Archiwum Kryminologii (Archives of Criminology)

7-18

Authors: Zbigniew Lasocik

Writing about the progress in the fight against forced labor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings Maria Grazia Giammarinaro in 2020 said that were still at an “early stage”. It may be surprising if we take into account that International Convention on this issue was adopted over 80 years ago. Forced labor has two basic components: the labor exploitation and migration – both of them socially distressing. But from the point of view of the public life, the most painful is the juxtaposition of two figures: 40,000,000, i.e. estimation of the global number of victims of various forms of enslavement, and 100,000 – this is more or less the number of victims identified yearly by law enforcement agencies around the world. Even so, many countries still do not have any policies to combat forced labor but the interest of politicians is weakened by the needs of economic development. Finally, this non optimistic picture is combined with relatively low level of awareness of many social groups and the prevailing false belief that the real problem is the sexual exploitation of women and children. These were the reasons why we considered the publication of a Special Issue of the Archives of Criminology as necessary. The articles in this volume offer a number of interesting reflections and bring many innovative ideas.

47-73

Authors: Amy Weatherburn

The legal understanding of labour exploitation is a grey area. This paper will first outline some of the obstacles in international and regional law and jurisprudence, as to the understanding of exploitation in the context of human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced labour. Secondly, taking into account recent law reforms in both Belgium and England & Wales, this paper will outline some of the key features that have emerged from the judicial handling of labour exploitation in criminal cases. Drawing on the findings from empirical analysis of criminal cases between 2010-2017 as part of doctoral research, this paper will first of all outline similarities, differences and challenges to ensuring a clear understanding of the meaning of labour exploitation in the context of human trafficking. The findings will provide insight into how to strengthen a harmonised and robust response to human trafficking.

97-118

Authors: Rita Haverkamp

In the beginning of the 21st century, a day labourer market was established in the southern main station district of Munich. In August 2013, the market aroused negative public attention due to a petition from local businesspeople. Since then, the day labourers have been subject to surveillance and banishment. In 2019, a significant amendment to the Illegal Employment Act made day labourer markets illegal. It is known that day labourers offer their own labour to employers, who frequently deprive them of the agreed wage. This practice poses the question of whether these exploitative working conditions amount to human trafficking, forced labour, or labour exploitation. This question is explored in a case study analysis based on talks with day labourers and interviews with different actors in Munich’s train station district.

143-168

Authors: Masja van Meeteren, Nikki Heideman

In the Netherlands, labour trafficking was criminalised as human trafficking in 2005. Since then, criminal investigations into labour trafficking have slowly taken off. Building on a content analysis of files and reports from the labour inspectorate, this paper contributes to the currently limited body of knowledge on the nature of labour trafficking. It does so by focussing on scholarly debates about the nature of the crime and its relation to labour migration. Based on the analysis, it is argued that the bulk of labour trafficking should be understood as a by-product of labour migration, and that labour trafficking often arises from the economic opportunistic motives of businesses and only occasionally occurs in criminal environments. In addition, the paper adds to our understanding of the prosecution of human trafficking by analysing why so many labour trafficking cases in the Netherlands have not resulted in a conviction. Building on a qualitative analysis of case law, it is shown that a major problem in getting suspects convicted is that the human rights threshold against which cases of labour trafficking are tested is often not surpassed, as the abuses in the labour market are often deemed not excessive enough to qualify as human trafficking.

195-222

Authors: Nicoletta Policek

The labour of foreign minors living in Italy fits into a double scenario: on the one hand, it evokes aspects or lifestyles typical of their original culture and therefore represents an experience of continuity with it; on the other hand, it is placed in the context of the host country, where young migrants are often employed in low-skilled jobs or are forced to enter the job market as a means to support themselves and their family. This is an entirely transversal problem in the country, concerning both the more industrialised areas of the North and the more agricultural areas of the South. The sectors where the labour of minors is more widespread are commerce, catering, agriculture, and services. Case studies relating to the experiences of young Chinese migrants and children of Moroccan descent living in Italy are presented in this article. The concluding section suggests that there is no single causal factor responsible for child labour. Indeed, subsistence poverty, inequalities in accessing the labour market and parental choices or constraints may influence the decision to coerce a minor to work.

249-270

Authors: Sebastián Arévalo Sánchez, Juan Pablo García Sepúlveda, John Winterdyk

Educating young people on the risks of forced labour is not only one of the most critical duties in eradicating human trafficking, but due to its clandestine nature, it is also one of the most challenging. Drawing on practical experiences in Colombia, the authors exalt the value of integrating co-creation and innovation tools to promote a more effective, meaningful, and impactful knowledge transfer on forced labour between education disciplines This article, therefore, begins by presenting a descriptive overview of the application of design thinking and innovation camps. Next, the article approximates the application of those methods and instruments in teaching the issue of human trafficking, including forced labour. Then, it examines the opportunities of using design thinking and social innovation camps to educate a new generation with the knowledge, skills, and power to disrupt forced labour. Finally, this article concludes that design thinking and innovation camps are practical methods and instruments to create alternative learning environments to educate the next generation of young changemakers capable of disrupting forced labour through innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.

295-306

Authors: John Winterdyk, Marcel Van der Watt

The Epilogue begins by describing the ambiguity of the meaning of human trafficking (HT) before offering a review of the 4P's that represent the primary responses to combatting HT. A brief reference is then made to a 'new' P - participation – and how it can play an essential role in fighting HT. The article then notes that there remains a dearth of research on forced labour trafficking despite its rich history. A summary of the articles is presented with an emphasis on identifying existing gaps in our knowledge and research. The Epilogue concludes with several vital suggestions for future efforts to combat forced labour trafficking.