Harming the very people whom the law is seeking to protect? The nexus between international,European Union and domestic law on human trafficking and undercover police operations

Abstract

The conundrum of trade in women for sex has engendered many feminist struggles that sought to influence the political and legal actions on the matter, in an attempt to eliminate female sexual exploitation. However, albeit a number of transnational legal means (especially European Union law) have been put into effect for such purpose and, also, for universalizing the national anti-trafficking approaches, the very recipients of exploitation (victims of human trafficking) are still marginalized. A case in point is the role of the Cypriot law in the execution of undercover police operations, where deceit, exploitation and subjectification of prostituted women are predicated as standard procedure.