Migration,Crime and Victimhood

Abstract

This article explores the other side of European-wide concerns regarding unwanted immigration, associated crime and threats to national security; namely marginalized migrants' experiences of victimization. With the mainstay of criminological attention focused on transnational crime and criminals, this article examines criminal justice responses to women who are trafficked, primarily from central and eastern Europe, to work in the EU's sex industry. The nature and extent of sex trafficking is explored by characterizing both offenders and victims, and with reference to current criminal justice responses to the problem. The article promotes a three-pronged criminal justice response to sex trafficking, resting with prevention, prosecution and protection. This comprehensive approach is forwarded with a view to recognizing and responding to women's experiences as victims of trafficking. The promotion of women's needs, as victims, is also considered alongside what is currently on offer, and practical, for other victim categories in the EU.

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