Feminisation of Poverty, Gender Violence and Commoditization of Women in East African Countries: An Anthropological Appraisal

THIS ARTICLE ANALYSES ASPECTS of the changing rhetoric and realities since 1989 of the traffic in women from and through Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union 1 (CEE). The overt and shocking human rights abuses apparent in the traffic in women stem to a large extent from the degraded status of women within these societies. 2 This essential inequality is thrown into sharp relief by both economic problems and war. Compounding variables are that certain criminals, military personnel and ‘business’ people view women (and children) as valuable commodities to exploit in terms of prostitution. 3 Discourses on economic transition and militarisation in CEE are related to debates on trafficking in women with focus on poverty, human rights, prostitution and migration. The rapid marketisation of these countries had a disproportionately heavy impact on women’s economic opportunities and family responsibilities. 4 The growth of trafficking in women for sexual exploitation across CEE from the 1990s to date highlights how considerations of migration and prostitution, when politically framed, can be decisive in the formulation of adopted policy strategies. The demand for prostitution in the wealthier Western European countries links with confused and contradictory attitudes towards prostitution and its regulation to generate and support thriving ‘markets in women’. Military and peacekeeping personnel link with local profiteers in creating further markets. Both the feminisation of poverty and the secondary positioning of women in countries within the region are key factors encouraging migration to the West. 5 There are competing causal factors and motives underpinning much of the trafficking trades, 6 particularly that of traffic in women. Key impacts of poverty and war have interlinked across CEE to oppress impoverished women with apparent complexities between migration, human trafficking and smuggling. 7 Contradictory dialogues speak to the current political interest in legislating against the traffic in women in CEE, specifically from alternating focal points of women’s human rights, immigration controls and the feminisation of poverty. In this article attempts are made to draw out some causal factors against the background of dramatic political and economic change, particularly the rapid globalisation of the now marketised economies in the region and to assess some of the ways in which legislative change

Reviewed by: The Seductions of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking by Sally Engle Merry David Cingranelli (bio) Sally Engle Merry, The Seductions of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press 2016), ISBN 978-0-226-26128-7, 249 pages. Sally Engle Merry’s The Seductions of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking describes and critiques the process of producing and analyzing numerical indicators of human rights, gender violence, and sex trafficking. She believes that the [End Page 239] process of quantification is highly political and ideological, and that quantitative measurement systems constitute a form of power, incorporating theories about social change in their design. She emphasizes that measurement systems are developed by powerful organizations, and the organizational value biases behind those systems are rarely explicit. Quantification itself contributes to a “myth of objectivity,” meaning that the truth of most things can be found in numbers. One of the main problems with quantification, she contends, is that the production of quantified measurements is not as open and transparent as it should be. If it were clearer, we would be able to see that it is shaped by “ideology, inertia, social and political influence, inadequate data, and the pragmatic compromises that poor data require.”1 In several chapters, she provides examples showing that what is measured and how it is measured usually depends upon the preferences of powerful organizations. As a result of this bias and other problems detailed in her book, she concludes that “[n]ot all that should be counted is counted, nor does counting itself necessarily provide an accurate picture of a situation or its explanation.”2 In the interest of full disclosure, the reader should know that I have spent most of my professional life quantifying cross-national variations in government respect for a variety of human rights such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and press. So I personally have contributed and continue to contribute to the “seduction of quantification” the author describes. Therefore, I began my reading of this work with a great interest in her subject and a bias against her argument. I also read this book with great respect for the views of this particular author. She is an acknowledged expert on evaluating the performance of respect for human rights and other aspects of good governance. She has written several previous books and articles on related subjects, and this book is filled with interesting examples drawn from her personal experiences. She discusses her active participation helping intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations develop creative ways to evaluate progress in human rights, including reducing gender violence and sex trafficking. Overall, I agree with the author’s diagnosis of the problems presented by quantification, and with her assessment that there is a trend towards producing more numerical scores designed to capture complex human rights and governance concepts. She accurately describes the strong trend towards greater use and increasingly uncritical and naïve use of those scores by scholars and policy makers. She does a good job of explaining the reasons for this trend, or, as she refers to it in her title, the reasons for “the seductions of quantification.” I also found her book to be very readable despite the fact that the discussion sometimes addresses technical subjects and provides detailed accounts of the politics behind the development of numerical indicators. Her book is well organized and well written. It is composed at a level appropriate for advanced undergraduate college students. I will probably assign the first two chapters and the conclusion to the book as required [End Page 240] reading for my undergraduate seminar on measuring human rights. The book contains an excellent, up-to-date review of the relevant literature. It is a must read for scholars, policy makers, and policy analysts who produce or use these types of quantitative indicators and for policy makers who want to learn more about the pitfalls of evidence-based governance. Less sophisticated readers (those not directly involved in the knowledge production and consumption process) probably will not fully appreciate the nuances of this account. In the remainder of this essay, I provide a brief description...

In Nigeria’s Niger Delta, oil politics by global oil corporation, national government and local leaders perpetuate gender inequalities in the distribution of oil benefits to women in oil communities. Women also bear the greater cost of oil-induced environmental harms which adversely affect their traditional livelihood of farming and fishing. Scholarship on human trafficking in Nigeria focused scant attention on the structural conditions that influenced women experience of human trafficking in extractive contexts. This article examines how oil politics perpetuate gender violence and expose women to human trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labour in the Niger Delta region. Based on feminist political ecology perspectives and field studies in selected oil communities, the study seeks to explain how oil politics perpetuate women’s socio-economic deprivation, in ways that expose them to human trafficking as victims and accomplice. Women exposure to human trafficking amplify their experience of gender violence and violate their rights and aspiration for emancipation and justice in Nigeria’s oil extractive region. International organizations and policy makers need to consider the global and local dynamics that magnified women’s experience of human trafficking in extractive communities and the wider implications for the global and local efforts to combat human trafficking.

Since its normative inception that human trafficking holds the heraldic baton of gender mainstream, the data provided by international agencies such as UNODC (Global report on trafficking in persons. UNODC. Last accessed on 24 June 2021 from https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/glotip/2018/GLOTiP_2018_BOOK_web_small.pdf, 2018) that in its Global Report on Trafficking in Persons states that 72% of worldwide human trafficking victims are females, and the European Commission that reports that 68% of the victims in the European territory are women and girls, confirms the international resolution in determining that women and girls are a particular vulnerable group to exploitation, in particular, for sexual purposes. However, despite the International standard bearer of gender mainstream on human trafficking, perpetrators seem to expand new exploitative forms ontologically related to the gender roles, and the “feminization of poverty,” such as: sham marriages; forced marriages; international adoption; surrogacy; and fraud for social benefits (European Commission, 2018).The lack of access of rights does not seem to be the main cause of human trafficking, since 44% of the victims in the European territory are European citizens (European Commission, 2018). In this case, a relevant research question is what are the causes that trigger a trafficking situation of a European citizen in the European territory? Can women and girls still be considered a vulnerable group in the twenty-first century to this phenomenon? Is the foundation of these new exploitative forms the false values of personal fulfilment of the role of the mother and wife? This paper will explore these questions through the conduct of a desk research analysis of seventy-five country and general reports and government’s reply of the twenty eight European Member states for the GRETA group in the period of 2015–2020.KeywordsHuman TraffickingPatriarchyNew exploitative formsGenderVulnerable group

This research is focused on the study of the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings and combating this denigrating phenomenon of society, through the development of the economic factor. The economic environment (factors; political, economic, social, technical-technological) and the development of Kosovo's economy are studied, as a development potential of standard of living, which affects the fight against trafficking in human beings in Kosovo. A special role in the study has the issue of employment, with a focus on the labor market (potential of supply and demand for work), employment opportunities, wages, and living standards, interpersonal relationships (employer-employee) as the dominant factor which affect the preservation of dignity, integrity and creating hope and perspective for a life in a healthy and sustainable society. Trafficking in human beings in Kosovo has become a major concern of Kosovar society which is developing in the form of modern slavery, through individual crime and organized crime, in order to create profitable favors for individuals or organized groups. The purpose of the research was to analyze the level of economic development in Kosovo, development trends, in order to have a clear picture of the causes and indicators that present the current economic and social situation in Kosovo, as well as the promising prospects for the younger generations. This paper presented the statistical data available from the relevant institutions, related to economic development, unemployment, living standard (poverty), etc. The thesis of this paper is: Does economic development have an impact on combating trafficking in human beings in Kosovo? For the work of this study are used the theories of various world authors, which have addressed the issue of economic development, employment, living standards and social welfare issues. This study aimed to assess the economic situation in Kosovo, economic development opportunities, employment and its consequences in combating trafficking in human beings in Kosovo. This study had identified the findings recommendations on economic factors who had a direct impact on combating trafficking in human beings and the social consequences that are reflected in society.

This paper argues that the feminisation of migration has heightened the awareness of human trafficking, yet the feminisation of poverty is a social concept that is yet to be fully understood within the context of human trafficking. The false notion of “return” has been given as a solution to those individuals who are “out of place” or have been displaced as “victims of trafficking”. This article will discuss the Right to Remain visa applications of 12 women who were trafficked from post-Soviet countries to Israel, by examining the impact that gender, level of poverty and each woman’s decision to migrate has had on her life. In addition, this article will analyse the life experiences of the 12 women who experienced human trafficking. It will explore the idea that each woman is a “victim of trafficking” and that, conversely, this may be understood as a means to negate a more nuanced understanding of women’s mobility. Finally, this article will provide an intersectional analysis of trafficking flows in the world today.

Although efforts to combat human trafficking have increased in recent decades, human trafficking remains a significant global human rights issue, with an estimated 40.3 million victims. Due to the covert nature of human trafficking, and incongruencies in reporting, accurate data is scarce. Human trafficking legal cases can provide a partial record of the extent of human exploitation occurring within countries. Despite extensive research, factors driving human trafficking remain unclear. Our research examined the predictive value of indicators of gender inequality and violence against women on human trafficking legal cases across countries. Regression analysis revealed multiple significant models. The model with the largest effect size included the predictors Gender Development Index, labor force participation for women, share of seats in parliament for women, life expectancy for females, estimated gross national income for women, and rape rate. Rape rate was the single best predictor. Results indicate that specific aspects of structural gender inequality and violence against women are significantly associated with human trafficking legal cases. Future research is needed to more clearly understand the motivations and behaviors of traffickers and what drives trafficking conviction rates at national levels.

The convergence and almost absolute uniformity among communities in West Africa on the issue of gender inequity remains one of the central challenges of globalisation. The centrality of this phenomenon is given that women constitute almost 50% of the population in most of these societies. Hence, any policy or convention or culture that inflicts poverty on women, unwittingly overburdens their men counterparts to the extent society “crashes”. The feminization of poverty in a patriarchal structure has led to over-arching consequences impinging negatively on the education of women, their access to credit facilities and other resources and their general involvement in the process of decision making in the family. In some communities women only achieve status and recognition through children, especially males, making some of them engage in child bearing even in conditions that threaten their lives. In addition, although the practice of Female Genital Mutilation [FGM) is widely discouraged as harmful, some cultures in the sub-region still attach great significance to it. These translate into poverty, which in West Africa is conceived as gender-biased. This paper argues that interventions should focus on the role of policymakers and social policy in effecting necessary attitudinal and behavioral change. This study by not only suggesting how “commonizaton” of knowledge of the factors that heighten vulnerability of women to poverty can be achieved, but also how social policies within the diversity of these societies can succeed sets out to provoke meaningful dialogue among scholars towards ideological, theoretical and policy consensus to meet the immediate challenge of enthroning gender equality in the sub-region through centriarchy. African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol.7(1) 2004: 30-47

Human trafficking is an international problem that affects all regions of the world. Countries on all continents are integrated into this global trade. This is much more than a crime and law enforcement problem. Rather, human trafficking results from fundamental economic, political, and social problems in the contemporary world. The increasing economic and demographic disparities between the developing and developed world, along with the feminization of poverty and the marginalization of many rural communities, have all contributed to the increase in trafficking. Globalization has also resulted in the tremendous growth of tourism that has enabled pedophiles to travel and many to engage in sex tourism.

Poverty in Botswana is more pronounced in female-headed households (FHHs) especially those residing in rural areas where employment opportunities are limited. Similarly, the proportion of the FHHs to the total poor increased between 2002/03 and 2009/10. However, no study has so far analyzed whether feminization of poverty has occurred. This paper therefore, examines feminization of poverty in Botswana using the 2009/10 Botswana Core Welfare Indicator Survey and the 2002/03 Household Income and Expenditure Survey datasets. The results indicate no evidence of feminization of poverty (at both national and regional levels). However, the results reveal evidence of feminization of poverty amongst the married couples, the widowed, the divorced, the unemployed, those working in own farms and the self-employed. Therefore, public policy should focus on gender sensitive poverty alleviation strategies, with specific focus on the vulnerable FHHs, especially the divorced/separated and the widowed, in order to fully address the feminization of poverty amongst these groups.

Human trafficking of women and children (HTWC) has always been a global concern and a persistent social issue in China. But feminist critiques of HTWC’s media representations are insufficient in understanding the underlying gendered power dynamics and ideologies, especially in non-Western, local socio-political contexts. Drawing on the anthropological notion of “transforming patriarchal configurations,” which focuses on the interplay between gender and generational inequalities, this study takes China’s state media as a critical and illustrative case. It systematically explores how HTWC’s representations engage with patriarchal values embedded in Chinese society. This study analyzes 117 news articles from People’s Daily (2011–2024) with critical discourse analysis and content analysis. The findings reveal a nuanced picture. The ambivalent subordinations between society, families, and individuals reframe personal suffering as collective tragedies for families and society. Structural causes like gender inequality are systematically downplayed in favor of discourses prioritizing patriarchal familial values and social order, echoing the state’s intent to preserve existing patriarchal family structures and maintain social stability, thereby legitimizing the very gendered hierarchies that potentially exacerbate HTWC. This study contributes to understanding how state media’s discourses shape patriarchal configurations and offers insights into media representation research of HTWC and gender violence more broadly.

The mathematics that I've proposed in originalmodels in differential calculus and circular statistics are conducive to humanity's problems such as: the fight against cancer, human trafficking, gender violence and crime. In any case, they are not the only thing they serve, their functionality being very comprehensive to other very current problems. I use differential calculus as a convergent finite series and anotherseries that is converted by Maclaurin and Taylor into a function. These two are constant in a differential equation of exponential growth. In the circular statistics equation I've proved it in two ways and define 3 corollaries that fit the function. In cancer the applications are diverse and it differs from patient to patient. In gender violence, human trafficking and crime, it is recommended to prevent and remedy such evils.

Economic issues have become an important part of the agenda of women's organizations and feminist study worldwide. At the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Forum of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Huairou, China, many workshops focused on such issues as globalization, structural adjustment, economic transition from planned economies, the feminization of poverty, women's employment and unemployment, property rights, and women's access to credit. Economic issues were also discussed in connection with other panels, such as trafficking in women, environmental degradation, access to adequate healthcare and education, and political participation. Although women in Huairou disagreed about many issues, there appeared to be nearly universal agreement that women are harmed by the laissez-faire economic policies that are sweeping the world. The purpose of the official UN conference was to agree on the Platform for Action, which would set guidelines for improving the status of women and girls and promoting equality. Most of the wording, however, had been agreed upon at preliminary meetings, and only language that had been placed in brackets was open for discussion. Thus, it was too late for many women not familiar with the process to add issues they considered important. The organization of NGOs attending the official UN conference, on the other hand, was relatively informal and decentralized. A coordinating body was set up to provide information, and caucuses were set up to address particular issues. The Economic Justice Caucus was unanimous in its condemnation

The impacts of human trafficking are currently high across the world albeit different policies are designed to combat it. Yet, governments are not working hard practically and jointly as they write strategies and programs on the paper to reduce the impacts of women trafficking. Even though men are victims of human trafficking, scholars agree that women are the most vulnerable to human trafficking. This study describes the socio-economic impacts of human trafficking among the west Asia returnee young women in Ethiopia by taking Oromia Region’s West Shewa zone as a case study. The study used the mixed-method approach. A descriptive case study research design was applied for a detailed description of the socio-economic impacts of human trafficking among west Asia returnee young women. Feminism theory was employed to scrutinize the oppression of young women. The finding reveals that human trafficking caused the divorce of marriage and exposed children to the street because of unwise savings and disagreement of spouses; psychological and physical threats of young women on the way to work, at the workplace and after return; wastage of income as a result of saving money in the wrong place; economic crisis because young women had to pay back the loan to brokers – traffickers – and could not repay the money for lenders; and school dropout. From the finding, it is concluded that although young women exposed to human trafficking by the vision of having their job in the future and the income they could generate in West Asia. They had a dream to improve their lives, they could not realize their dream since they were unable to save the money thereby leading them to social and economic crises. Hence, it is recommended that issues of human trafficking should be incorporated into the school curriculum, at least at the elementary level, so that young women get better awareness about the negative consequences of human trafficking and abstain from traffickers. It is also recommended that young women who work abroad legally should open their formal bank account to save their wages to escape social and economic crises when they return.

Trafficking in persons is the fastest growing form of organized crime, because it is less risky than drug or arms trafficking1 and guarantees astonishing profits ranging between 8.5 and 12 billion Euros per year.2 The new slave trade is related to extreme poverty, lack of access to resources, unemployment, and poor education, and because of the marginalization of women in society and the feminization of poverty, it obviously affects especially women and children. This article aims at investigating the phenomenon of child trafficking and the most common forms of exploitation and at reviewing the most significant international conventions and special mechanisms that guarantee the protection of child victims’ basic human rights.