The epiphany that stops the "trafficking" bandwagon in its tracks
Re: "US trafficking report: When doing the right thing isn't enough", Tell It As It Is, July 30.
For several years I have been reading, observing and researching the issue of people-trafficking, yet so far I haven’t been tempted to jump on the consensus bandwagon. The reason is that I see a danger in American hegemony. I see a highly exaggerated story. I see the bundling of what are actually age-old crimes into a new package called “trafficking”, in a way that controls the migration of underprivileged people. I see the worst side of globalisation.
This year has been a turning point for trafficking. Yesterday’s marvellous article by Pornpimol Kanchanalak is an excellent example of a tipping point in attitudes. The bandwagon is getting a flat tyre. More people are offering a more nuanced understanding of this issue. Yes, trafficking and efforts to combat it are political. Yes, American-style sexual culture and American-style criminal justice are being exported, and it is up to Thailand and other countries around the world to decide how much of it they want. That is an epiphany!
John Kane
