Understanding Albanian Culture of Migration: The role of the family in precarious journeys and human trafficking

This article explores families’ roles in precarious journeys and human trafficking from Albania. It demonstrates that familial pressure is a primary driver of migration for many Albanians and sets the family at the centre of the Albanian culture of migration rather than as one of many other factors that can lead to precarious migration and trafficking. The decision to migrate is rarely an individual one; rather, it is often a collective decision where parents, siblings, and extended family members play a crucial role. This is particularly evident in cases where migration is seen as a means to escape poverty or improve social standing, with family members reinforcing the belief that success abroad is the only viable option. The article concludes with recommendations to enhance cultural competence among practitioners and integrate family-oriented considerations in migration policies and interventions, particularly in the United Kingdom

Experiences of Families Separated across Borders Following Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

Within the United Kingdom’s system for identifying survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking, survivors coming from overseas account for nearly 75%. This data indicates that many survivors are separated from family in the process of trafficking, yet little is known about the impact this separation has on them and their families. This article addresses this gap by analysing case data and twelve interviews with anti-slavery practitioners. The findings demonstrate that separation from family can hamper survivors’ recovery, due to the distress caused by the separation and an ongoing need for survivors to provide for family overseas. The process of family reunification is unnecessarily lengthy and complex, and survivors receive limited support for this aspect of recovery. The impact of separation on families is significant, and a ‘family-oriented’ approach to survivor support should be developed alongside measures to address the structural issues that create extended periods of separation and precarity for migrants

Editorial: The Embeddedness of Human Trafficking within Family and Community

Family and community play varied and important roles in facilitating human trafficking and helping victim-survivors recover from it. Despite this, many trafficking studies are individualistic in nature and do not consider the broader positioning of victim-survivors within complex social, family, and community structures. The discussion in this Editorial to a special issue of Anti-Trafficking Review provides an overview of the myriads of ways that family and community are central to trafficking. From the recruitment stage through to the recovery stage, the role of family in trafficking cannot be overlooked. In addition, trafficking has such a profound impact on family members, and in particular dependant children, that they should also be considered victims of this crime. The aim of this Editorial is to demonstrate that human trafficking is embedded within family and community and cannot be understood without studying the relational components that define it. It argues that to effectively respond to trafficking, the intergenerational impacts must be considered and holistic family-centric responses developed

Forced Marriage and Family Relationships

Forced marriage was criminalised in Australia in 2013 and is considered a form of modern slavery and, less consistently, of family violence. Reports to date indicate that family members, particularly parents, are commonly responsible for coercing their children into marriage. Within a criminal framework, families are perpetrators, but this framing obscures complex family relationships, and the love, mutual care, and sense of duty that is often present within families affected. We interviewed eight women with experience of forced marriage and explored the histories of families as well as communication practices within families where coercion into marriage takes place. We reflect on what happens after an experience of coercion to marry, discussing both the resilience of the women as well as the reconfiguration of familial relationships that occurs when decision-making about marriage takes place. Interviews showed that ties between parents and their adult children can be enduring, even when difficult and requiring significant effort

The Importance of the Family Environment of Trafficking Victims in Peru, Before and After Exploitation

This article analyses the importance of the family environment of victims of human trafficking in Peru, before and after exploitation. Based on interviews with 30 victims and 10 family members, it demonstrates that families, primarily mothers, can play a powerful role in both preventing victimisation and assisting victims to recover from human trafficking experiences. Family structure and background can increase victims’ vulnerability, yet the families are also the ones that protect and take care of victims. However, government officials often blame parents and family members for victims’ exploitation, leading to revictimisation of both victims and their families. Understanding families’ role in victim reintegration is crucial for improving the quality of social inclusion. Protection and care services workers must involve victims’ families as part of their recovery process and receive further training to safeguard survivors’ physical and mental integrity

Enduring Abuse for the Sake of Remittance: The sacrifices of trafficking victims

This article discusses the interrelationship between exploitative practices and financial empowerment of trafficked women. It provides a nuanced understanding of women’s motivations for migration and considers the impact of migration on victims and their families. Drawing from three months of observations and 18 qualitative interviews with female victims of trafficking in Malaysia, the article discusses women’s perception of financial empowerment and the sacrifice, pain, and suffering they endured in exchange for an exploitative income. The findings revolve around three main themes: (i) the role of domestic violence in contributing to exploitation; (ii) the need for victims to support family as a reason to migrate for work, and (iii) enduring abuse and exploitation to support family and avoid the shame of returning empty-handed. The findings highlight how women are willing to endure various forms of abuse, including exploitation, mistreatment, and harsh working conditions, to provide financial support for their families and how domestic violence often serves to facilitate or render women vulnerable to exploitatio

Ethiopian Domestic Workers and Exploitative Labour in the Middle East: The role of social networks and gender in migration decisions

Migrant domestic work in the Middle East is known for high rates of exploitative labour. Despite this fact, many women from Africa pursue this work as a gendered familial expectation or means of financial gain, among other motivations. In this article, we centralise how personal social networks—family, friends, peers, and communities—act as motivating factors for prospective migrant domestic workers in Ethiopia looking to travel for work in the Middle East. The analysis of 100 in-depth interviews with women migrant domestic workers seeking employment in the Middle East demonstrates that social networks and gender influence migration decisions in complicated, multifaceted, and sometimes contradictory ways. Social networks also play an important role in facilitating entry into domestic work for Ethiopian women and in seeking help when they experience exploitative conditions in the Middle East

The Family as a Protective Factor: Economic considerations of Bangladeshi labour trafficking survivors

Economic dependence often exists within trafficked immigrant families, both before the human trafficking situation and after family reunification in the United States. While economic dependence can deepen individuals’ vulnerabilities to human trafficking, this article explores how the family unit can serve as a protective factor, especially for those who have recently experienced family reunification. Writing from the perspective of social service providers, we utilise a composite case study of several clients to exemplify how families can support and protect each other within their new environment in New York City and after reunifying with extended family members. This case study demonstrates that social service providers must adopt a family and community-centric approach to survivor support to ensure they strengthen the ability of the family unit to serve as a protective factor against further exploitation for trafficking victims in the US

Social-Climbing Projects of Families in the Context of Human Trafficking from Nigeria to France

Most African women involved in prostitution in major European cities today come from Edo State in Nigeria, where human trafficking has become an economic model. Despite moral judgment and the stigmatisation of sex workers in Nigeria, sending a woman to Europe represents an opportunity that many families decide to take as they rely on the potential financial benefits that would allow collective social climbing. This article analyses migration for prostitution purposes as a family project, helping to shed light on the role of parents in the mechanisms that make possible and even reinforce the sexual exploitation of women in Europe

Editorial: Beyond Terrorism and Sexual Slavery: Dynamics of armed conflicts, trafficking, and forced migration

This Editorial introduces a Special Issue of Anti-Trafficking Review on the theme of armed conflicts and their relationships with and impact on human trafficking, forced migration, and exploitation. It provides an overview of the literature on this theme, which has primarily focused on terrorism and sexual slavery. It then outlines the articles in the Special Issue, which expand our understanding of the topic by adding nuances to the experiences of people who flee, or choose to remain in, conflict-affected areas