AUTHOR=Giammarinaro Maria Grazia 

TITLE=Understanding Severe Exploitation Requires a Human Rights and Gender-Sensitive Intersectional Approach

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Dynamics

VOLUME=Volume 4 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-dynamics/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.861600

DOI=10.3389/fhumd.2022.861600

ISSN=2673-2726

ABSTRACT=This paper discusses the notion of severe exploitation in relation to production and social reproduction, and argues that the existence of huge “edge populations” subject to severe exploitation, mainly involving migrants, is a structural component of global economies, and thus  requires primarily not a criminal law but rather a human rights and social justice response. “Edge populations” are targeted for severe exploitation as a consequence of intersectional vulnerabilities. A gender perspective implies an analysis of how intersectional factors impact differently women’s, men’s and LGBTQI+ lives; this study is however mostly based on women’s experiences of severe exploitation and related vulnerabilities. Three sectors prone to severe exploitation have been analysed, in which weak regulations, and deprivation of labour and human rights expose migrants, especially migrants in irregular situations and especially migrant women, to various forms of severe exploitation. Through an analysis of domestic work, agriculture and the sex industry, this paper highlights that, although in different degrees, a combination of vulnerability and agency, of coercion and negotiation, exists in most cases of severe exploitation. The study suggests that a notion of “gender intersectional exploitation” should be further explored and indicates some of its essential features.