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Trafficking Victims'/Survivors' Experiences In View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Newcastle University eTheses Accessing Services: Trafficking Victims’/Survivors’ Experiences in the UK Alison Dawn Jobe A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Newcastle University School of Geography, Politics and Sociology 2008 II Contents Page No Abstract…….…..………………………………………………………………………i Contents Page…..….…………………………………………………………………..ii List of Tables……...……………………………………………………………………v List of Appendices……….……………………………………………………….…….vi List of Acronyms………………………………………………………………………vii Acknowledgements ……..………………………………..…………………………..viii Preface ………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One: Introduction ………………………………………………………….4 Chapter Two: Sexual Trafficking: the Emergence of a Social Problem …...……... 16 Shifting Stories….…..…………………………………………………………….…...17 What is Sexual Trafficking?….……..…………………………………………….……..20 i)The Choice/ Force Dichotomy …………………………………….. 23 ii) Solutions? …………..…………………………………………..... 28 What is Known about Sexual Trafficking…….……….………………………………… 29 i) Trafficking to the UK …….……………………………………...... 32 ii) UK Anti-Trafficking Policy Context ………………………………. 33 International Anti-Trafficking Context……….………………………………………... 37 i) United Nations Definition ……………………………………….. 38 ii) US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report ….…………..... 39 iii) The Development of Assistance Programmes for Trafficking Victims/ Survivors ..………………………..………….…………….. 41 Discursive Effects………..……………………………………………………………..42 Conclusion: Approaching the Sexual Trafficking of Women through a Sociology of Stories…..…………………………………………………………….……………… 45 Chapter Three: My Research Story ………..………………………………………. 48 Epistemological Framework………...………….…………………………………....... 48 Access……………………………………….…………………………………….…..54 i) Gatekeepers: Building Relationships …………………………………57 The Asylum Case Files…………………….…………………………………………... 58 Interviewing Trafficked Women…………….…………………………………………..62 Interviewing Other Groups………...……….…………………………………………. 68 i) Interviews with Legal Professionals ………………………………...... 68 ii) Interviews with Project Workers …………………………………... 69 Analysing and Interpreting…………..……….…………………………………………70 i) Analysing Asylum Case Files ………………………………………. .72 ii) Analysing Interview Data ………………………………………..... 74 Writing up……………….…………………………………………………………….74 Concluding Observations…..…………………………………………………………...74 II III Chapter Four: Sexual Trafficking Stories …....…………………………………….76 Trafficked Women’s Family Histories……..…….………………………………………78 Routes into Trafficking……..………………….……………………………………….80 Trafficker (s) …………...…………………….……………………………………….84 Violence………...……………………………..………………………………………88 Money- the Financial Ties that Bind…...………….……………………………………..90 Family Ties……….…………...……………………………………………………….91 Escape/Rescue…………………………………………………………………………92 Exceptions……...….…………….…………………………………………………….93 The Choice/Force Binary.…..………………………………………………………….94 Conclusion……..………..……...……………………………………………………. .95 Chapter Five- Accessing Services in the UK ……...……………………….……... 100 Past Knowledge of the Authorities……………………………………………….…….101 The Trafficker(s) and the UK Authorities………………………………………….……102 Encountering the UK Authorities………………………………...……………….…...107 i) Imprisonment…………………………………………….………108 ii) Criminality…………………………………………………….. 112 iii) Negotiating the Asylum Process……………………………………. 113 Difficulties in Exiting Trafficking Situations: the Role of UK Immigration Policies…...….. .118 i) Deportation…………………………………………………….. 118 ii) Experiences of Re-trafficking………………………………………. 119 iii) The Role of Stigma…………………..………………………….. 122 iv) UK Immigration Policies and their Interaction with the Choice/Force Dichotomy..…….…………………………………………..….. 124 Conclusion: Accessing Services in the UK through The Poppy Project…………………...126 Chapter Six: Sexual Trafficking: A Recognisable Social Problem: The Example of UK Asylum System ………………………….….………………………................ 128 Accessing Services in UK: Asylum…….………………………………………………..129 Trafficked Women’s Asylum Applications….…………………………………………..134 i) Written Stage of Application………………………………………... 136 Appeals Stage of Application………………….………………………………………..139 i) The Effects of Recognition…………………………………….......... 143 The Effect of the Asylum Process on Trafficked Women….……………………………..146 The Effect of the Asylum Process on the Poppy Project…….……………………………153 Conclusion…..……………………………….………...….…………………………154 Chapter Seven: The Reception of Trafficking Stories in the British Asylum System ...…….………………………………….………………………………………......1 56 Other Tellers……..………………………………………………………………….158 i) US State Department’s Trafficking In Persons Report (US TIP)…………….. 161 ii) Media and NGO Tellers……………………………………………... 163 The Role of the Poppy Project in Determining Credibility……………………………...165 Trafficked Women as Tellers………………….………………………………………168 i) The Choice/Force Binary………….…………………………………... 168 ii) The Victim/Perpetrator Binary…………………………………………172 iii) The Private/Public Binary……………...……………………………. 175 iv) Appearances.……………..……………………………………..….. 177 III IV v) The Category ‘Refugee’……….…………………………………….. 179 The Future?………………………………………………………………………….180 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..182 Chapter Eight: Conclusion ………………………………………………………. .183 List of References …………………………………………………………………. 193 IV V List of Tables Table One: Background details relating to the legal professionals interviewed………..…...68 Table Two: Background details relating the trafficked women……………………….…..97 Table Three: Home Office Decisions at Appeal: 2001-2003……………………..…..…140 Table Four: Home Office Decisions at Appeal: 2004-2005………………………...…..145 V VI List of Appendices Appendix One : Timeline of legislation relating to trafficking, immigration and asylum as discussed in the thesis………………………………………………………………….216 Appendix Two: List of various organisations and persons contacted to explore access to trafficked women…………………………………………………………….217 Appendix Three : Various correspondence relating to the “Psychological Women’s Crisis Centre” in St Petersburg, Russia………............................………………...........…218 Appendix Four : List of data in the trafficked women’s asylum case files………………..220 Appendix Five : Research approach letters for interviewees (trafficked women) and Research Consent Form ………………………………………………………………………..225 Appendix Six : Interview questions for trafficked women…………..………………….227 Appendix Seven : Approach and information letter for legal professionals….…………..230 Appendix Eight : Interview questions for legal professionals……………..…………….232 Appendix Nine : Interview questions for Poppy Project workers………….…………...233 Appendix Ten : Coding Framework for analysing the asylum case files …….…..………234 VI VII List of Acronyms AIT: Asylum Immigration Tribunal BIA: Borders and Immigration Agency (UK) BID: Bail for Immigration Detainees COYOTE : Call Off Your Tired Old Ethics CATW : Coalition Against the Trafficking of Women ECP : English Collective of Prostitutes ECPAT : End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking EWL: European Women’s Lobby GAATW : Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women IAA : Immigration Appellate Authority IAT : Immigration Asylum Tribunal 1 IAS : Immigration Advisory Service IND : Immigration and Nationality Directorate ILO : International Labour Organisation IOM : International Organisation for Migration IUSW : International Union of Sex Workers Rights NGO : Non Government Organisation. NSWP : Network of Sex Work Projects OHCHR : Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights. RWRP : Refugee Women’s Resource Project at Asylum Aid SEF : Statement of Evidence interview/form SOCA : Serious Organised Crime Agency (UK) US TIP : United State Department’s Trafficking in Person’s reports UKHTC : United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre UNHCR : United Nations WHO: World Health Organisation 1 Replaced by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) in April 2005. VII VIII Acknowledgments Many thanks go to: My PhD supervisors, Prof. Diane Richardson for her friendship, support and dedication, and to Dr. Robin Humphrey for his support and for finding all of those missing commas! To my interviewees for sharing their stories. To all of the project workers at the Poppy Project, whose work is of far more worth than mine. To all of my postgraduate colleagues in the PhD office- you know who you are! With a special thanks to my comrade Meena for sharing her knowledge, laughter and pain. Finally, thanks to my family and friends for their support, especially to my Mam and Dad for looking after me so well during those last months of writing up, and always. Thanks also to the Economic Social Research Council for funding my Ph.D. VIII IX This thesis is dedicated to those women who cannot be named here. IX 1 Preface As I wrote my research proposal to Newcastle University in April of 2002 and later to the Economic Social Research Council (ESRC), I was aware of a lack of research, academic, Non Government Organisation (NGO) or policy interest on the subject of trafficking within the UK, and as a result I found it difficult to reference many relevant studies in my proposal. Throughout my time as a PhD student I have observed a dramatic growth in interest in the subject within research, the media, policy and practice, and these observations have informed my theoretical understanding of human trafficking as a developing social problem. I first became aware of the term “trafficking” and its contemporary meaning and use, while conducting research for my first MA in Gender, Culture and Development in 2001. The research
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