Migrant Sex Workers: An Analysis of Transnational Crime Displacement and Antitrafficking Measures

Author: Choo, Kyungseok & Rebovich, Donalf

Abstract: The objective of this study is to examine South Korea’s nationwide antitrafficking measures that were implemented after the introduction of the Act on thePunishment of Intermediating in the Sex Trade, which has resulted in transnational crime displacement. The paper introduces the transnational crime displacement phenomenon in human trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation. It reviews transnational crime displacement cases in the areas of drug trafficking, terrorism, and the sex trade. Following this is a discussion about the data source and its findings: the secondary data analysis of a survey of 1,078 Korean sex workers. The results are mixed, but multivariate logistic regression series do support that transnational crime displacement in the sex trade and human trafficking occurred after the nationwide antitrafficking efforts in South Korea. Finally, the authors discuss the implications for theory and policy so as to improve our understanding of transnational crime displacement, the current antitrafficking policy, and of control efforts from an international perspective.

Keywords: crime displacement, migrant sex worker, transnational human trafficking