JEAIL > Volume 11(1); 2018 > Articles
Research Paper
Published online: May 30, 2018
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2018.11.1.04

Modern-day Slavery at Sea: Human Trafficking in the Thai Fishing Industry

Zezen Z. Mutaqin
Fakultas Syariah dan Hukum, UIN, Jl. H. Djuanda No. 59 Ciputat, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Corresponding Author: zezen.zaenal@uinjkt.ac.id

ⓒ Copyright YIJUN Institute of International Law
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract
Most of the literature on modern-day slavery focuses on women and children as victims of the sex industry. This disproportionate emphasis on sexual exploitation has resulted in conflation of the term trafficking with prostitution, which has led to an understanding of human trafficking issues as separate from other workplace abuses that amount to slavery. By exploring modern-day slavery in the Southeast Asian fishing industry, this paper may fill a research gap within the study of human trafficking as well as sharpen our awareness of slavery practices, not only in the sex industry, but also in workplaces like fishing vessels and seafood processing factories. This paper will argue that the proximity of modern slavery to sexual exploitation and the lack of differentiation between smuggling and trafficking crime has led to the ignorance of contemporary slavery practices in other sectors.

Keywords : Human Trafficking, Slavery, Fishing Industry, Southeast Asia, Smuggling, Sex Trafficking

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