New issue of Anti-Trafficking Review sheds light on human traffickers

Written on 15 June 2022.

In April, we published the new issue of Anti-Trafficking Review on the theme of ‘Traffickers’ and guest edited by Marika McAdam. We chose this theme because of the lack of knowledge of who the perpetrators of human trafficking are, why they engage in trafficking, and how they operate. The fourteen articles and one interview published in the issue – from Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Greece, Italy, the Caribbean, and the United States – examine the characteristics, motivations, and modus operandi of traffickers, their relationships with victims, and their treatment in the criminal justice system. Importantly, they point to measures that can prevent people from offending and ensure that justice is served for both victims and perpetrators.

One common theme that emerged in the articles was that many of the people convicted of human trafficking are not male members of organised crime gangs, as often portrayed in public and policy discourse, but come from ethnic and racial minorities and low socioeconomic and educational backgrounds – much like their victims. Several articles highlight how women who were themselves trafficked go on to traffic others while one set of authors describe traffickers and victims as ‘opposite sides of the same coin’. It becomes clear from the issue that measures to prevent people from becoming victims – such as accessible and affordable education, creation of decent work opportunities, and combating gender and racial discrimination – is also likely to prevent people from becoming traffickers.

To share these findings and promote the new issue, in April we organised a public event at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok. The journal Editor, Borislav Gerasimov from GAATW-IS and the special issue guest editor, Marika McAdam, presented the issue and the main findings. Reena Hamid from the University of Malaya spoke about her article on the relationship between women identified as victims in Kuala Lumpur and their traffickers, and Luong Le and Caitlin Wyndham from Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation spoke about their article on the profile and modus operandi of traffickers in Vietnam. You can see a recording of the event here.