Unveiling the Gendered Realities of Human Trafficking in Austria
On the 9th of October, CEU hosted a film screening of the movie “Joy,” followed by a panel discussion. The panel was moderated by Rohit Sarma, a PhD candidate from CEU’s Department of Legal Studies and featured Heather Komenda (IOM regional Office Vienna), Katie Klaffenböck (IOM Country Office Austria), Tamara Schmidt (LEFÖ - Intervention Centre for Trafficked Women (IBF), Manfred Buchner (MEN VIA), and Prof Dr.Katharina Beclin (University of Vienna, Faculty of Law, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology). Students of the CEU class “Gender and Migration,” taught by professor Lena Riemer, attended the event to learn about some of the issues faced by victims of human trafficking in Austria. “Joy” served as the personal centerpiece of the evening, offering a visceral portrayal of the lived realities behind the statistics and policies discussed by experts.
The film follows Joy, a Nigerian woman, who was trafficked to Austria to become a prostitute in order to free her family from poverty back home. While earning her own living, Joy, along with a few other women living in the same house, are shown to be repaying over 60,000 euros of their debts to their “Madam”, or gang leader who bought the women as sex workers from the traffickers. The film is graphic, depicting the rape and torture these women are subject when they do not earn enough money. It is complex, showcasing how the gang and the local church are the only places of community they can have, despite it simultaneously being the reason for their suffering. And it is painful, in every conceivable way, when we learn that despite being repeatedly raped, impregnated, exploited both physically as well as financially, and still manageing to pay off all of her debts, Joy’s decision to work with an NGO to get the “Madam” arrested, ultimately led to her deportation. After 10 long years of suffering, she was right where she began, back home in an impoverished neighbourhood of Nigeria, ready to be smuggled into Europe, all over again.
Following the screening, the panel unpacked the film’s themes and connected them to broader structural and legal realities of human trafficking in Austria. The experts emphasised how structural conditions, such as excess labour, romanticised perceptions of the Global North and the precarity of sectors like sex work and agriculture, create space for exploitation. The discussion illuminated the “dark field” of human trafficking, where victims often remain invisible due to fear of being deported. Though people require cooperation with the police for recognition, it is the police that they are told to fear most. Panelists pointed to how accurately “Joy” challenges the simplistic binaries of victim and perpetrator, highlighting the roles trafficked individuals may occupy within exploitative systems. The film’s portrayal of NGOs supporting victims of human trafficking spared debate, with Tamara Schmidt clarifying that real-life support is unconditional of someone’s decision to cooperate with the police. The panel concluded by broadening the scope of human trafficking, addressing male victimhood, online trafficking and ethical dilemmas faced by those forced into criminal activity, underscoring that every facet of human trafficking is deeply gendered and demands a broad, intersectional lens.
For the students attending, the panel offered not only expert insight but also a framework for understanding Joy’s story through a gendered and legal lens. Joy’s story is not just one of migration. Rather, her story is one of sexual exploitation, economic coercion and the violation of her bodily autonomy: issues inseparable from a feminist lens. The subsequent panel discussion further demonstrated the complexity of such issues by outlining the specific legal, social, and institutional frameworks in Austria that address the victims of trafficking. Additionally, experts also engaged with participants in the reception and discussed the specific gendered challenges faced by women and men who are victims of human trafficking.
Article by: Ranea Amir, Arlo Postema and Tanishka Murthy
Photo credits: Miriam Kaltenbrunner