Reintegration as an Emerging Vision of Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12248 |
Reintegration as an Emerging Vision of
Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking
Luke S Bearup*
ABSTRACT
This article examines the discoursal shift to “reintegration”within trafficking protection
programmes and policy, with emphasis upon Cambodia. The evidence indicates that non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) are progressively making “reintegration”their primary
protective objective. Yet a lack of conceptual clarity prevails and is being exacerbated by
models and forms of guidance which position NGOs as directly undertaking or providing for
the achievement of reintegration. This article argues that NGOs and their practitioners cannot
“reintegrate”anyone –at least not in any substantive sense. Drawing upon the discourse
within the field of protection practice, a dualist conception of reintegration is proposed as com-
prised of “procedural”and “substantive”elements. Accordingly, the procedural delivery of
assistance may or may not support the substantive attainment of reintegration. It is argued that
the emerging focus upon reintegration reflects a broadened vision of justice which warrants
further research into the social and cultural foundations necessary for its achievement.
REINTEGRATION AS AN EMERGING VISION OF JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The prevailing guidance on protecting former victims of human trafficking has more recently come
to manifest an emphasis upon reintegration. Yet within these policies and programme models, the
polysemic concept of reintegration lacks clarity and precision. Furthermore, these guidelines perpet-
uate confusion on account of their tendency to identify NGOs as directly coordinating the process
of reintegration, or directly providing for its achievement. The most elementary claim of this paper
is that the “procedural”provision of assistance, as mandated by various policies, conventions and
laws, may or may not aid the “substantive”achievement of reintegration within receiving social
groups and institutions. This paper compares the rising emphasis upon a “thick”substantive con-
ception of reintegration within the field of protection practice in Cambodia, with a “thin”concep-
tion of reintegration evident within protection policy. If there is merit in the project of instating a
substantive conception of “reintegration”as the primary aim of protection assistance, then it is
argued that further research is necessary for discerning the local social arrangements, processes and
cultural norms pertinent to its achievement. Such research would ideally inform the construction of
protection policy, and the design of programmes aimed at promoting the substantive attainment of
reintegration within groups and social institutions.
This article is comprised of five sections. The first describes the rationale for this study, the focus
upon Cambodia, and the methodology employed. The second describes the emerging emphasis
upon reintegration within the field. Primary consideration is given to literature which has
* Deakin University, Australia
doi: 10.1111/imig.12248
©2016 The Author
International Migration ©2016 IOM
International Migration Vol. 54 (4) 2016
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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