Deconstructing the ‘disable victim of human trafficking’: Social harm, exceptionality and ableism-care tensions

• In Event: Human Trafficking and Vulnerable Populations

Abstract

This study interrogates the construction of the ‘disable victim of human trafficking’ embedded in global anti-trafficking policy initiatives, as reflected in the annual U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report (TIPR). Using the conceptual framework of ableism, we undertake content analysis of the TIPRs 2001-2023. We show that policy interventions are still central in imposing ableist frameworks of knowledge and interventions globally and locally. Three main findings emerge from the content analysis: firstly, the references to disability have been amplified over time. Specifically, from 2003 onwards there is a gradual but clear trend towards more of these references appearing in each subsequent iteration of the Report. Thus, there is a shift from a state of silence towards both wider visibility and labelling disable victims of trafficking as extremely vulnerable. Secondly, these references portray disability in relation to human trafficking as either a factor that renders someone ‘at risk’, ‘at high risk’, ‘particularly vulnerable’ or ‘most vulnerable’. While the intersection between victimisation and disability is becoming more visible, in most instances the problem is framed as human traffickers preying on individual victims or on certain features of some victims, rather than recognising the continuous impact of ableism, as it permeates social structures. Thirdly, there is a trend to acknowledge that human trafficking violence may lead to disability and to secondary and tertiary victimisation. Based on our findings we argue that the reports are infused with an ableist conundrum both locally and internationally.

Author

• Avi Boukli, University of Southampton