History of Gender Commons^™

Beyond Trafficking, Agency And Rights: A Capabilities Perspective On Filipina Experiences Of Domestic Work In Paris And Hong Kong, Leah Briones

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Current analyses of trafficking in unskilled female migrant labour are dominated by the concepts of victimisation, agency and rights. So far, however, such concepts have done more to legitimate receiving countries’ border control protection than to protect the livelihood needs of these migrant workers. Drawing on the experiences of Filipina domestic workers in Paris and Hong Kong, this paper uses Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach to question the efficacy of the current anti-trafficking discourse.