Citation

Durisin E, Meulen E. Anti-Traffick. Rev. 2021; 16: 145-149.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW))

DOI

10.14197/atr.201221169

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article explores debates among politicians in Ontario, Canada, regarding anti-trafficking legislation introduced in 2016 and 2017. We find that contemporary discussions in the political sphere have shifted away from concerns about the trafficking of migrant exotic dancers and toward the sexual exploitation of girls and young women, represented as idealised, inculpable victims. We suggest that this conflates the diverse experiences of girls and adult women, configures them all as child-like, and renders both groups as being in need of state protection. The new 'perfect victim' serves to legitimise policy approaches that criminalise sexual services, despite those laws being deemed harmful to sex workers in courts and other venues.

Keywords: Human trafficking;

Language: en

Keywords

anti-trafficking; anti-trafficking review; crime; gender; human rights; human trafficking; human trafficking journal; immigration; journal; labour rights; migration; prostitution; review; rights; sex work; trafficked persons; trafficking; trafficking in persons; transnational crime; women