Are we working for the mafia? : the feminist dilemma and the fight against sex trafficking in women in the European Union

Abstract

The aim of this work is to analyse the current anti-(sex)-trafficking framework, with a special focus on the European Union context, given the position that the region occupies when it comes to the globalised migration structures and transnational movement of people. Initially, the focus will be on the historical background of the concept of human trafficking, followed by the evolution of legal instruments dealing with it. The discussions will show how women’s movements have influenced the legal and policy framework on the matter, and how the understandings about the sex industry on the whole have affected the way sex trafficking is countered nowadays. Having traced a contextualised understanding of the formation of the anti-(sex)-trafficking structures, the focus of the study will turn to the operability of the current legal and policy regimes on prostitution/sex work, always with regard to their effects on the fight against exploitation and trafficking. Here, I will question whether the idea of harmonising the regulatory system dealing with the sex industry would represent a positive answer to sex trafficking and will propose that there might be a gap on the questioning itself. So, I will justify my statement on the need for recognising the real impact of Governance Feminism in this fight, finally proposing that a common ground might be reached both in the theoretical and in the practical spheres, with the aim of building a more comprehensive and coherent response to sex trafficking.