Classification routes: perceptions of a Portuguese sex workers’organization on human trafficking

Abstract

Historically linked to prostitution, human trafficking (HT) is a contested concept. In several countries, anti-trafficking policies treat it as equivalent to sex work, generating tensions between institutionalized categories and the perceptions and experiences of sex workers. Portugal is distinctive in not establishing this equivalence, making it possible to assess whether such tensions persist in contexts where anti-trafficking and anti-prostitution agendas do not overlap. Based on six semi-structured interviews, this article examines how a Portuguese sex workers’ organization understands HT, contrasting its perceptions with the international definition of the phenomenon and the associated profile of the «ideal victim». The findings suggest that the organization adopts a narrower understanding of HT than that set out in international law, viewing trafficking as occurring only when there is deception about the nature of the work to be performed in the destination country in the context of transnational migration.