Female Offenders of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation (2019)
Female offenders are seldom studied by criminological scholars. This is certainly the case regarding offenses like human trafficking and sexual exploitation. However, the number of women suspected of being a perpetrator of human trafficking should not be underestimated. In this paper we present the results of a study on female perpetrators of human trafficking. We have analyzed the court-files of 150 women who have been convicted for human trafficking. We present results on the prevalence of female offenders of human trafficking and the forms of exploitation they have been convicted for. After this we present the sanctions that were imposed on the women and the offender, offense and victim characteristics. This paper concludes by discussing implications for criminal justice authorities, policy and research.
Citation: Wijkman, M. and E. Kleemans (2019) ‘Female offenders of human trafficking and sexual exploitation’, Crime, Law and Social Change, 72, pp. 53-72.
INTERVIEWS WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKERS: PERCEPTIONS OF SEX AND VIOLENCE (2019)
Many who study human trafficking acknowledge gaps in the literature. We have yet to understand the phenomenon of human trafficking from the perspective of the human trafficker. This chapter analyzes perceptions of trafficking for the international sex trade industry as articulated by human traffickers who traffic women and girls. This chapter presents an analysis of interviews with human traffickers that will highlight personalized accounts of sex and violence. Further enhancing our limited knowledge of the human trafficking phenomenon, these narratives will help fill in the gaps of previous research, while also complementing current research on sex trafficking specifically. Discussions with human traffickers will promote an understanding of sex trafficking as embedded within a patriarchal world system that both thrives on and sustains the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation.
Citation: Troshynski, E.I. and J.K. Blank (2019) ‘Interviews with Human Traffickers: Perceptions of Sex and Violence’, Broadening the Scope of Human Trafficking Research: A Reader, Second Edition. United States: Carolina Academic.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS AND FACILITATORS: A DETAILED PROFILE AND INTERVIEWS WITH CONVICTED TRAFFICKERS IN THE UNITED STATES (2017)
The main objectives of this project were to provide (a) typologies and modalities of trafficking organizations derived from systematically collected data and evidence, (b) detailed descriptions of how organizations are structured to support trafficking operations and how these operations are facilitated by others (e.g., legitimate businesses or storefronts, money launderers); and (c) an assessment of motivations and decision-making processes of traffickers, including perceptions of risks and rewards, as well as law enforcement efforts and strategies used to circumvent them. We examined public use data and restricted documents held by the USSC to identify federally convicted traffickers, gather detailed information about individuals and organizations engaged in both sex and labor trafficking, and provide a sampling frame for offenders to be interviewed. Second, we interviewed a sample of convicted traffickers held in Federal Bureau of Prison (BOP) facilities.
Citation: Shively, M., K. Smith, S. Jalbert and O. Drucker (2017) Human Trafficking Organizations and Facilitators: A Detailed Profile and Interviews with Convicted Traffickers in the United States. Cambridge, United States: Abt Associates.
Traffickers and Trafficking. Challenges in Researching Human Traffickers and Trafficking Operations (2014)
This paper discusses research on human traffickers (i.e. perpetrators of the crime of human trafficking) and how a clearer picture of how traffickers operate can be used in the development of criminal justice and social welfare responses to human trafficking. This study discusses some of the difficulties or limitations involved in understanding traffickers and trafficking operations through the lens of trafficked persons and their individual trafficking experiences and what that means for the development of policies, strategies and interventions in combating human trafficking.
Citation: Surtees, R. (2014) Traffickers and trafficking. Challenges in researching human traffickers and trafficking operations. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Migration and Washington, D.C., United States: NEXUS Institute.
FROM VICTIMS TO VICTIMIZERS: INTERVIEWS WITH 25 EX-PIMPS IN CHICAGO (2010)
This research is based on interviews with 25 ex-pimps and madams. It examines the entrance of pimps into the commercial sex industry, the organization of their business, how they interacted with law enforcement, and why they left prostitution. This research project is a follow-up to 2008 research with 100 girls selling sex in Chicago who were under the control of a pimp and a 2009 study that surveyed five male ex-pimps.
Citation: Raphael, J. and B. Myers-Powell (2010) From Victims to Victimizers: Interviews with 25 Ex-Pimps in Chicago. Chicago, United States: DePaul College of Law.
TRAFFICKERS AND TRAFFICKING IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE: CONSIDERING THE OTHER SIDE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING (2008)
This paper describes patterns of trafficking from and within South-Eastern Europe, with particular attention to traffickers and their activities. This helps to determine the most effective methods of tackling these grave crimes through the strategic use of the criminal justice system. To date, attention has primarily
been paid to victims of trafficking – who they are and what makes them vulnerable – in an effort to develop counter-trafficking interventions. To complement these studies of victims, studies of traffickers and their operations are also required. There is a need to address traffickers’ behaviour through more effective law enforcement and through legal, social and economic reforms that will cause them to reassess the economic benefits of pursuing this strategy.
Citation: Surtees, R. (2008) ‘Traffickers and Trafficking in Southern and Eastern Europe: Considering the Other Side of Human Trafficking’, European Journal of Criminology, 5(1), pp. 39-68.
“ANOTHER DELIVERY FROM TASHKENT”: PROFILE OF THE ISRAELI TRAFFICKER (2007)
This study seeks to examine, for the first time, characteristics of traffickers in Israel; to focus on the people greasing the wheels of the sex industry to ensure that it continues unabated. The study is based on currently available research material about characteristics and motives of traffickers in women worldwide, material that is fairly meager, and the development of the Israeli pimp and trafficker. The study also examines the characteristics of the Israeli trafficker in women including age, background, gender, criminal record, occupation before turning to trafficking and more and offers recommendation to improve the current situation. The study offers comprehensive and updated information about traffickers in Israel, while pointing to changes in their identity over the last two decades.
Citation: Levenkron, N. (2007) “Another Delivery from Tashkent”: Profile of the Israeli Trafficker. Israel: Hotline for Migrant Workers.
SEX TRAFFICKING: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY INTERVIEWING TRAFFICKERS (2007)
This paper presents the research methodology of an exploratory study interviewing human traffickers. Utilizing open-ended, semi-structured qualitative interviews with traffickers, exploratory research was conducted in 2003. With an overall goal of understanding the human trafficking phenomenon from the standpoint of those individuals who support, reproduce, and actively work to sustain it, our research questions focused on how traffickers make sense of their position within the illegal market of sex trafficking. Other thematic questions included characteristics and personal dimensions of the traffickers, reasons they entered the business, their perceptions of the business, and their opinions of those they traffic. For the purpose of this paper, we address the difficulty and simplicity of conducting interviews with human traffickers. Information about the research project in general, methods used, ethical considerations, and thematic scope will also be addressed with a final discussion section highlighting advantages and disadvantages of methods used.
Citation: Troshynski, E.I. and J.K. Blank (2007) ‘Sex trafficking: an exploratory study interviewing traffickers’, Trends in Organized Crime, 11, pp. 30-41.