Abstract
In Benin, anti-child trafficking discourse misrepresents the nature of youth labour migration, while anti-child trafficking policy fails to protect those “beneficiaries” in whose name it is officially designed. Despite this, both have remained stable for over a decade. This paper attempts to explain why. It argues that, in contrast to claims made by many other critiques of anti-trafficking work that policy makers are either ignorant or malevolent, here discourse and policy are hampered more by the conceptual, institutional and political structures within which they are developed and articulated by individuals, thereby ensuring discursive and policy stability despite inaccuracy and failure.
Highlights
The story behind this paper begins in 2005
In Benin, anti-child trafficking discourse misrepresents the nature of youth labour migration, while anti-child trafficking policy fails to protect those “beneficiaries” in whose name it is officially designed
Fresh-faced and na ve, I travelled to Benin to start working with a child rights NGO on the topic of child trafficking
Summary
The story behind this paper begins in 2005. I will argue that inertia, stability and resistance to change within anti-trafficking discourse and policy result from the discursive, institutional and political constraints within which they are elaborated. The paper begins with a background to the emergence of child trafficking as an issue for concern in Benin and explains the research I have conducted into it. It briefly identifies the gap between narrative and reality and that between current and optimal.
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