RT Article
T1 Deconstructing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender victim of sex trafficking: harm, exceptionality and religion-sexuality tensions
JF International review of victimology
VO 25
IS 1
SP 71
OP 90
A1 Boukli, Avi
A2 Renz, Flora
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1688060073
AB Contrary to widespread belief, sex trafficking also targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities. Contemporary social and political constructions of victimhood lie at the heart of regulatory policies on sex trafficking. Led by the US Department of State, knowledge about LGBT victims of trafficking constitutes the newest frontier in the expansion of criminalization measures. These measures represent a crucial shift. From a burgeoning range of pre-emptive measures enacted to protect an amorphous class of ‘all potential victims', now policies are heavily premised on the risk posed by traffickers to ‘victims of special interest'. These constructed identities, however, are at odds with established structures. Drawing on a range of literatures, the core task of this article is to confront some of the complexities and tensions surrounding constructions of LGBT trafficking victims. Specifically, the article argues that discourses of ‘exceptional vulnerability' and the polarized notions of ‘innocence' and ‘guilt' inform hierarchies of victimhood. Based on these insights, the article argues for the need to move beyond monolithic understandings of victims, by reframing the politics of harm accordingly.
K1 Victims
K1 Victimology
K1 Sex trafficking
K1 Lesbian
K1 Gay
K1 Bisexual
K1 Transgender rights
K1 Sexuality
K1 Harm
DO 10.1177/0269758018772670