The Politics of Sex Trafficking

Abstract

At the turn of the twenty-first century, interest in human trafficking exploded, with activists, scholars and policy makers rushing to understand the causes of and solutions to this problem, broadly characterised as a ‘modern form of slavery’. Such concerns centre primarily on the fear that vulnerable women from developing countries are being lured to developed countries with false promises of a better income and a better life; where the use of deceptive and coercive methods is dominant; and where women are recruited, transported and exploited for their labour. Growing panic about women and children being traded as commodities in sexual slavery has challenged the international community to act.