In this reflective chapter, we examine the structural biases and empirical challenges underlying human trafficking ‘indicators’ (especially problem, risk and performance indicators) that are... Show moreIn this reflective chapter, we examine the structural biases and empirical challenges underlying human trafficking ‘indicators’ (especially problem, risk and performance indicators) that are routinely used to describe and measure human trafficking, assess risk, identify abuses, evaluate responses, and encourage accountability. While frequently used, such indicators can give an undue illusion of objectivity and reliability when they are neither neutral nor unskewed. In fact, numerous factors affect which elements are privileged as ‘indicators’ and which are obscured. We therefore examine here the selectivity, politics, racialized and gendered concerns that relate to the production and use of human trafficking indicators. Since human trafficking is a complex, highly-contested, and multi-faceted practice, it is not easily reduced to the crude generalizations upon which many indicators rest. We explore how the uncritical use of indicators can both contribute to stereotypical and unachievable ideals of victimhood and engender undue criminalization or withholding of victim support. In doing so, we disentangle some paradoxes around who is deemed ‘vulnerable’, ‘at risk’, ‘worthy of support’ and requiring ‘protection’. We highlight the – routinely overlooked – weak empirical basis and other limitations of many commonplace ‘indicators’ and challenges in building empirically-stronger and more robust indicators. The chapter concludes with overall implications of these critical reflections for policy, interventions, and research. Show less
In the Netherlands, labour trafficking was criminalised as human trafficking in 2005.1 Since then, criminal investigations into labour trafficking have slowly taken off. Building on a content... Show moreIn the Netherlands, labour trafficking was criminalised as human trafficking in 2005.1 Since then, criminal investigations into labour trafficking have slowly taken off. Building on a content analysis of files and reports from the labour inspectorate, this paper contributes to the currently limited body of knowledge on the nature of labour trafficking. It does so by focussing on scholarly debates about the nature of the crime and its relation to labour migration. Based on the analysis, it is argued that the bulk of labour trafficking should be understood as a by-product of labour migration, and that labour trafficking often arises from the economic opportunistic motives of businesses and only occasionally occurs in criminal environments. In addition, the paper adds to our understanding of the prosecution of human trafficking by analysing why so many labour trafficking cases in the Netherlands have not resulted in a conviction. Building on a qualitative analysis of case law, it is shown that a major problem in getting suspects convicted is that the human rights threshold against which cases of labour trafficking are tested is often not surpassed, as the abuses in the labour market are often deemed not excessive enough to qualify as human trafficking. Show less
Labor trafficking has increasingly become a subject of policy and research due to the rise in cross-border mobility and globalization. Whereas labor trafficking is generally approached through a... Show moreLabor trafficking has increasingly become a subject of policy and research due to the rise in cross-border mobility and globalization. Whereas labor trafficking is generally approached through a criminal justice frame of transnational organized crime, in this contribution, a broader transnational social field approach is advocated. It is argued that this does more justice to the complex interconnectedness of contemporary reality and allows us to understand better how vulnerability on which human trafficking feeds is created. It is argued that a transnational field approach to labor trafficking allows us to understand better the different forms in which labor trafficking comes and the different ways in which transnational space plays a role in these. The Netherlands is used as an empirical illustration. It is illustrative of how transnational space plays a different role in three types of labor trafficking. For each type, three phases in the labor trafficking process are scrutinized: recruitment, transportation, and the phase of work. It is concluded that it would be helpful to approach labor trafficking not solely from a criminal justice perspective of transnational organized crime but to also include more locally rooted approaches from a labor migration perspective, including a transnational field approach. Show less
