Browsing by Subject "Human trafficking"
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Item Open Access Creating Clarity: Ethnic and Sexual Politics of United Kingdom's Human Trafficking Discourse(2011-05-06) Purohit, BhumiHuman trafficking has become a prominent political issue in the United Kingdom since 2001, with all major parties in the country agreeing on the importance of abolishing trafficking. However, the political discourse is riddled with two frameworks, with each party supporting one or the other at various times: trafficking as a border security issue versus trafficking as a human rights issue. In order to examine the relationship of this discursive political dichotomy with the journalistic understanding of the issue, the paper examines discourse on sex trafficking among four major newspapers, each with a different political affiliation: The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, and The Independent. The study finds that the nineteenth century perception of innocent, and usually white and virgin women being lured into trafficking by “evil” foreign traffickers is still implicitly present in modern-day journalistic discourse. The presence of these ethnic and sexual politics, which influence the border security and human rights frameworks, respectively, confound the reality of trafficking with a discursive myth. The journalistic discourse thus has a policy implication of victims needing to fit the discursive mold of a trafficked person in order to receive human rights protections. Though finding a factual account of trafficking is difficult, adding voices of trafficked persons to narratives may create a clearer picture of the issue, and lead to better protections for trafficked persons in U.K. policy.Item Open Access Flying Blind? Implementing a Trauma-Informed Care Approach in the Treatment of Trafficking Survivors(2018-12-05) Downey, CaraMillions of people are exploited for labor or sex throughout the world. Governments and non-profit organizations have increasingly explored how to best help trafficking survivors overcome their adversity through services such as counseling, job assistance, financial assistance, family reunification, and housing. However, there are few evidence-based practices for how to best care for trafficking survivors due to transitory contact between survivors and care providers, a lack of organizational capacity for research, and the need to not withhold potentially beneficial treatment from any survivor. In 2018, the United States Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons suggested that one best practice is using trauma-informed care (TIC) due to survivors’ likelihood of having experienced complex trauma. This study examines 18 anti-trafficking organization employees’ perceptions and use of TIC in the treatment of trafficking survivors through interviews. A meta-analysis of research about the best practices of meeting the mental health needs of survivors shows in what ways providers using TIC to meet survivors’ mental health needs are not flying blind, but rather using evidence-based practices. A meta-analysis of research about the mental health needs of trafficking survivors is used to further develop providers’ understanding of survivors’ mental health needs and identify areas for further research.Item Open Access Human Trafficking, the Church, and You(2023) Bledsoe, Robert SimmonsThere are more slaves on planet earth right now than at any other point in history. This thesis works to highlight the reality of human trafficking, share stories of victims and survivors, study the canon of Scripture proving that this conversation matters to God, hear from experts currently engaged in this work, and offer practical options for individuals and churches to join in the fight to end human trafficking. I believe Christians should be leading the charge to advocate, legislate, and do something about modern day slavery. This is a criminal empire that is seemingly in the dark, but it is hidden in plain sight. My prayer is that this thesis shines a light on the atrocity that is human trafficking. The primary methodology of this thesis includes the sharing of testimonies, stories, and realities that others have produced and shared over the last several decades. In the grand scheme of the world, this topic has not been widely discussed or written about. In order to honor those currently doing this work, I labored to include a wide variety of resources that shine a light on human trafficking. This underscores the scope of the issue while engaging with other voices in the conversation. I will begin by offering an accurate assessment of what trafficking is and looks like. I will highlight why this should matter to Christians and churches by engaging Scripture, theologians of the past and present, and existing scholarly work. I will then interview leaders from three different organizations about the work they do and what their suggestions would be for individuals and churches to be engaged in the fight against trafficking. Finally, I will take all of this data and research and conclude by offering my recommendations for individuals and churches to make a difference in their neighborhoods, communities, country, and the world. I believe this project is feasible, manageable, and needed by our society. I believe it will make a difference, and lives will be saved because of it.
Item Open Access Precarity in German Policy: The Vulnerabilities of Refugees and Asylees from Discrimination to Human Trafficking(2020-05-31) Suleiman, NadiyahTo create a safer, more inclusive environment for refugees and asylees, it is incumbent upon Germany’s federal government and community-based organizations to build effective, well-informed policy and strengthen Germany’s community response to address the vulnerabilities refugees and asylees face daily. The current policies in place do not adequately address the underlying vulnerabilities that refugees and asylees face within Germany, such as access to formal job markets, safe housing, social acceptance, security, etc. This results in a heightened precarity of refugees and asylees, leaving them vulnerable to discrimination, violence, and human trafficking. Policy that is aimed at the underlying causes of precarity is crucial. Providing information to refugees and asylees about their rights within Germany will increase their ability to self-advocate. Federal actors can expand formal trainings for government officials to include understanding human trafficking in the context of a refugee’s and asylee’s situation, thus, encouraging an inclusive and accurate approach to combat human trafficking from a top down perspective. These federal and state actors can also create more space for a community response to human trafficking of refugees and asylees, by relaxing its control of nonprofits, community-based organizations, and community service organizations. By expanding the influence of community-based organizations through diversifying partnerships and funders, community-based organizations can work outside of the federal sphere, providing a bottom up approach to human trafficking. Implementing and building upon these policy recommendations allows Germany to begin to evaluate its border policies’ role in creating precarity for refugees and asylees and collectively work towards a humanitarian approach to border control.Item Open Access The Under-subscription of T-1 Visas: A Study on America’s Conceptualization of Human Trafficking Victims(2012-12-07) Horstmann, BethanyThis thesis examines the framing of the Victims in Trafficking in Persons nonimmigrant Visa (T Visa), established in 2000 within the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)—part of the domestic effort within the United States to combat trafficking following the Palermo Protocol. Since its inception, the T Visa has been severely undersubscribed, in both the number of applicants and those who are ultimately approved for the T Visa. Each year Congress is authorized to approve up to 5,000 T Visas, yet between 2002-2010 Congress approved less than 4,000 of 6,000 total applications for the T Visa. This study explores why the T Visa is undersubscribed by examining the frames and branding of the T Visa both in terms of the State Department’s presentation to non governmental organizations (NGOs) and NGO’s presentation to victims of trafficking. Based off an analysis of three organizations (the State Department, the Coalition for the Abolition of Slavery and Trafficking, and the Polaris Project), this study finds the presence of a prosecutorial framework, an anti-slavery framing that goes against certain feminist presentations of trafficking, and a palpable tension between immigration and humanitarian law are all possible contributing factors to the T Visa’s under-subscription. In the conclusion, recommendations are made in order to curb this under-subscription and make the T Visa a more effective tool. Specifically, the author recommends all three organizations, as well as policymakers in the United States at large, rethink their framing of trafficking and consider revamping or changing their focus on antislavery framing.