YPHR Commission

A different way of looking at the issue of Human Trafficking.

Young People for Human Rights commissioned three artists and gave each a different perspective of the debate surrounding Human Trafficking in relation to the 2012 Olympics and asked them to produce a piece of artwork to reflect it.
I was given the 'Critical Perspective: Campaigners Do Damage Themselves.'
This was a real challenge to convey visually as it is very contentious and has many strands to the argument.

Initially, I found this area of the debate on human trafficking profoundly uncomfortable to deal with. On the one hand there appears to be a the viewpoint that the incidence of human trafficking (especially in relation to large sporting events), is extremely slight and exists mainly as a figment of imagination in the minds of purported ‘rescuers.’ The language associated with articles taking this standpoint is often misogynist in tone, (and thus equally as melodramatic as those ‘scaremongers’ it seeks to silence.)

The second strand of thinking comes from writers such Laura Agustin or those who either work in or alongside the sex industry. They feel that the focus on human trafficking by government agencies is being perverted into a campaign against prostitution, demonizing sex workers and leading to raids, arrests and deportations that cause more suffering. I found these opinions difficult to contend with as how can you deny the existence of trafficking when confronted by the stories of those who have been its victims, surely we don’t need their to be 40,000 people trafficked before anything is done? However, the discussion by those involved in the sex industry is clear and informed as to the harm some anti-trafficking campaigns and the conflation of trafficking with prostitution can cause.