The Lack of Equal Protection: A Case Study of Social Service Allocations for Trafficked Persons

• In Event: 308 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01.Sexual Violence and Masculinity

Abstract

This paper uses Foucault’s concept of power/knowledge and forms of government to investigate how the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) constructs the meaning of victims and shapes the allocation of social services. While the U.S. exercises a moral crusade, the TVPA governs moral conduct of trafficked persons in the area of sexuality. A case study was conducted through in-depth interviews with social service providers on the West Coast. Findings demonstrate that the TVPA governs trafficked persons on the basis of age of consent, type of labor, and legal status in the context of gender, and such governance affects access to social services. This paper suggests that addressing the problem of how the TVPA frames victims is the first step to acknowledging the existence of invisible victims who are in need of protection.

Authors

• Yuka Doherty, University of New Mexico

• Angelique Harris, Marquette University