ABSTRACT
It is difficult to close a book such as this, for new events are reported daily in the media, new analyses of trafficking published, new migrant women’s and sex workers’ experiences heard, and new anti-trafficking organizations created. So to produce a collective reflection on the current state of affairs and new directions I asked the original contributors what concerned and excited them around the issue of trafficking in the specific country in which they work, and what they would like to see happen in the future. Many of the authors have continued to participate in anti-trafficking struggles and interventions, and six—Josephine Ho, Phil Marshall, Natasha Ahmad, John Frederick, Melissa Ditmore, and Matt Friedman (aka Aftab Ahmed)—sent their reflections and updates. Others said they were no longer in the field of anti-trafficking and/or had nothing to add at the time. What follows is a compilation of the responses, as well as some of my own thoughts and some additional ideas from others in the field. Concerns about the ineffectiveness of the main trafficking paradigms remained paramount but some positive developments were noted, and several authors identified areas that they saw as needing (greater) attention.
