An Interpretive Analysis of Australia's Approach to Human Trafficking and Its Focus on Criminal Justice Over Public Health

Title
An Interpretive Analysis of Australia's Approach to Human Trafficking and Its Focus on Criminal Justice Over Public Health
Publication Date
2017
Author(s)
George, Emma
McNaughton, Darlene
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0131-5966
Email: dmcnaug3@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:dmcnaug3
Tsourtos, George
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Routledge
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.1080/23322705.2016.1153367
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/59544
Abstract

This interpretive policy analysis of Australia’s response to human trafficking aimed to uncover the ways that human trafficking is currently represented as a problem within policy and to critically examine the actions proposed and services provided to address human trafficking. Through Bacchi’s method of interpretive policy analysis, values, beliefs, assumptions, and proposed actions that underwrite policy were examined. An analysis of the ways in which “problems” are defined and represented revealed that the problem of human trafficking is represented as a criminal-justice issue rather than a health or human-rights issue. In addition, five silences were identified as things left unproblematized and not discussed as part of Australia’s response to trafficking. There are serious limitations to a criminal-justice approach. A public-health approach would have a stronger focus on supporting all victims of human trafficking over the long term, rather than only those who are prepared to engage with the criminal-justice system as victims of crime. A public-health approach could complement and improve the current response to trafficking and promote health and human rights and foster greater intersectoral collaboration.

Link
Citation
Journal of Human Trafficking, 3(2), p. 81-92
ISSN
2332-2713
2332-2705
Start page
81
End page
92

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