to decades of debate, many contradictions exist regarding the causes of human trafficking, and sex trafficking in particular. As noted in the previous section, this is partly due to the contradictory nature of prostitution, and the debate whether legal prostitution itself fuels trafficking for sexual exploitation. Another reason is that the characteristics of human trafficking often differ from country to country and from time to time. Scholars focus on different causal mechanisms concerning trafficking from, for example, Nigeria to Western-Europe, from Vietnam to Singapore, or within the borders of the United States, as the nature of trafficking can differ extremely by location (Weitzer, 2015). Furthermore, regarding sex

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trafficking, every story is unique and different. Similarities and trends might appear, but given the complex, multidimensional and latent nature of trafficking, it is very difficult to draw confident conclusions on what leads to human trafficking.

However, almost all scholars agree that poverty is an important push factor concerning both human and sex trafficking (e.g. Barner et al., 2014; Mackinnon, 2011; Rouf, 2012). There are two ways poverty might have an influence on sex trafficking. First, poverty contributes to trafficking as it pushes many people worldwide to leave their country of origin in hope of a better life. This is a common causal mechanism behind many international issues, such as labour migration and human smuggling, as well as human trafficking.9 Second, poverty and the lack of job opportunities increase many people’s vulnerability; therefore, it becomes easier for traffickers to convince them to leave.10

Although poverty is the most highly cited risk factor concerning sex trafficking, it does not fully explain by itself why some poor people end up in the (illegal) sex industry, while others do not. For this reason, the aim of this thesis is to further scrutinise the possible risk factors for sex trafficking. Besides poverty, this research focuses on three additional, often cited variables: family obligations, previous experience in prostitution, and the role of a social network in the Netherlands. It argues that besides poverty, these three factors also highly increase the risk of sex trafficking.

The reason this thesis focuses on these three variables as additional risk-factors besides poverty is because – except for the role of social network – they are often mentioned by scholars specialised on sex trafficking, yet most of these enquiries do not work with systematically gathered data. Those studies which systematically examine the causes behind human trafficking typically focus on macro-level factors (e.g. Bales, 2007), but they do not have the capacity to include micro-level ones. On the other hand, studies conducted on the micro-level often have descriptive purposes. They examine these above-mentioned variables as characteristics of victims of trafficking, but they do not per se argue that they can be

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Besides the sex work and the sexual exploitation theories, another mainstream theory on sex trafficking, the migration approach is worth mentioning. The migration approach regards trafficking as a phenomenon which is inherently linked to migration; it represents a state-centric view, therefore it regards trafficking primarily as a national security issue (Marinova & James, 2012). However, the migration approach is criticised for neglecting the gender-based nature of trafficking, and also for its lack of the human rights aspects of the issue (ibid).

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The feminisation of poverty also contributes to human trafficking (e.g. Russell, 2014), and especially sex trafficking, as it is typically the men who are interested in the sexual services of women, not the other way around. In other words, there is not only a higher demand in the sex industry for female sex worker than male ones, but due to the feminisation of poverty, these women already live in difficult conditions, which therefore increase their vulnerability. As the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons shows, 71% of trafficked victims are female (UNODC, 2016: 23). These numbers are even more extreme concerning sex trafficking: according to the same report, 96% of sex trafficking victims are women (ibid: 27). However, it is important to keep in mind that these numbers are often based on different national reports; therefore, they should be analysed more carefully.

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considered as risk factors behind trafficking (e.g. Russell, 2014; Chong, 2014). In contrast, the role of network is rarely mentioned in the academic literature (e.g. Staring, 2012). Regarding this variable, I draw on Finger’s (2016) idea, who studied the massive flow of Hungarian women from Nyíregyháza to Switzerland’s sex industry. Finger’s paper develops a model which argues that prostitution in Zurich can be understood as a collective coping strategy in order to survive marginalisation (Finger, 2016).

To the best of my knowledge, there are only a few articles which reveal some causal mechanisms between family obligations and sex trafficking (e.g. Russell, 2014). The role of family in the literature on human trafficking is twofold. Although poverty is definitely a push factor concerning sex trafficking, some studies (e.g. Tavcer, 2006) revealed that besides individual wellbeing, family wealth also matters. In other words, some sex trafficking victims feel some degree of responsibility for their families, and they believe that the only way to support their families is to work as prostitutes, even if they are not entirely free. As Russell’s (2014) study – in which she processed 12 visa application letters from women who had been trafficked to Israel – revealed, many traffickers take advantage of the victims' feelings that they need to support their families. Four women had children, and almost every letter mentioned an (often ill) family member (nieces, grandmothers, brothers), whom these women felt responsible for or intending to take care of (Russell, 2014: 540). Thus, as part of its argument, this thesis claims that the urge to financially support family members can be considered as a risk factor, as it increases the likelihood of sex trafficking.

The role of family does not only have a potential influence on why someone becomes a victim of trafficking, but the fact that many victims are blackmailed with their families can also explain why many victim cannot escape from the situation (e.g. Staring, 2012). Blackmailing victims with their families is a useful tool for traffickers to gain control over women.

Besides the role of family obligations, this thesis also examines whether previous familiarity in prostitution contributes to trafficking. In this thesis, previous familiarity or experience in prostitution means that a woman is already involved in sex work in Hungary. As Staring (2012) points out, many victims of trafficking had already worked in prostitution before they fell victim to trafficking. However, he only mentions it as an occasionally appearing occurrence among victims rather than something which has an influence on sex trafficking. This is in accordance with Finger’s (2016) study, who finds that many Hungarian sex workers in Zurich had already worked as prostitutes before they left the country.

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On the other hand, in her study about the mobility of European sex workers, Siegel (2012) describes an interesting phenomenon in reference to the massive flow of Bulgarian sex workers to Groningen, which might have the potential to reveal the causal relationship between victim’s previous experience in prostitution and sex trafficking. Siegel’s (2012) study found that among those Bulgarian women who worked in Groningen, "most of them" had already worked in the sex industry, and the reason they left to Western Europe was simply just to earn more money with the same occupation as they would have home (van der Zee, 201011; cited in: Siegel, 2012: 262). This was preceded by the arrival of some Bulgarian traders, who had never been involved in prostitution, but who later became the main organisers, as they saw an opportunity in the empty windows of the Red Light District of the town. Accordingly, Siegel (2012) lays stress upon the fact that initially these men came to the Netherlands to start their second-hand car business, and the reason they entered prostitution as a business is because it made sense economically. However, she does not enter into details on whether these Bulgarian migrants should be considered as businessmen or pimps (Siegel, 2012).

Another mechanism through which victims’ previous involvement in prostitution might have an influence on transnational sex trafficking is based on the interest of the pimps. Women who already work as prostitutes in their home countries can be convinced more easily to go to Western Europe, simply because they can – or at least they are told that they can – earn much more money abroad, not to mention that the work conditions are usually better than in Hungary. However, they are also convinced that they need a protector abroad who takes care of them and who facilitates the process.

Finally, as far as I know, the literature on human trafficking does not examine the role of existing social network. By this term, this thesis understands the network of friends or acquaintances a possible Hungarian victim of trafficking has in the Netherlands. As part of my main argument, in this research I claim that if a woman knows someone who already works abroad as a prostitute, it is more likely that she will leave to the same area if the opportunity arises. In some cases, it is because her friend convinces her that this way she can earn more than if she stayed at home. Also, this friend can provide information on the whole process, which otherwise would be difficult to obtain. In others, the decision belongs to the pimps: if someone enters a new market – irrespective of whether as part of an organised

11

van der Zee, W. (2010). "Misstanden achter de ramen. Een wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de slachtoffers van Bulgaarse vrouwenhandelaren welke in Groningen en Friesland opereren". M.A. thesis in Criminal Law and Criminology. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.

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criminal group or not –, it is likely that his friends too will join. Finger’s (2016) study is based on this mechanism, although she delineates a much more complex model in order to understand why many Hungarian sex workers from the Roma settlement called Huszártelep, which is located in one of Hungary’s biggest cities, Nyíregyháza, appeared in Zurich’s Red Light District in 2008.12

Sometimes these three additional risk factors, family obligations, previous familiarity in prostitution and existing social network in the Netherlands, are related to each other. For example, in some cases, the reason a woman decides to enter prostitution in Hungary is because she needs the urge to financially support her family. It is also possible that a woman who already works in the sex industry in Hungary is more likely to know a prostitute in the Netherlands than those who are not involved in the Hungarian sex industry. They can be also linked to poverty: for instance, individual poverty often correlates with family well-being. However, for the sake of consistency, this thesis will treat these variables as risk factors which are independent from each other. Nonetheless, what these three additional factors have in common is that they all increase Hungarian women’s vulnerability and desperation, which makes them more exposed to sex trafficking.

Following this line of reasoning, this thesis argues that besides poverty, three other variables, family obligations, previous experience in prostitution and existing social networks in the Netherlands are also important risk factors for sex trafficking. The aim of this work is to systematically examine the

role of each of these variables regarding sex trafficking between Hungary and the Netherlands, and to ascertain their relative importance. The argument of this thesis is presented by Figure 1.

12

Finger (2016) considers the flow of Hungarian prostitutes to Zurich as a coping strategy for Roma communities to escape from poverty and social exclusion. Based on structured interviews with, inter alia, prostitutes, their partners, experts, and inhabitants of Hungarian Roma settlements, she found out that relocating prostitution as a business to Zurich was the consequence of the fact that prostitution in the streets of Nyíregyháza was not tolerated anymore after 2006 (Finger, 2016). The collective coping strategy theory emphasises the role of strong network between family members and prostitutes, and it views prostitution as a family task, where pimps are not seen as exploiters, but rather as protectors of the prostitutes (ibid).

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4. M

ETHODS

4.1. Elements of an ideal research design

As noted before, some authors (e.g. Tyldum & Brunovskis, 2005; Lutnick et al., 2015) criticise the existing literature on human trafficking for the lack of comparison groups. This is in line with the critique of Weitzer (2014; 2015) who also points out the lack of systematically conducted enquiries. In other words, researchers often examine only one side of the story: they conduct interview-based research, which analyse interviews with victims and traffickers. Very few studies (e.g. Lutnick et al., 2015) compare systematically the experience of sex trafficking victims with those who are "merely" at risk of being trafficked. To fully investigate what explains sex trafficking, it is not sufficient to examine the characteristics of victims of trafficking, as case selection according to the presence of sex trafficking (the dependent variable) lead to bias (Geddes, 1990). Therefore, it is also crucial to examine the occurrence of risk factors among those who are similarly situated, yet not exposed to trafficking.

So as to reveal that besides poverty, what additional risk factors can explain sex trafficking, an ideal research design would be based on surveys or semi-structured interviews, comparing the characteristics of victims of trafficking with those of women from the same environment. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) would make it possible to find hidden populations, both victims of sex trafficking and at-risk populations. With the help of this method, a systematic comparison between victims and those who are at risk would be possible. However, there are several difficulties which make it extremely challenging to realise such a research. First, it is rather difficult to identify and find this "at-risk" population in practice. Furthermore, due to the fact that prostitution is a taboo in Hungary – not to mention the very sensitive nature of sex trafficking –, it is rather problematic to ask questions on sex trafficking, even with those who are personally not involved. People who are at risk of trafficking are seldom willing to talk about their experiences.

4.2. Data overview

This thesis is based on mixed methods. In order to reveal that, besides poverty, to what extent the three potential risk-factors contribute to sex trafficking among Hungarian victims trafficked to the Netherlands, it uses semi-structured interviews with experts and sex workers. Additionally, to support or reject the findings of the interviews, the qualitative approach is

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complemented by a survey, which I conducted among a potential at-risk group in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. The data collection took place between March 23rd

and May 12th. The main part of the thesis relies on face-to-face interviews which were conducted with the purpose to get a deeper insight into sex trafficking between the Netherlands and Hungary. Between March 23rd and May 12th, I conducted eleven interviews. Eight of them were interviews with experts: social workers, scholars, NGO members and public servants. The aim of these expert interviews was to support or reject some of the main risk factors which are mentioned in the human trafficking literature. I attempted to select my interviewees with different views on prostitution and with different academic or professional backgrounds, which I will later elaborate in the Results chapter. Five of the expert interviews were conducted in Hungary (Budapest and Nyíregyháza), and three in the Netherlands (Amsterdam). Two of the expert interviews were slightly different from the remaining six: the one with van Groenestyn served rather as an introductory interview on Hungarian human trafficking victims in the Netherlands, while the conversation with Montvai mostly focused on prostitution and sex trafficking in Hungary, and less than on Hungarian victims in the Netherlands. Although these two interviews still have the strength to support at least some parts of my argument, the main part of the analysis will be based on the remaining six expert interviews.

Furthermore, I had the opportunity to conduct interviews with three Hungarian sex workers in The Hague. Two of them used to be personally involved in sexual exploitation. All three sex workers have been working in The Hague’s Red Light District for several years, thus they are very familiar with the often invisible problem of sex trafficking in the district13.

The findings of the interviews are complemented by a survey. The survey data was gathered face-to-face by the author on the streets of Nyíregyháza, Hungary, as many prostitutes working in the Netherlands used to come from this city (Siegel, 2012). I stayed in the town for 9 days, between April 19th and 25th and May 2nd and 4th, and collected 79 answers from randomly chosen women between the age of 16 and 37. The survey data were analysed with SPSS Statistics software program.

13

Despite the new regulations in 2013, pimps still appear in the Red Light Districts of Dutch cities (e.g. Huisman & Kleemans, 2014; Verhoeven, 2016).

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4.3.Qualitative data

4.3.1. Selection and procedure

Between March 23rd and May 12th, I conducted two types of face-to-face interviews: I talked to eight experts and three Hungarian sex workers in The Hague. All interviews have been transcribed.

Table 1: Expert interviews – Summary

This thesis mostly relies on six of the eight semi-structured expert interviews which were held in the Netherlands and Hungary. Seven conversations were in Hungarian, while the one with Mill Bijnen was in English. Except for the one with Maaike van Groenestyn, all interviews were recorded, and their length varied between 35 and 120 minutes. Table 1 presents a summary on the expert interviews.

For the sake of diversity, I attempted to select the interviewees from a wide range of organisations and researchers, from both Hungary and the Netherlands. I sought to conduct interviews with experts who represent both the radical feminist approach and the sex work theory. However, the conversations’ focus was always on sex trafficking, and not on prostitution, even if – as noted before – sometimes it is extremely difficult to distinguish between these two in practice.

Two interviews were conducted with representatives of associations for sex workers: Spot46 is an information and advice organisation for sex workers in The Hague, while the Hungarian Association of Sex Workers (Szexmunkások Érdekvédelmi Egyesülete, SZEXE) is a similar organisation, operating in Budapest, Hungary. I also conducted an interview with a former fieldworker of the Red Light District of Amsterdam. These three interviews with van Groenestyn, Bangha (Spot46) and Montvai (SZEXE) were similar in the sense that their organisations are not directly engaged in sex trafficking, since their main focus is on sex work

Name Organisation Position Date Place

Maaike van

Groenestyn*

- former field worker March 26 Amsterdam, NED Viktória Bangha Spot46 social service provider April 3 Amsterdam, NED Hanna Montvai* SZEXE project assistant April 19 Budapest, HUN Csilla Janka, Balázs

Lehel

IOM, Budapest reintegration assistant, office director

April 26 Budapest, HUN

Katalin Szoboszlai Periféria Association

president; researcher (University of Debrecen)

May 3 Nyíregyháza, HUN

Zoltán Tusják - former social worker May 3 Nyíregyháza, HUN

Viktória Sebhelyi - researcher May 8 Budapest, HUN

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as an occupation in the Netherlands and Hungary. However, due to their positions, all three interviewees had a certain level of knowledge on sex trafficking as well.

Another group of the experts were more involved in human and sex trafficking. Amsterdam Coordinationpoint for Human Trafficking (ACM-COSM) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Budapest both directly tackle human trafficking, thus their experience largely contribute to the findings of this research.

The remaining three interviews represented the thoughts of three independent Hungarian researchers and social workers. Katalin Szoboszlai is a researcher at the University of Debrecen, and also the president of Periféria Association, which operates in Nyíregyháza with an aim of providing help to socially marginalised groups, such as homeless people or sex workers. Zoltán Tusják is also from Nyíregyháza, who has been working in Huszártelep for decades as a social worker and family care specialist. Both of them are very familiar with Huszártelep’s problems, such as prostitution. Viktória Sebhelyi is a Hungarian researcher: her main focus area is child trafficking, but as the mentor for Hungarian issues of the reintegration project, she also contributes to the work of Spot46.

Additionally, this research also builds on interviews with Hungarian sex workers in the Netherlands. Originally, I attempted to recruit interviewees through Dutch NGOs, however, none of the organisations I contacted could help me, due to their anonymity policies. Instead, they suggested that I visit the Red Light District of Amsterdam and ask the sex workers themselves whether they were willing to participate in my research. During this field trip, I approached 12 international sex workers, one window owner and a colleague of Red Light Secrets (Museum of Prostitution), but I failed to find anyone from Hungary.14

This strategy did not prove to be successful. Nevertheless, later I was given the opportunity to conduct short, mostly unstructured interviews with three Hungarian sex workers in The Hague. The interviews were arranged by one of my expert interviewees, Viktória Bangha, who has known many of these sex workers for years and is in weekly contact with them. She was present during all three interviews, which took around 10 and 20 minutes. Two of the sex workers allowed me to record the conversation, while the third asked me to take notes only. One of the interviews was held in the office of Spot46, while the other two in the rooms of the sex workers in the Red Light District of The Hague.

The reason why this thesis involves interviews with sex workers is because, even if they work in the sex industry of their own free will, it can be assumed that they are able to

14

Four sex workers told me that it is very easy to find Hungarians, as “there are a lot of Hungarian women” there / “half the girls” or “everyone” is from Hungary / “Hungarians are everywhere”. On the other hand, the window owner told me it is very unlikely that anyone from Hungary would talk to me.

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provide an insight into sex trafficking in The Hague. Moreover, two interviewees disclosed that they used to have pimps, which made the information they gave even more relevant.

To guarantee participants’ anonymity, names of the sex worker informants have been changed.

Anett is a 31-year-old sex worker from North-Hungary. She arrived in The Hague seven years ago, after her female friend suggested pushing her fortune in the Netherlands. She does not have any children, and she never worked for pimps. Anett has been single for ten years. She is planning to stay maximum one more year and then forget she has ever been in The Hague.

Barbi is 33, from South-East-Hungary, she has been working in the Netherlands as a sex worker for eight years. She used to have two pimps: first, she went to Belgium for a weekend trip, but then her boyfriend showed her the street where she was expected to work. After two weeks of earning nothing, her pimp beat her, so she contacted another man who lived in The Hague. The situation was the same: she worked for this second pimp in The Hague for one and a half years.

Claudia is older than the others: she must be around 45-50. She arrived in the Netherlands four years ago. She has three children: two of them are grown-ups, living in England. She was more distrustful and cautious than her younger colleagues, asking me not to record the conversation, and did not tell me which part of Hungary she was coming from. She seems to be very proud that, unlike most women in the Red Light District, she has a degree. Similarly to Barbi, Claudia was also involved in sex trafficking, but she was never physically abused. She believes that this is because she is older than the others, and also because her pimp was not an aggressive one.

4.3.2. Structure

Since the two types of interviewees – experts and sex workers – differ to a great extent, I followed different strategies when I prepared for the conversations.

The interviews with the three sex workers in The Hague were less structured then the expert interviews, especially because of the lack of time. As I did not have the opportunity to get to know my interviewees better and to establish bona fides, I often let them talk, without interrupting them. In general, I asked them about their observations on sex trafficking in The Hague’s Red Light District (e.g. "What are the reasons some women have pimps?"; "How do you know if someone has a pimp?"). Afterwards, as they opened up, I ask them to talk more

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about their own experiences as victims ("How did your pimp convince you to come to leave Hungary?"; "How did you escape from the situation?").

As for the expert interviews, I elaborated a guideline in advance – with the exception of the interviews van Groenestyn and Montvai, which served rather as explorative conversations. For the sake of consistency, I followed this guideline which included questions about the causal relationship between poverty and the three additional independent variables and sex trafficking. In other words, I attempted to ask all the questions in the same way from all of my interviewees; at the same time, however, I also sought to adjust to each interviewee’s approach and narrative.

The guideline can be divided into two parts. First, interviewees were requested to give brief introductions about themselves, their organisations, and their particular positions within their organisations. I also asked them to talk about their previous experience regarding prostitution, human trafficking, and sex trafficking in particular. Afterwards, I got on to the subject of transnational sex trafficking, and, in particular, trafficking of women between Hungary and the Netherlands. I asked explorative questions about general trends and the magnitude of this problem, as well as about the many contradictions regarding this topic. Most importantly, I raised questions about their opinion on the most important micro-level risk factors concerning sex trafficking.

4.4.Quantitative data 4.4.1. Procedure

The second part of the analysis is based on a survey, which I conducted in Nyíregyháza, where many of the prostitutes working in the Netherlands came from (Siegel, 2012). Nyíregyháza is the seventh biggest city in Hungary with its 118 000 inhabitants (KSH, 2016: 22). Originally, part of the survey would have been conducted at Huszártelep – also called as the "Guszev" –, a segregated Roma settlement, the poorest area of the city. Data collection in Huszártelep would have been reasonable, as not only its inhabitants live in extreme poverty, but also because many women set out to work as prostitutes in Western European cities, such as Zurich or Amsterdam (e.g. Finger, 2016), therefore I could have tested whether social network has an influence on sex trafficking.

However, the strategy of conducting the survey at Huszártelep turned out to be impossible, since none of the NGOs I contacted could help me with data collection. I was told that this topic is such a big taboo that no one talks about it, not even with their friends or social workers. Usually, if a woman works abroad as a prostitute, only her closest family

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members know about it – the others can just guess and gossip (Szoboszlai15). Visiting the settlement without the help of a social worker would have probably proved to be counterproductive, as it was not likely that young women would be willing to talk about their experience concerning prostitution with a stranger.

Therefore, I conducted the survey on the randomly chosen streets of Nyíregyháza. The data are convenience, non-probability sample, since I collected them without relying on pre-existing demographic information. However, Észak-Alföld, the region where Nyíregyháza is located in Hungary, is also the ninth poorest region of the European Union in 2015 (Eurostat, 2017: 2), thus I assumed that I would be more likely to find poor respondents. This way, I could examine that in addition to poverty, what explains sex trafficking in the case of Hungarian female victims.

I stayed in the city for 9 days, between April 19th and 25th, then from May 2nd to 4th, and collected 79 answers from randomly chosen women between the age of 16 and 37. Most answers (59) were collected in the main shopping centre of the city – two minutes of walking from Kossuth tér, the main square –, as most days the weather did not make it possible to conduct surveys in the streets. I approached the other 20 women on the main square or in parks. In order to avoid manipulated answers, I did not ask anyone who was with her partner or relatives to fill out the survey, although some women participated together with their female friends. In two cases, respondents’ partners showed up in the middle of conducting the survey, these two respondents were excluded from the analysis.

In general, data collection was smooth. It seldom happened that someone backed out of participating only because of the sensitivity of the topic. There were a few people who rejected me simply because they were in a hurry. During 9 days, only three people decided not to participate for other reasons: two of them thought that their answers would not be relevant, and one of them seemed to get scared, although she had already agreed to participate when she found out that the topic was about the Netherlands. However, two challenges emerged during data collection: the extremely bad weather – out of nine days, it was raining on seven –, as well as and the fact that on the third day, the security guard politely asked me to leave the shopping centre, since I did not have the permission to collect data on a private property.

15

Indirect quotes from the expert interviews will be referenced in two ways: sometimes I directly refer to them (e.g. "As Bangha argued"). In other cases, when it is not obvious which expert I am talking about, these indirect quotes are referenced by interviewees’ family names, or, in the case of IOM, by the organisation’s name they represent (e.g. (Bangha)). Quotes by the sex workers will not be referenced directly, as these interviews were anonymous.

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I decided not to collect data via online surveys for three reasons. First, because functional illiteracy in Hungary is relatively high: according to OECD’s PISA Test from 2015, compared to the OECD average 20.0%, 27.5% of Hungarian 15-year-old students’ reading skills are below level 2 (OECD, 2017), which means that they have major difficulties interpreting the text they read. Second, approaching people in the streets allowed me to engage in conversations after we had finished the structured part. With this method, I made two spontaneous interviews with women who have acquaintances who work abroad as prostitutes16.

4.4.2. Structure and Survey Design

The survey included questions about poverty and three additional variables: family obligations, social networks and previous experience in prostitution. However, since no one claimed that she have worked as a prostitute before in Hungary, the survey cannot examine this variable. The survey form can be found in the Appendix (Appendix 1).

4.4.2.1.The dependent variable

Capturing the nature of sex trafficking in a few questions was extremely challenging, as trafficking not often depends on the choice and decisions of (potential) victims. The dependent variable was captured by four different questions on participants’ willingness to work in the sex industry in the Netherlands under specific circumstances. Participants were asked whether they would switch to prostitution if their boyfriends could not find a job in the Netherlands, if this way they could earn more money than with another job; if this way they could send more money to their families who stayed home; if that way they would have more money to support their children, and finally, if their boyfriends told them to do so.

16

Aside from the interviews with experts and sex workers, I conducted two 10-minute-long, spontaneous and unstructured interviews with two women (18 and 25) from Nyíregyháza, right after they filled out the survey. I do not include these interviews in the Methods chapter for three reasons. First, because these interviews were not planned, therefore they are not essential parts of the research design. Second, due to their short and spontaneous nature, they do not have the capacity to support or reject the argument of this thesis in a systematic way. However, as both conversations revealed some interesting details on the topic, I will discuss these short conversations later, in the Discussion chapter.

The reason I decided to ask additional questions is because they were very talkative and they both knew someone from Hungary who works in the Dutch sex industry, thus it seemed worthwhile to conduct interviews with them. (Although it is disputable whether their friends in the Netherlands is indeed a victim of trafficking or works of her free will.) They both agreed that I can use their additional information in my thesis. I also approached a third, rather chatty woman, who also has a prostitute friend in the Netherlands, but she refused to give an interview, saying that "even those who merely talk about it, are

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4.4.2.2.Independent and control variables Poverty

In order to determine respondents’ financial situation, they had to answer eight poverty-related questions. Some of them were general questions about participants’ wealth (e.g. "In the last 12 months, how often did you go out for cinema, theatre, clubs etc.?"; "In the last 12 months, how often did you go for summer of winter holidays?"; "In the last 12 months, how often did you have access to your car?"; "In the last 12 months, how often did you take out a loan or borrowed money from someone?"); while others attempted to reveal participants’ own perceptions of their economic status (e.g. "In the last 12 months, how often did you feel that you have financial difficulties?"; "How much money do you think an average Hungarian household needs a month?"; "How would you rate your household’s financial situation?"; "How much money does your household earn a month?").

Family obligations

To determine the importance of family obligations, the survey contained three questions: one about the number of children, whether the participant has a relative whom she supports financially, and another one about the number of these relatives.

Previous involvement in prostitution

As previous involvement in prostitution is undoubtedly a very sensitive question, I used a cross-wise model (e.g. Höghlinger and Diekmann, 2017): two arguments were asked at the same time, a sensitive and a non-sensitive one. The non-sensitive one was a question for which a statistical answer exists (e.g.: "Were you born during summer?"), and in the meantime, they were also asked whether they worked as prostitutes before. Participants did not have to directly answer either question, they just had to state how many of the arguments were true.

However, this strategy of combining sensitive questions with non-sensitive ones did not prove to be useful, as most respondents answered directly to both questions. 78 respondents told me directly that they had never worked as prostitutes, while one respondent answered the way I asked to do so, with a number. Since the likelihood that this person was born during summer is presumably higher than she has experience as a prostitute, I assume that similarly to the other 78 respondents, she has never worked in prostitution either. Therefore, as there was no variation in this independent variable, the survey cannot test the contribution of this variable on sex trafficking.

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Social network

I used the same method for one of the questions which measured social network: the sensitive question was whether they have friends or acquaintances who work abroad as a prostitute, while the non-sensitive one was whether their mothers were born during summer. Similarly to the question regarding prostitution, respondents gave direct answer to this one too. Later, I took advantage of their honesty to identify the eight missing answers. Overall, 37 women told me that one of the statements is true for them, and one argued that both statements are true. Out of them, 15 people maintained that they know a Hungarian sex worker abroad, while 14 argued that their mothers were born during the summer. The remaining eight did not give a clear answer. To predict the overall numbers of those who have a sex worker friend abroad, I made some probability calculations. If out of 29, 15 women argued that they knew someone who works abroad as a prostitute, then it can be assumed that this statement is also true for half of the remaining eight women, while the other four probably has a mother who were born during summer. The logic behind these calculations are summarised by Table 2.

These calculations can be supported in another way. Out of 71, 15 women stated directly that their mothers were born during summer, and I added half of the un-known answers as positive answers for the non-sensitive question. According to the overall results, 19 women claimed that their mothers were born during summer, which sounds appropriate, as it can be assumed that every fourth person is born between June and August in general.

Table 2: Identifying the missing answers N prostitute friend abroad mother’s birthday on

summer 0 yes 41 0 0 1 yes 29 15 14 1 yes: Missing 8 4 4 2 yes 1 1 1 Overall 79 20 19 Control variables

Besides the four independent variables, this study included several control variables, as they might have an influence on the dependent variable. These control variables were the following: age, education (on an 8-point scale), language skills (on a 5-point scale), marital status, work status, student status, whether participants have ever been to the Netherlands, risk-taking behaviour (on a 5-point scale) and life satisfaction (on a 5-point scale).

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