Case studies explore how women’s rights shape state responses to sex trafficking and show how politically empowering women can help prevent and combat human trafficking
Human trafficking for the sex trade is a form of modern-day slavery that ensnares thousands of victims each year, disproportionately affecting women and girls. While the international community has developed an impressive edifice of human rights law, these laws are not equally recognized or enforced by all countries. Sex Trafficking and Human Rights demonstrates that state responsiveness to human trafficking is shaped by the political, social, cultural, and economic rights afforded to women in that state.
While combatting human trafficking is a multiscalar problem with a host of conflating variables, this book shows that a common theme in the effectiveness of state response is the degree to which women and girls are perceived as, and actually are, full citizens. By analyzing human trafficking cases in India, Thailand, Russia, Nigeria, and Brazil, they shed light on the factors that make some women and girls more susceptible to traffickers than others.
This important book is both a call to understanding and a call to action: if the international community and state governments are to responsibly and effectively combat human trafficking, they must center the equality of women in national policy.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. A Gendered Approach to Sex Trafficking
2. A Global Perspective on Human Trafficking and Quantitative Analysis of Causes
3. India
4. Thailand
5. Russia
6. Nigeria
7. Brazil
Conclusion
References
Index
About the Authors
Reviews
"This is a very welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarship on modern slavery and human trafficking, with a particular focus on sex trafficking. The volume provides a careful analysis that begins with definitional issues and then proceeds through aggregate quantitative analysis followed by a series of comparative case studies. The analysis demonstrates the complex interplay between legal frameworks and national level drivers for the phenomenon, offering timely insights into a persistent global challenge."—Todd Landman, professor of political science, pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and executive director of the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham
"Smith-Cannoy, Rodda, and Smith have written an important book that encourages readers to confront the breadth and depth of sex trafficking as a social and political problem that deprives women and girls of human rights. This essential text convincingly demonstrates how sex trafficking is part of a broader system of dominance, including gendered practices, how pervasive and how varied the practices are, and our imperative to stop them."—Wendy Wong (AU), professor, Department of Political Science, Canada Research Chair, Global Governance and Civil Society, Research Lead, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, University of Toronto
"This essential text convincingly demonstrates how sex trafficking is part of a broader system of dominance, including gendered practices, how pervasive and how varied the practices are, and our imperative to stop them."—Wendy Wong, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
"Timely insights into a persistent global challenge."—Todd Landman, Professor of political science, pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and executive director of the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham
About the Author
Heather Smith-Cannoy is an associate professor of political science at Arizona State University. She directs the Global Human Rights Hub and the Social Justice and Human Rights program. She is the author of Insincere Commitments: Human Rights Treaties, Abusive States and Citizen Activism (Georgetown University Press, 2012).
Patricia C. Rodda is an assistant professor of international relations at Carroll University.
Charles Anthony Smith is a professor in political science and law at the University of California, Irvine. Beginning in July 2022, he will be the editor in chief for Political Research Quarterly.
