La Strada Documentation Center

Motherhood, Apple Pie and Slavery: Reflections on Trafficking Debates

Document number
1489
Date
2007
Title
Motherhood, Apple Pie and Slavery: Reflections on Trafficking Debates
Author/publisher
Bridget Anderson, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, Working Paper No. 48, University of Oxford
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Trafficking, Exploitation, Prostitution, Domestic work,
Summary
Trafficking in human beings is the object of considerable concern for a wide range of actors, including states, rights activists and feminists. It seems that it offers a rare opportunity for dialogue on questions related to the exploitation and abuse of migrant labour. This paper urges caution, and argues that loose definition of terms conceals both practical and philosophical problems with framing trafficking as an immigration issue. Using a UK case study it demonstrates how in practise states and migrants' rights activists have very different understandings of the relation between trafficking and immigration controls.
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