Citation

Marmo M, La Forgia R. Asian J. Criminol. 2008; 3(2): 173-191.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Trafficked women are used and consumed in different ways and by different users in Australia. The identity of these women is formed and shaped to fit the need of the user, whether it be the trafficker seeking to gain a profit, the consumer in the destination country, the national criminal justice agent in need of a prosecutorial tool, or the politician requiring a conduit to pursue border control policy. At the same time, the otherness and abjection of trafficked women is constantly maintained and reinforced as a commodity. Meanwhile, the discussion on the demand side, and the consequent responsibility of the destination country, is virtually omitted. This article addresses the question of how the sociolegal analysis and discourse would evolve if a literal interpretation of trafficking women as a commodity was taken into account, exploring an international trade approach. This approach, from a legal and jurisprudential perspective, offers more possibilities for women to expand their claims against the state. Currently in Australia, when a trafficked woman is located by the state, she is granted limited and temporal rights, and her position as the "other" as well as an abject entity remains notwithstanding the fact that she was imported because there is a demand within the territory.

Keywords: Human trafficking