Trafficking and Representation: A Normative Study of Gender in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
Translated title
Menneskehandel og repræsentation: et normativt studie om køn i the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
Author
Bressendorff, Anna Harding
Term
4. term
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-05-28
Pages
74
Abstract
This thesis examines the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005) to understand how the norm of trafficking as a women’s issue is constructed and negotiated. Set against the backdrop of rising numbers of male victims who remain largely silent in international legal frameworks, it addresses the question: As part of a norm life cycle, how is the norm of trafficking as a women’s issue constructed and negotiated in the Convention? The study combines the norm life cycle model (emergence, cascade, internalization) with the What’s the Problem Represented to Be (WPR) approach to analyze problem representations and discourse in and around the Convention text and relevant policy documents, including the 1995 Beijing Conference. Findings indicate that the norm appears across all three stages: it is constructed by framing trafficking as a violation of women’s human rights and as violence against women, supported by a historical association with female prostitution; it cascades through international policy acceptance, notably via Beijing documents, while men are largely silenced in the Convention; and it is internalized and defended through the Convention itself and UN initiatives, attaining a taken-for-granted status. At the same time, negotiation of the norm increasingly occurs outside the Convention, where grassroots actors broaden the understanding of trafficking beyond a narrow focus on women. The thesis concludes that the Convention’s current gender mainstreaming falls short of equality goals by marginalizing men and other gender identities, pointing to a need for more inclusive policies.
Dette speciale undersøger Europarådets Konvention om indsats mod menneskehandel (2005) med fokus på, hvordan normen om menneskehandel som et kvindeproblem konstrueres og forhandles. Med udgangspunkt i stigende registrering af mandlige ofre, der i høj grad forbliver usynlige i internationale retslige rammer, besvares problemformuleringen: Som led i en normlivscyklus, hvordan konstrueres og forhandles normen om menneskehandel som et kvindeproblem i konventionen? Analysen kombinerer teorien om normlivscyklus (fremkomst, kaskade, internalisering) med WPR-tilgangen for at afdække problemrepræsentationer og diskurser i og omkring konventionsteksten samt relevante politiske dokumenter, herunder Beijing-konferencen 1995. Resultaterne viser, at normen er til stede i alle tre faser: den konstrueres ved at definere menneskehandel som et brud på kvinders menneskerettigheder og som vold mod kvinder, understøttet af en historisk kobling til kvindelig prostitution; den udbredes gennem international politisk accept, bl.a. via Beijing-dokumenter, mens mænd stort set forties i konventionen; og den internaliseres og forsvares gennem konventionen selv og FN-initiativer, så den opnår en selvindlysende status. Samtidig peger specialet på, at forhandlingen af normen i stigende grad foregår uden for konventionen, hvor græsrodsaktører udvider forståelsen af menneskehandel ud over et snævert kvindefokus. Afslutningsvis argumenteres for, at konventionens nuværende kønsmainstreaming ikke opfylder målet om ligestilling, fordi den marginaliserer mænd og andre kønsidentiteter, og at mere inkluderende politikker er nødvendige.
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