FAQs: TRAFFICKING FOR LABOUR EXPLOITATION – THE ROLE OF GENDER

FAQ: What is gender?

Gender is generally understood as the social ideas about what it means to be a man or woman, while sex refers to a person’s biological characteristics. Sex is a physical characteristic, while gender is a social characteristic. Social perceptions about men and women penetrate our views on behaviours that are considered to be feminine or masculine or those that are acceptable for a man or a woman. At the same time, societal understanding of the roles of women and men also tend to define how we see their roles within the family (e.g. in many societies it is expected of the man to provide for his family) and community (e.g. men are seen as leaders whereas women are to follow instructions of male relatives).

FAQ: What are the links between gender and labour trafficking?

Human trafficking has a gender dimension. Men and women are affected in different ways by the experience of labour migration as well by trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. Also, societal views on victims of trafficking can be very different based on an individuals’ gender. For example, some societies may view women migrants as vulnerable victims, whereas men may be construed more as a social threat – cheap labour that drives wages of indigenous workers down. Anti-trafficking initiatives designed without social context analysis (e.g. gender analysis) might harm the very people whose rights they claim to protect.

FAQ: What is gender perspective on human trafficking?

Gender perspective on trafficking is being aware that victims’ gender plays a role. It could have been a reason why they were targeted by traffickers in the first place, or why they will be more susceptible to staying in a situation of exploitation. Gender often becomes a form of vulnerability in a particular context, such as poverty or loss of livelihood, as well as lack of access to decent work.

FAQ: What is gender-sensitive approach to trafficking for labour exploitation?

Gender sensitive approach to labour trafficking is required both by the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive1 as well as by the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.2 Gender-sensitive approach to anti-trafficking policies and programmes should recognise that trafficked persons might have different needs from one another (whether it be man or a woman). Differences are derived not just from varied experiences of exploitation, but crucially from the fact that each individual experiences exploitative situation differently and hence the impact of abuse is likely to differ as well. Accordingly, assistance and support measures should attempt to address these needs.

FAQ: What are the current shortcomings in gender approach to anti-trafficking policies?

The current gender debate seems to focus predominantly on women and their proneness to victimhood in the context of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Much less attention is given to men or to interactions between gender and trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. Secondly, the debate deals predominantly with gender as a form of vulnerability to trafficking. The fact that vulnerability might arise not solely from person’s

1 DIRECTIVE 2011/36/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA 2 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, adopted by the Council of Europe on 16 May 2005 (entered into force on 1 February 2008).

FAQs

: TRA

FFIC

KING

FOR

LAB

OUR

EXPL

OITA

TION

– T

HE R

OLE

OF G

ENDE

R

gender but rather from the discrimination context, including the lack of access to decent work on grounds of sex, gender, race, migration status, is often overlooked. Anti-trafficking initiatives that depict women or men as inherently “vulnerable” to trafficking because of their gender – rather than because of discrimination run the risk of entrenching vulnerability as identity for women or men, and mask their agency and the root causes of these vulnerabilities - such as lack of access to decent work, poverty, lack of freedom to organise and bargain collectively etc.

FAQ: What are examples of good practice?

Anti-trafficking initiatives should be based on the rights approach as well as social analysis. The long term goal should include advocating for systemic and structural changes in society. Cooperation between trade unions and feminist and anti-racist NGOs specialized in migrant rights offer possibilities to combine expertise in migration law on the one side and in labour and social rights on the other. For example, jointly run trade union-NGO drop-in centres (supported by the Government) provide with multi-sectoral, individual and collective counselling and support that is capable of addressing consequences of multiple discriminations – including irregular residence, social exclusion, lack of protection and assistance in case of trafficking as well as irregular employment status.

FAQ: What are recommendations for a future action?

Governments and the EU should ensure that gender is understood broadly, not only as a concept that relates to women and girls, a concept that is understood solely as vulnerability or as a concept that relates mainly to trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation; EU should fund further research into gender aspects of human trafficking in its broader sense; Service providers should ensure that assistance provided to trafficked persons is gender cognizant. Such assistance should better entail women victims of labour trafficking as well as access to services by men and addressing their right to non-discrimination and to decent work; Trainings provided to authorities, trade unions and NGOs should include gender awareness, in particular as it relates to gender roles within specific cultures as well as socio-economic aspects of these roles.

FAQs

: TRA

FFIC

KING

FOR

LAB

OUR

EXPL

OITA

TION

– T

HE R

OLE

OF G

ENDE

R

Activity carried out in the context of the Labour Trafficking FINE TUNE responses Project (project number HOME/2011/ISEC/AG/THB/4000002208). The project is co-financed by the EU Prevention of and Fight against Crime Program (ISEC) 2011 and coordinated by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

ISEC 2011

CONTACT DETAILS

Migrant Rights Centre Ireland 37 Dame Street, Dublin 2 Tel 01 889 7570 Fax 01 889 7579Drop-In Centre: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions Congress House 31/32 Parnell Square Dublin 1 Tel: +353-18897777 Fax: +353-18872012 E-Mail: congress@ictu.ie Web: http://www.ictu.ie

FAQs

: TRA

FFIC

KING

FOR

LAB

OUR

EXPL

OITA

TION

– T

HE R

OLE

OF G

ENDE

R