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Working Title of PhD: Identify the Links between Social Exclusion and Human Trafficking

Summary: References can be found on the size and scope of human trafficking into sexual exploitation, but the global experience in combating trafficking is relatively young. Attention directed at combating sex traffic tends to focus on law and order aspects. While the authoritative literature on sex traffic indicates that the numbers of women and children victimized are increasing. Persistent efforts by Non-Governmental Organizations and Humanitarian bodies have raised awareness over the years, yet much still needs to be understood. What are the underlying cultural and social structures that reinforce networks of trafficking and slavery? What is the link between the social exclusion and human trafficking into sexual slavery?

Efforts to combat human traffic exist worldwide. Yet, as the action and research in Asia and Eastern Europe strengthens, trafficking in Latin America remains largely left behind. In 2009, I conducted a 13 month ethnographic research project in Guatemala, Central America. I worked closely with sex workers and former traffic victims in and around the capital gathering data to be analyzed and compiled in 2011. This project focuses on the extreme social exclusion within Guatemala society and how that relates to the wider push/pull factors of sex traffic.

Keywords: Sex traffic; Social Exclusion; Latin America

Year commenced PhD Study: 2008 (full time)

Funding sources: SCCJR