Curbing sex trafficking in Turkey: The policy–practice divide

Abstract

Based on field research, this study examines to what extent Turkey's current policy on sex trafficking adheres to the UN Protocol in practice and discusses how prostitution and migration regimes inform and affect the policies and practices against sex trafficking in Turkey. For this study, data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 23 key informants, each representing different perspectives on sex trafficking in Turkey. The study found that the prostitution and migration regimes of Turkey render migrant women susceptible to gender violence, and weaken the identification and protection systems that may result in the ‘re-victimization’ of ‘victims’ of sex trafficking.

Turkey's Response to Sex Trafficking of Migrant Women: Is It Efficient Enough?

“…Furthermore, by seeing trafficking as yet another form of “forced labour”, it ignores the patriarchal demand side of it, “as the link to prostitution reminds us that it is usually women who are trafficked for the purposes of men's sexual gratification” (Outshoorn : 147). Therefore, in line with Coskun (; ), in this article the feminist abolitionist position is supported, and both sex trafficking and prostitution are seen as forms of violence against women (Farley, ). Trafficking and prostitution are also seen as intrinsically linked to each other and both explained by the dynamics of patriarchal exploitation and gendered violence.…”

“…Important feminist studies such as Kalfa (), Cokar and Yilmaz‐Kayar () and Ozer () based on interviews with migrant women involved in prostitution and media analysis should also be noted here. Finally, the most recent and very interesting feminist (abolitionist) studies have been conducted by Coskun (; ; ) who examined the role of “consent” in sex trafficking and the impact of prostitution and migration regimes in Turkey on its struggle against human trafficking, based on interviews with key informants directly related to the field of human trafficking. Similarly to Gulcur and Ilkkaracan (), Coskun (; ; ) can be praised for making migrant women themselves the focus of her feminist analysis.…”

“…Among the existing research, Agathangelou (), Atauz et al. () and Coskun (; ; ) all point to the fact that securitization discourse on the problem of human trafficking only pushes the state for even more restrictive policies, thus leaving trafficked women and all migrant women in general vulnerable and unprotected.…”

“…Turkey is particularly affected by sex trafficking because of the large numbers of irregular migrant women that it receives (Erder and Kaska, ; Toksoz and Unluturk‐Ulutas, ). Although there are no available statistics on the exact numbers of migrant women becoming victims of sex trafficking in Turkey apart from those officially identified as “victims” by the police (Coskun, ; ), according to the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report issued by the United States Department of State (US Department of State, : 340), victims of human trafficking in Turkey are mainly from Central and South Asia, Eastern Europe, Syria, and Morocco. Istanbul as the largest metropolitan city in Turkey is the primary destination for human trafficking, followed by other large industrial and tourism cities such as Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya (Karakus and McGarrell, : 4).…”

“…The term “prostitute” is also used here to encompass all women involved in prostitution without implying any disrespect for them. Following Coskun (; ), the concepts of prostitution and migration regimes are also utilized. A prostitution regime is defined here as “a set of policies and practices surrounding prostitution” (Coşkun, : 5; also see Outshoorn, ).…”