Timescapes in public policy: Constructing the Victim of Trafficking

Human trafficking is presented as a multidimensional problem, constituted by a complex matrix of borders, vertices and spaces. In spite of the agreement of an international definition of trafficking in human beings some 20 years ago, debates persist about what constitutes human trafficking. The malleability of the concepts within this definition, and the range of activities they describe, undermines efforts to provide clarity to front-line professionals and the wider public about how to recognise individuals as potential victims, and what rights should be afforded to them (O’Connell Davidson, 2013).

This paper interrogates the role of time and temporality in the construction of individuals as eligible, or ineligible, for the status of ‘Victim of Trafficking’. The paper is structured through Adam’s (1998) approach to time as a multidimensional phenomenon, constituted by timeframes, temporality, sequences, tempo, timeliness, and temporal modalities and a case study of R v N [2012] EWCA Crim 189 is used to illustrate the discussion. The legislative framework, including international and national legal instruments is described. Consideration is given to the differentiation of offenders from victims and the discrete phases of processing individuals through the criminal justice system. Across all of these categories and the borders between them, time shapes the decision of street-level bureaucrats to construct a complex, multi-layered understanding of efforts to tackle human trafficking in England and Wales.