1. Demand for Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation
Using buyers’ online reviews to explore perceptions of exploitation.
Bryony Cornforth-Camden

2. Background
Scotland
Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill under consideration
Push to address demand for human trafficking
For trafficked prostitution, calls for criminalising purchase of sexual services
New Zealand
Prostitution decriminalised
Debate about the impact on human trafficking

3. Aim and Research Questions
Aim: investigate involving clients in addressing trafficking and other harms in prostitution
Research Questions:
How do clients perceive human trafficking and exploitation
How do clients understand their role
What are the policy implications for involving clients in preventing trafficking and exploitation in the sex-industry

4. Method
Clients reviews of sex-workers on prostitution advertising websites
Analysed 318 reviews
Sourced from the three main prostitution advertising websites in Scotland

5. Q1: How do clients perceive trafficking and exploitation?
Very few references to trafficking or exploitation
Only referred to if extreme/obvious
Suspicions of trafficking or coercion were easily dismissed
Clients were coming into coming into contact with exploitation but drew on a consumer norms discourse

6. Consumer norms and exploitation
Clients were very concerned with a set of factors that made a ‘bad punt’:
Controlling pimps; drug abuse; poor hygiene; sex-worker appears unwilling
Clients draw on consumer norms in interpreting these situations
They want to avoid ‘bad punts’ as the violate clients’ expectations as consumers and result in unsafe or unsatisfactory encounter

7. ‘Romanians’ and ethnic hierarchy
Ethnic hierarchy: White UK nationals> Eastern European (Romanian)
‘Romanian’ associated with ‘bad punts’ (pimps, unwilling, ‘conveyor-belt operations’)
Clients held derogatory views and tolerated exploitative working conditions for ‘Romanians’
Focus on ‘Romanians’ can be tied to negative media portrayals and political rhetoric on immigration in the UK

8. Q2: How do clients understand their role and responsibilities?
Clients did not see themselves as having a role in relation to exploitation
However, clients had a code of practice based on consumer norms which guided them in avoiding ‘bad punts’
Clients are charged with acting as responsible consumers
Clients are motivated and skilled at avoiding ‘bad punts’ and, inadvertently, exploitative situations

9. Q3: What are the policy implications?
Potential to responsibilise clients by legitimising and building on their consumer code and responsibilities
Clients detect and report exploitative situations
Consumer code of practice is built on and expanded to afford rights to sex-workers
Tolerance of poor conditions for migrant workers maintains trafficking and exploitation
Political actors responsible for protecting workers’ rights

10. Conclusion
Role for clients in preventing and responding to human trafficking and exploitation
Role of political actors to promote migrant workers’ rights
More research into how political rhetoric, media, public perceptions affect migrants’ working conditions

11. References
Fox, J. E., Moroşanu, L. and Szilassy, E. (2012) ‘The racialization of the new European migration to the UK’, Sociology, 46(4), pp. 1–16.
Macarie, I.-C. (2014) Half-in, Half-out: Roma and Non-Roma Romanians with Limited Rights Working and Travelling in the European Union, Integrim Online Papers, [online] Available from: (Accessed 27 July 2015).
Vicol, D. and William, A. (2014) Bulgarians and Romanians in the British National Press: 1 Dec Dec 2013, Oxford, The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
First slide image by Grolltech “Shipping routes red black”
Thank you to Rotary International and Rotary District 9940 for funding my studies through the Global Grant Scholarship award.

12. Thank you Bryonycc@gmail.com