Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality - Chapter 26 - Trafficking in persons, long-term vulnerabilities, and humanitarianism

Every two weeks I am going to feature one of the chapters of our Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality which was published in spring 2024.
This week we are taking a closer look at Chapter 26 - Trafficking in persons, long-term vulnerabilities, and humanitarianism - contributed by Farhan Navid Yousaf and Muhammad Makki Kakarby.

From the introduction 
This chapter begins with an overview of a history of humanitarian efforts related to 
trafficking, including its inception in organised efforts to rescue white women who were trafficked to colonial outposts – established through military conquests – to sexually serve white men (see Chapter 17 by Adur on Sexuality and humanitarianism in this volume). 
We outline the circumstances, including deep inequalities, dislocations due to wars and structural adjustments, and racist/gendered structures, that foster trafficking. 
In Section 2, we focus on a variety of humanitarian efforts to rehabilitate and protect victims, including the critique from scholars and activists of the current efforts. This section shows that the rescue and the provision of temporary shelters or isolated short-term humanitarian interventions adopted by many international NGOs fail to address trafficking and the vulnerabilities of trafficked persons. 
In Section 3, we draw upon our research in Pakistan, a country that has been a top host of refugees and forced migrants from Afghanistan for decades, and the site of long-term forced migrants, who are especially vulnerable to trafficking. Pakistan is classified as a Tier 2 country by the US Department of State (2022) as the US does not consider Pakistan has done enough to address trafficking, though the country is making efforts to do so. Drawing upon our field research with different groups of trafficked victims, including trafficking for labour, sex, and organs, and stakeholders involved in combating trafficking in Pakistan, we identify the intersecting micro-macro structures and gendered vulnerabilities that make particular groups more susceptible to trafficking. We discuss how victims of trafficking continue to experience various forms of exploitation throughout their lives as the existing interventions and the aid they receive are not enough for them to break the vicious cycle of vulnerability and exploitation. We conclude by emphasising the gaps between humanitarian motivations and efforts and realities on the ground for trafficking victims.

Note on contributors 
Muhammad Makki Kakar is a researcher and academic. He holds a Doctorate in Sociology from International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan. 
Currently, he is working with the School Education Department of the Government of Balochistan. His research interests include human rights, social inequalities, migration, human trafficking, and human smuggling.

Farhan Navid Yousaf is working as a professor of sociology at the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, and Director, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore. 
He completed his PhD in Sociology on Fulbright Fellowship with distinction. His research interests, among others, include gender, human rights, human security, trafficking in persons, migration, and public policy.
He is the co-author (together with Bandana Purkayastha) of Human Trafficking: Trade for Sex, Labor, and Organs (Polity, 2018).

Overviews are already available for the following chapters: 

Introduction: humanitarianism and inequality – a re-orientation

Humanitarianism and colonialism

Humanitarianism and the global Cold War, 1945–1991

Humanitarianism and the new wars: humanitarianism, security, and securitisation

Humanitarianism, development and peace: a southern perspective

Localisation and the humanitarian sector

Human rights and humanitarianism

Humanitarian organisations: behemoths and butterflies

Faith actors in humanitarianism: dynamics and inequalities

Diaspora assistance  

Political solidarity movements and humanitarianism: lessons from Catalonia, Spain (1975–2020)

Subversive humanitarianism

Citizen’s groups and grassroots humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and the military

Race, racialisation, and coloniality in the humanitarian aid sector

Humanitarian organisations as gendered organisations

Sexuality and humanitarianism: colonial ‘hauntings’

Class matters in humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and disability 

Media representations of humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and pandemics 

Humanitarian technologies

Linguistic inequality in the humanitarian sector: unravelling English-centric multilingualism

Climate change, disasters and humanitarian action 

Refugee protection and assistance 

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