Journal of Human Trafficking, Enslavement and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (JHEC)

In the past years, the UN Secretary-General has continuously stressed the urgency of addressing the nexus between human trafficking and conflict-related sexual violence. Although both crimes are most of the times looked upon separately, there are many similarities to be found.

One can think of the sexual nature that can be found in both crimes, the taboos and stigmas surrounding both crimes, the difficulty in defining the crimes, the focus on law enforcement (prosecution) rather than on prevention, prosecutorial challenges (e.g. protection, secondary victimization, reliance on victims' testimonies), lack of comprehensibly understanding victims' rights and needs, misconceptions about perpetrators and victims, and the fluidity of victim- and perpetrator roles, the consequences of both crimes (e.g. trauma, children born as a result), the causes and purposes of the crimes, to name a few. In addition, how does human trafficking and conflict-related sexual violence compare with the crime of enslavement? Again, there are significant overlaps, although the crimes do not seem to fully coincide.

Human trafficking, enslavement and conflict-related sexual violence take place in times of peace, conflict and post-conflict; the crimes can take place at the same time or follow each other consecutively. In the context of mass migration, men, women and children affected by conflict, displacement or violent extremism are particularly at risk of falling prey to traffickers owing to the collapse of protective political, legal, economic and social systems.

The UN Secretary General in its report on conflict-related sexual violence of 15 April 2017 for the first time reported about the link between conflict-related sexual violence and trafficking in persons. It was held that the term conflict-related sexual violence also encompasses trafficking in persons when committed in situations of conflict for the purpose of sexual violence/exploitation. Developments during the year 2016, including the rise in violent extremism and mass migration, drew attention to the attendant risk of trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual violence/exploitation. Moreover, in UN Security Council Resolution 2331 (2016) of 20 December 2016, the nexus between human trafficking, sexual violence, terrorism and transnational organized crime was for the first time addressed. With this resolution, sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism was officially acknowledged.

While its importance is time and again stressed, the nexus between human trafficking, enslavement and conflict-related sexual violence is up until now still largely underexplored. The Journal of Human Trafficking, Enslavement and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence aims to fill this gap by researching both the nexus between these crimes and studying the crimes individually.

Disciplines

This journal seeks high quality submissions reflecting multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives addressing domestic, regional, international and comparative developments. The core submissions are intended from the following disciplines:

• Law
• Victimology
• Psychology
• Criminology
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• Medicine
• Political Science
• Economics
• International Relations
• Information Technology
• History

Set-up
The JHEC contains articles, book reviews and case notes/discussion statements.

Peer review

The JHEC uses a double-blind peer review process.

Frequency

Two issues a year; one issue consists of random submissions and one special issue, which relates to a specific theme.