A Critique of the Global Trafficking Discourse and U.S. Policy

Authors

Moshoula Capous Desyllas, Portland State University

Keywords

Feminist debates, sex trafficking, sex work, social policy, transnational migration

Abstract

This article examines the dominant discourse on trafficking in persons and the implementation of international and U.S. policy to address trafficking globally. Features of the United Nations Protocol and the Trafficking in Victims Protection Act demonstrate how trafficking frameworks currently in place contain underlying fears of migration and female sexuality. The implications of policy on the construction of third world women as "victims to be saved" through governments, National Government Organizations, feminists and the media will show how these misrespresentations only reinforce racism and dualistic simplifications of a complex issue. An emphasis is placed on the importance of women's agency and the possibility of multiple realities. An alternative way of thinking about human trafficking and related policy through a labor rights, migration and human rights framework is proposed

Recommended Citation

Desyllas, Moshoula Capous (2007) "A Critique of the Global Trafficking Discourse and U.S. Policy," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 34: Iss. 4, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3294
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol34/iss4/4