View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library doi:10.1093/bjc/azy025 BRIT. J. CRIMINOL. (2019) 59, 231–251 Advance Access publication 6 August 2018 ‘I FELT LIKE SHE OWNS ME’: EXPLOITATION AND UNCERTAINTY IN THE LIVES OF LABOUR TRAFFICKING Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/59/1/231/5067135 by Maynooth University user on 14 January 2020 VICTIMS IN IRELAND David M. Doyle*, Clíodhna Murphy, Muiread Murphy, Pablo Rojas Coppari and Rachel J. Wechsler Although the law relating to ‘modern slavery’ has received increased attention in recent years, the perspectives of labour trafficking victims rarely feature in the literature. The article explores how this vulnerable group experiences the Irish anti-trafficking regime in practice. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews, it shows that victims of labour trafficking in Ireland receive minimal assistance from the State at every stage of the trafficking cycle, from prevention and identification to seeking redress for harms suffered. The lived experiences of the participants cut across the spheres of employment, criminal and immigration law, stretching well beyond the ‘silo’ of the anti-trafficking framework. The article concludes by suggesting that victims’ perspectives are an essential part of evidence-based policy responses to the multi-faceted phenomenon of severe labour exploitation, as well as a comprehensive analytical framework. It agrees that existing critiques of the anti-traf- ficking paradigm are well-founded, but argues that they should also take account of the practical benefits for individuals who are granted ‘victim of trafficking’ status. Key Words: labour trafficking, victims, Ireland Introduction Human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced labour have been high on the inter- national agenda in the ‘(t)he neo-abolitionist era’ of the 21st century (Allain 2012). As a result, these forms of ‘modern slavery’ (International Labour Organization [ILO] 2017: 9) are now the subject of an impressive legal acquis, and states have broadly drawn duties to identify, assist and protect individuals who are victims of human trafficking as well as other forms of severe labour exploitation (Stoyanova 2017: 2).1 Recently adopted measures, specifically designed to combat trafficking in human beings, include a United Nations Protocol (2000); a Council of Europe Convention (2005) and various European Union (EU) Directives (2004, 2011). These sit alongside older international treaties prohibiting slavery and forced labour (ILO 1930, No. 29; Ollus 2015). Moreover, Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) imposes wide-rang- ing positive obligations on states to provide individuals with practical and effective *David M. Doyle, Department of Law, Maynooth University, County Kildare, Ireland; [email protected]; Clíodhna Murphy, Department of Law, Maynooth University, County Kildare, Ireland; Muiread Murphy, Department of Law, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland; Pablo Rojas Coppari, Department of Sociology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland; Rachel J. Wechsler, New York University School of Law, New York, NY 10012, USA 1The ILO (2017: 9) notes that ‘modern slavery covers a set of specific legal concepts including forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, other slavery and slavery like practices, and human trafficking. Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term that focuses attention on commonalities across these legal concepts.’ 231 © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected] DOYLE ET AL. protection against trafficking and severe labour exploitation Ranstev( : para. 285; Stoyanova 2014; Turner 2015; Milano 2017)). Ireland’s legal anti-trafficking framework has been shaped by these international and EU law instruments. However, it is well-known that there are ongoing and seri- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/59/1/231/5067135 by Maynooth University user on 14 January 2020 ous problems with the practical implementation of the anti-trafficking regime. For example, although the Irish authorities identified 219 suspected trafficking victims in the 3-year period between 2014 and 2016, there has not been a successful prosecu- tion for trafficking offences in Ireland since 2013 United( States Department of State (USDS) 2017: 217). These issues, inter alia, have been consistently highlighted by domestic non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and international bodies (Group of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) 2015; 2017; Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) 2011; 2017; Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission 2016; Operation in Europe (OSCE) 2013), including through the downgrading of Ireland’s status from Tier 1 to Tier 2 among countries worldwide for its approach to trafficking by the annual US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report USDS( 2018: 235). Most recently, the head of the national labour enforcement agency (The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC)) shared the view of labour inspectors that ‘you’re only ever about 5 miles from somebody in effective slavery in Ireland’.2 The shortcomings of the Irish system are replicated across Europe and beyond. In 2014, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency stated that ‘(s)evere labour exploitation of workers who have moved within or into the EU is common, although it often remains invisible to the public’ (European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) 2015: 12). On a global scale, the ILO confirms that the number of investigations, prosecu- tions and convictions for modern slavery-type crimes is ‘very small relative to the scale of the overall problem’ (ILO 2017: 53). The practical and normative effects of the legal instruments thus appear to be limited. Indeed, the interaction and over- laps between slavery, servitude, forced labour and trafficking—as well as non-legal terms such as ‘unfree labour’ (Strauss 2012; Fudge and Strauss 2013; Yea and Chok 2018)—has led to what Paz-Fuchs describes as a ‘conceptual quagmire’ (Paz-Fuchs 2016: 760). In response to this quagmire, Paz-Fuchs develops markers or ‘badges’ as a means to break down and explain the now-widespread concept of ‘modern slavery’ (Paz-Fuchs 2016: 762). Doctrinal scholarship in the field has done the important work of analys- ing, conceptualizing and critiquing recent developments in international and EU law (Allain 2012; Stoyanova 2017). Another strand of literature has charted the way in which states have instrumentalized anti-trafficking and anti-slavery discourse as a jus- tification for tighter immigration controls O’Connell-Davidson( and Anderson 2006; Anderson 2012; Gadd and Broad 2018). Many have questioned the usefulness of the concept of human trafficking for actually diminishing abuses (Noll 2007; Hathaway 2008). Despite this growing body of scholarship, there has been little criminological or sociolegal research drawing on interviews with persons trafficked for purposes of labour exploitation (Cameron and Newman 2008; Mantouvalou 2015; Davies 2018). The ongoing failure of policymakers and legislators to consider the crime of labour trafficking from the perspective of the victim (Jordan 2002: 29) is thus matched by a 2‘Some foreign nationals in Ireland work in “conditions that are close to slavery”’, The Journal, (11 February 2018) available at http://www.thejournal.ie/working-conditions-close-to-slavery-3846399-Feb2018/. 232 LABOUR TRAFFICKING VICTIMS IN IRELAND lack of literature in this area. In the Irish context, this forms part of a broader problem within the criminal process of a ‘lack of knowledge among criminal justice agencies and actors about the needs of victims of crime’ (Kilcommins et al. 2018: 6). This article is based on the premise that ‘top–down’ approaches to analysing severe Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/59/1/231/5067135 by Maynooth University user on 14 January 2020 labour exploitation should be complemented by ‘bottom–up’ analysis rooted in the experiences of victims. We argue that if governments are serious about practically implementing the broad-brush obligations imposed by international, EU and domes- tic law, they must have access to information on the background, lived experiences and needs of trafficked persons. Although domestic policy in Ireland and elsewhere seeks to provide victims ‘with a tailored response that fits their vulnerability, addresses the impact this crime has had on them and helps us to bring their abusers to justice’ (DJE 2016: 4–5), there is at present no formal consultative process by which victims can provide their views on the system of victim identification or protection in Ireland. The article explores how victims experience the anti-trafficking regime in Ireland in practice, by drawing on interviews with 15 participants. The analysis reveals a combina- tion of legal, administrative and practical obstacles to a functioning anti-trafficking regime, which would accommodate the ‘lived experiences and realities of victimhood’ (Kilcommins et al. 2018: 6). The article starts by outlining the methodology of the qualitative study before briefly setting out the Irish legal and policy context. It then presents our findings in three parts: barriers to reporting and identification,