Interrogating Sex Trafficking Discourses Using a Feminist Approach

The sexual exploitation of women and children is viewed as one of the most profitable forms of human trafficking, usually in the form of forced prostitution, forced marriages, child prostitution and child pornography. High levels of sexual exploitation among women and children are strongly associated with gender-based violence. The sexual exploitation of women is a fast-growing criminal industry. Key challenges in effectively addressing sex trafficking are the multiple definitions of what constitutes actual criminal and gender rights abuses of sex trafficking practices. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of discourses of sex trafficking as a form of gender-based violence in the existing literature, using a feminist approach. The discourses interrogated are victim selection (recruitment), vulnerability of victims (women and children), the economy and sex trafficking, and policy-related forms of exploitation of women and children. Recommendations for further empirical research on this sensitive topic are offered with respect to intervention strategies.