Victims Without Rights?

In Europe, the majority of sex workers are migrantwomen. Who are these migrant sex workers? Innocentvictims of human trafficking, illegal migrants orjust providers of sexual services?This study analyses human rights discourses regardingmigrant sex work and human trafficking with the helpof Foucault's discourse theory. The question ofwomen's consent, the contextualisation of migrant sexwork and trafficking in organised crime or survivalstrategies, are crucial to understand the conflictingdiscourses, perception of migrant sex workers and thestrategies to which the discourses lead.International anti-trafficking legislation does notserve for the judgements made by migrant prostitutesand rather contributes to a victimisation discourseregarding sex workers by adopting a criminalisationstrategy in which women's human rights are not themain focus anymore. Concerns about security andimmigration control prevail. Trafficked women areonly used for anti-trafficking crime proceedingswhere they become victims without rights. Theprotection and respect for human rights of traffickedpersons take the back seat.Two cases (Sweden and Switzerland) are illustrated inthis study.

Autorentext

Master's degrees in International Relations (HEI/Geneva) and in Human Rights & Democratization (E.MA/Venice), worked for Swiss Federal Office for Migration (Bern) and UN Peacekeeping Operation in Burundi. Member of Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding, Assistant to UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Prof. Manfred Nowak (BIM/Vienna).

Klappentext
In Europe, the majority of sex workers are migrant women. Who are these migrant sex workers? Innocent victims of human trafficking, illegal migrants or just providers of sexual services? This study analyses human rights discourses regarding migrant sex work and human trafficking with the help of Foucault's discourse theory. The question of women's consent, the contextualisation of migrant sex work and trafficking in organised crime or survival strategies, are crucial to understand the conflicting discourses, perception of migrant sex workers and the strategies to which the discourses lead. International anti-trafficking legislation does not serve for the judgements made by migrant prostitutes and rather contributes to a victimisation discourse regarding sex workers by adopting a criminalisation strategy in which women's human rights are not the main focus anymore. Concerns about security and immigration control prevail. Trafficked women are only used for anti-trafficking crime proceedings where they become victims without rights. The protection and respect for human rights of trafficked persons take the back seat. Two cases (Sweden and Switzerland) are illustrated in this study.