The responses to trafficked adults in the United Kingdom : rights, rhetoric and reality

• Main Author: Burland, P.
• Published: University of the West of England, Bristol 2015
• Subjects: 364.15
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.641021

This thesis critically examines the responses to trafficked adults in the four regions of the UK in terms of both policy and practice. It critiques the inadequacy of the 2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (CAT) to protect trafficked persons and their human rights. It is argued furthermore despite the inadequacies of the CAT, the UK’s responses to trafficked adults still do not uphold all of its minimum requirements. The research argues that the CAT does not provide a genuine human rights approach. The thesis proposes such an approach is necessary to protect trafficked persons and their human rights and to provide the possibility of physical and psychological recovery. It details how each of the principles essential to a genuine human rights approach are contradicted. The research establishes how the responses prioritise the conviction of traffickers and the protection of immigration controls over the protection of trafficked persons. The thesis goes on to contend that adopting a genuine human rights approach would prove beneficial to realise those interests in the long-term. More specifically, the chapters offer a critique of the ‘victim discourse’ employed in the representation of trafficked persons, chart the provision of physical and psychological support and healthcare and accommodation for trafficked persons; and document cases in which trafficked persons are denied access to justice for the human rights violations they have suffered and are instead punished for criminal offences which they only committed because they were trafficked. The thesis exposes the contrasts between the UK government’s powerful and emotive rhetoric around trafficking in persons and its actual policy and practice.