Summary:

 From Prosecution to Empowerment aims to contribute to connecting the fight on human trafficking with broader movements to empower migrant laborers. Its aims are to address how the war on trafficking can be a vehicle for promoting the human rights of migrants, how to reduce their vulnerability to abuse, and how to empower them in the process of migration. Mindful that trafficking affects a wide range of workers – including agricultural workers, domestic workers, and garment workers – the scope of the conference extends beyond sex work. Instead, the conference brings attention to a vast array of migrants who are susceptible to trafficking not because of the nature of their occupation but rather because of their limited rights as migrants. They include migrant contract workers who labor under conditions of indenture, guest workers who are denied full citizenship rights, undocumented workers who face the threat of criminal prosecution, and international brides whose legal status depends on their continued marriage to abusive spouses.