Human trafficking from the perspective of the Chilean state: data, knowledge production, and gaps in responding to a complex phenomenon

• In Event: Criminology of Mobility. Panel 6. Forms of trafficking in human beings

Abstract

In the current era of widespread violence, the production of knowledge is crucial to addressing human rights violations and promoting understanding of them. Access to information is essential for justice and truth, for countering denial by perpetrators, for providing redress and reparations to victims, and for promoting non-recurrence. However, the generation of knowledge on human rights violations by the State faces major challenges: scattered data, lack of standardisation, absence of uniform laws, legal limitations, discrepancies in accreditation criteria, compartmentalisation of victims, victims forced to repeat painful testimonies and excluded cases. Addressing these gaps is essential for promoting democratic societies, preventing recurrence and strengthening the rule of law.

This paper, which is part of the research project “Millennium Nucleus for Research on Human Rights violations Data Production and Use by the State" (DATA JUSTA) financed by ANID (Chile), presents the preliminary results of a qualitative analysis of the data and information produced by the Chilean state on human trafficking. The main questions that this research sought to answer were how the Chilean state defines the victim of trafficking, how this victim is treated (according to what decisions, criteria and mechanisms), and how the state responds to this victim. The data collection analysis included key informant interviews, ethnographic shadowing and document analysis in two cities in Chile. Preliminary findings reveal important gaps in the way the state identifies, acts and responds to trafficking, leaving certain types of victims off the radar of state instruments and failing to address the complexity of the phenomenon.

Authors

• Daniela Bolivar Fernandez, P. Universidad Católica de Chile

• Oriana Bernasconi, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile