Benevolent State, Law-Breaking Smugglers, and Deportable and Expendable Women

An Analysis of the Canadian State’s Strategy to Address Trafficking in Women

Bibliographic Data

ID11405133
AuthorsSunera Thobani (University of British Columbia, corresponding author)
Year2001
Pages24-33
Publication date2001-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRefuge Canada s Journal on Refuge (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0229-5113 • E-ISSN: 1920-7336
PublisherYork University Libraries (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.25071/1920-7336.21211
OpenAlexW1794868360
LanguageEN
Citations received6

The Canadian state undertook a major restructuring of the immigration and refugee program in the 1990s, committing itself to creating a new immigration act as part of this process. Trafficking is one major issue that the new act would concern itself with. In this paper I make the case that the state’s proposals for addressing trafficking enable the state to posit itself as responsible for protecting “Canadians” while carefully avoiding any responsibility for the wellbeing of women who are trafficked; demonize smugglers as the cause of trafficking; and override the concerns and interests of women who are trafficked by making deportation the only “solution” to their presence in Canada. Consequently, these proposals will further penalize the women, while protecting the interests of the Canadian men, women, and employers who profit and benefit from their exploitation. Further, while this approach does nothing to address the root causes of trafficking, the state’s enthusiasm for increasing trade liberalization will only exacerbate these very causes

Business · Criminology · Deportation · Enthusiasm · Immigration · Immigration law · Liberalization · Political science · Refugee · Sociology · State (computer science · Human Rights and Development · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Sex work and related issues

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