Broadening the Discourse on Trafficking in Ukraine

This research was aimed at broadening the dominantpublic discourse on trafficking in Ukraine. It wasfocused on two issues: firstly, on introducing thecultural dimension of trafficking, which has beenemphasized but not sufficiently studied in theexisting literature and, secondly, on problematizingthe binary approach taken in the public discourse inUkraine of consensual migration vs. non consensualtrafficking.For this purpose the interviews conducted by theanti-trafficking NGO La Strada with 23 traffickedwomen upon their arrival have been analyzed. Thecontent analysis, used as a main tool of research,has shown that first, apart from economic factorsthat shaped these interviewed women's decision toleave Ukraine there was also a cultural dimensionthat included legacy of socialist ideology, thepost-1991 transitional period with import of "westernglamour", psychological climate in the family, etc.Second, the analysis of the interviews has shown thatin all cases 23 trafficked women did give theirexpress consent to traffickers either verbally or ina written form and thus it has shown that traffickingcould be a "voluntary" act.

Autorentext

Iryna Sushko has graduated from Kharkiv National University in 2007 and got MA in Foreign Languages with honors. After that she obtained MA degree in Gender Studies with merits from Central European University, Hungary. Her research interests focus on the gender perspectives on international policies and law.

Klappentext
This research was aimed at broadening the dominant public discourse on trafficking in Ukraine. It was focused on two issues: firstly, on introducing the cultural dimension of trafficking, which has been emphasized but not sufficiently studied in the existing literature and, secondly, on problematizing the binary approach taken in the public discourse in Ukraine of consensual migration vs. non consensual trafficking. For this purpose the interviews conducted by the anti-trafficking NGO La Strada with 23 trafficked women upon their arrival have been analyzed. The content analysis, used as a main tool of research, has shown that first, apart from economic factors that shaped these interviewed women's decision to leave Ukraine there was also a cultural dimension that included legacy of socialist ideology, the post-1991 transitional period with import of "western glamour", psychological climate in the family, etc. Second, the analysis of the interviews has shown that in all cases 23 trafficked women did give their express consent to traffickers either verbally or in a written form and thus it has shown that trafficking could be a "voluntary" act.