Beyond the Rhetoric

How Gender Stereotyping Continues to Shape

Counter-Trafficking Programmes and the Participation
of Victims in Decisions that affect their Lives
May 2011

Presentation to ADB Gender Equity CoP

Phil Marshall

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the
data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not
imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology
Trafficking context

 Trafficking affects almost all countries

 Modern manifestations of old phenomenon
– Increased inequality and more knowledge about it
– Spatial mismatches between labor demand and supply
– Misaligned migration policies and practices
– Improved transport and communications technology
– Many different forms

 No agreed scope/statistics – unlikely to change

 UNODC: THB is 3rd largest transnational crime

– Victims can be repeatedly exploited
– High profitability and relatively low risk
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Gender-based stereotyping of trafficking

 Most programmes now include focus on labor trafficking and

men as well as women

 However, the traditional stereotype of women and girls being

tricked into forced prostitution still casts a shadow over our
responses to human trafficking, including:

1. How trafficking is understood

2. Activities that make up prevention
3. How trafficking victims are identified
4. Services provided to trafficked persons
5. The participation of trafficked persons and vulnerable women

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How trafficking is understood

 Most interventions to identify trafficking still focus on

women in the sex trade.

 This becomes self-fulfilling – World TIP Report says 66%

of victims are women, 13% girls, 9% boys. 79% of TIP is
for sex trade (On page 53, it notes this is based on case
reporting, which links back to intervention focus)

 Recent UNIAP study found few cases of sex trafficking and

twice as many cases involving men as women (bias?)

 Focus on women and children inadvertently reinforces

stereotype that people are trafficked because they are
weak and without agency … which affects prevention …
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Activities that make up prevention

 Prevention programmes continue to attribute causes to

characteristics of victims … trafficked because they are
poor/gullible/lacking in awareness. (Source-based)

 Available evidence does NOT support this. Affected

communities are often well aware of realities of
migration (UNIAP, Chiang Mai, USAID).

 Little focus on structural issues

– Bias of legal migration options in favor of male-dominated work
– Lack of protection in sectors dominated by female migrants

 Attention to discriminatory attitudes that provide an

enabling environment for exploitation becomes
collapsed into a „debate‟ about demand for paid sex
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How victims are identified

 Focus on sex trade in laws, policies and programmes,

often combined with conflation of trafficking and
prostitution (e.g. Cambodia)

 Limited focus on labor. UNIAP study of deported

migrants (Cambodia-Thailand) identified 23% as
meeting definition of trafficking. That is 20,000
unidentified victims a year on one border crossing

 Idea that victims can‟t help themselves and must be

rescued. Lack of options for coming forward (hotlines,
reporting mechanisms on returning home)

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Paternalistic services provided to victims

Services are still based on stereotype and are simply

not appropriate for many victims, so they don’t want to
come forward. This means no services for them and
no information for those combating trafficking.

Detention in shelters (IDC example)

Inappropriate legal process (Fish factory example)
Restrictions on movement (Indonesian example vs
Bangladesh emerging practice)
Limited and stereotyped options – “we know best”
(Vietnam exception)
Template-based programs (Household registration, VN)
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Participation of trafficked Persons

Most evaluations are output based:

Number of victims “helped” (not always sex

disaggregated), number of services provided

Few client satisfaction surveys

Limited follow-up and inappropriate indicators, often
around movement or even „normalization‟
– Cambodian marriage example

Thus, victims often have limited opportunities to provide

their views and there are few built-in funding incentives for
service providers to take their views into account.
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Recommendations I

Prevention activities
Proper vulnerability assessments, drawing on victim info
Identify structural issues with scope for change
– Domestic work into labor laws
– More safe migration options for women
Include focus on attitudes which underpin exploitation
– Trafficking info in schools should not just cover risks
– Sexual mores make sex trade inevitable in many countries

Victim Identification and Services

Strengthen services and reduce barriers to identification
– More emphasis on legal processes and remedies
– Create safe migration options, including in destination countries
Recommendations II

Participation of Trafficked Persons and Vulnerable Women

Provide opportunities for feedback from those affected

– Joint goal-setting for recovery and reintegration
– Victim feedback surveys core part of victim support
– Offer entertainment workers same courtesies as everyone else
Questions, Comments?

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