"That’s the ideal victim-centered approach: no protocol imposed on you", according to a Human Trafficking Expert by Experience

Esther is an expert by experience in the field of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. She holds an 'emic' perspective on this crime, that is, a perspective shaped by her own lived experience. For ten years, Esther was forced into prostitution by a 'loverboy' (a trafficker who uses romantic manipulation).Through her company, Esther Inspireert, she works to raise awareness and coaches girls who are at risk of falling into a situation of exploitation or who are already in one.

Marie is a PhD researcher who interviews victims, perpetrators, and facilitators of human trafficking, as well as anti-trafficking professionals. She also observes these actors in professional workshops and during intakes of (potential) victims to learn more about how they interact and perceive themselves and one another. Marie wants to better understand the mechanisms that explain why some victims of human trafficking are identified, while others remain hidden. She examines human trafficking from an 'etic' perspective, that is, informed by scientific theories and methodologies.

In general, etic actors like researchers and professionals construct their understanding of human trafficking based on limited and sometimes biased information. In fact, the low number of reported victims does not reflect the true scale of this crime. Also, etic actors often have preconceived notions of what an 'ideal' victim of human trafficking should look like. When it comes to sexual exploitation, for example, it is easy to overlook that boys, men, and transgender people can also be victimized.

In this context, we must not underestimate the impact of the social construction of victims of human trafficking on their detection and (self-)identification, or rather, the lack thereof. For example, Esther argues that insufficient attention is paid to Dutch victims of sexual exploitation who are groomed at school, online, or by their boyfriend, as professionals would focus primarily on detecting potential foreign victims.

Esther and Marie also discussed 'victim-centered' approaches in criminal justice and law enforcement efforts, which aim to effectively address the diverse needs of victims, sinceno two victims are alike. It quickly became clear that Esther had had different experiences with law enforcement, which raised the following question: do 'victim-centered' approaches truly achieve the goal of fair, trustworthy, and consistent enforcement of the law? Since etic actors cannot understand the lived experiences of emic actors on this issue without listening to their accounts, Esther and Marie collaborated on writing this blog post. What can emic actors teach us about the quality of their treatment by anti-trafficking professionals and the criminal justice system?

'Victim-centered' approaches appear to represent a positive development aimed at placing the victim's care, justice, and well-being at the center of attention. Such approaches also strive to prevent secondary victimization resulting from inappropriate treatment of a victim by professionals.

However, we still need to carefully examine how certain detection and investigation practices are in no way 'victim-centered', and in fact sometimes 'negatively victim-centered'. In fact, a significant burden often falls on (potential) victims of human trafficking, as they must 'earn' official recognition of their victim status by reporting the crime, cooperating with the authorities (such as the Police or the Labor Authority), and presenting evidence. Meanwhile, research has shown that some law enforcement actors appear to make decisions about victim notifications too quickly and without sufficient information, while not filing complaints, or filing them as an offense other than human trafficking. Although these practices may be due to resource constraints or a lack of awareness, they warrant scrutiny. What if a sound 'victim-centered' approach began by placing less of a burden on the victim and instead seeking out perpetrators and facilitators?

Listening to victims and incorporating their perspectives into research, policy, and practice is a first step toward an effective 'victim-centered' approach shaped by and for victims. This is a best practice that Marie strives to implement in her research by conducting interviews with victims, while remaining aware of the ethical challenges this poses. As Marie was questioning the effectiveness of 'victim-centered' approaches, she asked Esther: "What is, in your opinion, the 'ideal' victim-centered approach, the one you wished you had benefited from?"

Here is Esther's answer:

When I hear the term “victim-centered,” I don’t immediately think of protocols or policy documents. I think of something simpler: being seen. To me, victim-centered support means that the victim’s feelings and emotions are taken into account, and that she receives help tailored to her own problems, at her own pace. Not the pace of a system, a case file, or an investigation, but the pace of the person to whom this has happened.

I’m not saying this based on theory. I’m saying it because I know how it feels when the opposite happens.

During the time I was being exploited, I received no help. No one knew what was happening to me: he had isolated me from my family and friends, and I didn’t dare tell anyone myself. At one point, the police were investigating criminal activity involving my boyfriend—the man who was exploiting me. During that investigation, a police officer said to me, “I know you’re lying on your back for him, but that’s not why we’re here.”

Those words have stayed with me. Not because they were spoken so harshly, but because they showed exactly how invisible I was at that moment. Standing before them was a girl who was being exploited, and the only thing that mattered was the other case. I wasn’t a victim in their eyes. I was a minor detail.

What has stayed with me the most is how many people came by during that time who could have noticed something—and who didn’t, or didn’t ask about it. We regularly went to the hospital in Utrecht to get tested for STIs, and that always included a consultation with a social worker. She never asked about it. People came to our brothel's door to sell clothes and jewelry that we would wear at work. Meal delivery people came by. Taxi drivers drove us back and forth. There were clerks at the drugstore where we always bought lube. All those people saw aspects of my daily life, and not a single one of them ever asked a question.

I’m not saying this to point fingers at anyone. I’m saying it because it shows just how many moments there actually were when something could have changed if, somewhere, someone had asked a question. In my opinion, victim-centered support doesn’t just start with the institutions that are officially responsible. It starts with all the people who happen to cross a victim’s path, without even realizing it.

The most painful part is that it would have taken so little to do things differently. The police could have simply said at that moment: “We know what’s going on, and if you ever need help, you can come to us.” At that moment, I didn’t want help; I wasn’t ready for it yet. But there came a moment when I did want to run away. And then I thought back to that remark, to the feeling that they didn’t think I was important to them. At that moment, the police were no longer an option for me. And at that moment, I didn’t have any other options at all.

For me, that’s the crux of where things go wrong: not the moment itself, but what that moment leaves behind. One wrong response can slam shut a door that someone still doesn’t dare to open, even years later.

Still, I also see risks in the way victim-centered support is sometimes implemented. If “victim-centered” means making decisions for someone—even with the best of intentions—then it is not victim-centered; it is patronizing. Help that takes over rather than supports can make someone feel once again that they have no control over their own life. And that is exactly what exploitation did in the first place.

Here, I see an important role for experts by experience. Someone who has been through it themselves knows exactly where the pain points are. They can stand alongside a victim instead of taking control, helping, but letting the victim do it themselves. An expert by experience often finds it easier to take someone seriously, and sometimes there’s hardly any need to explain anything, because you know how it feels.

Looking back, I had hoped for someone who would take me seriously. Someone who would simply be there when I needed him or her, not before, not after, but then. Someone who wouldn’t judge me or try to force me, but who would stay by my side until I was ready to take the next step on my own.

To me, that’s the ideal victim-centered approach: no protocol imposed on you, and no door that closes forever after a single unfortunate remark. But a presence. Someone who knows that the moment someone dares to ask for help is rarely the moment when help is offered, and who therefore stays, even if the answer today is no.

This blog post serves as an encouragement for anti-trafficking actors to shift their lens. It is not always possible to distinguish 'real' victims from 'fake' ones based solely on their testimony. However, it is possible to identify cases of human trafficking by looking for its perpetrators and facilitators, as well as for concrete indicators such as unusual financial flows. Considering this, the COMCRIM project, of which Marie's PhD research forms part, aims to better understand perceptions of the roles of victims, perpetrators, and facilitators of human trafficking, as well as to analyze financial data to support victim detection. This research is therefore intended to help anti-trafficking actors rely on additional sources of evidence beyond victims' statements when investigating this crime, thereby alleviating the burden placed on victims.

To mark EU Anti-Trafficking Day, this post is also a reminder that everyone, from ordinary citizens to public and/or private institutions, can help support victims, whether by observing and reporting signs of human trafficking or lending an ear to someone in distress.