Posts In: human trafficking
Sex Work, Migration, and Human Trafficking in South Africa: From polarised arguments to potential partnerships
This paper draws on research with sex workers and a sex worker organisation in South Africa, as well as reflections shared at two Sex Workers’ Anti-trafficking Research Symposiums. In so doing, the authors propose the further development of a Sex Work, Exploitation, and Migration/Mobility Model that takes into consideration the complexities of the quotidian experiences of migration and selling sex.
Read more
Decriminalising sex work is the only rational choice to end stigma, discrimination and violence against sex workers
Marcel van der Watt’s recent opinion piece on the effects of decriminalising sex work in South Africa makes such outlandish claims that it’s tempting to ignore him, if what he wrote wasn’t so disturbing and misrepresentative of the sex workers’ rights movement.
Read more
‘Skeptics’ and ‘believers’: anti-trafficking, sex work, and migrant rights activism in South Africa
Very little is known about activism, as it relates to the issue of migration in South Africa. This paper fills this gap by exploring multi-level policies and advocacy experiences of activists working on migration in a post-colonial context of South Africa through the lens of key contestations around the trafficking discourse in South Africa from 2005 to 2018.
Read more
Labels, victims, and insecurity: an exploration of the lived realities of migrant women who sell sex in South Africa
Based on research work among cross-border migrant women who sell sex in South Africa, this paper examines the ways in which the label ‘victim’ of human trafficking ignores the complex realities of human mobility.
Read more
‘We have the research but where is the influence?’ Constraints and opportunities for evidence-based policy impact in South Africa
This paper explores the research uptake and advocacy experiences of researchers and activists working on three unpopular and politically contentious causes; immigration, human trafficking and sex work – in a post-colonial context of South Africa.
Read more