Neo-liberal globalization of the economy followed by the widening North-South gap have led to an endless flow of people leaving their home country and crossing national borders, in search of a better life or to escape various forms of oppression. These women and men tend to be exposed to various forms of exploitation, both in the process of migration and in their destination countries. The most conspicuous form of this kind of exploitative migration is human trafficking. Often described as a "contemporary form of slavery," it is accompanied by serious human rights violations.
Since the 1990s, IMADR has been promoting activities to eliminate exploitative migration, especially trafficking in women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The following perspectives form the basis for these activities:
Seeing trafficking as an indication of multiple discrimination against minority women
Human trafficking can be seen as a result of various forms of discrimination based on gender, poverty, racism, ethnic origin, nationality and so on, compiled and intertwined with one another. We need to consider the fact that a considerable portion of trafficked persons – especially women and children – belong to discriminated minority groups, and that racism in their destination countries often prevents them from seeking effective remedies for their exploitation and human rights violations.
Bringing together activists with different views about prostitution
When it comes to prostitution, there have been two different positions on the matter among activists; those who believe that "all prostitution is sexual exploitation and therefore a violation of women's human rights," and those who believe that "there should be a recognized right to sex work, and the issue of prostitution should be considered
