Modern Slavery, Victim Identification and the ‘Victimized State’

Findlay, Joshua

Abstract

Resistance to entering the UK government’s modern slavery victim identification mechanism is widespread and part of normal practices of state evasion that shape the lives of large numbers of insufficiently documented people. This article provides evidence of the role practitioners play in producing referrals into that mechanism in spite of such resistance and in spite of the harms caused by the identification mechanism itself, which is integrated into the immigration system. Though referrals are driven by practitioners, those entering the mechanism are said to be ‘abusing’ the system. This dynamic is considered in relation to a common trend of the liberal state, in which state practices are externalized onto others, while it claims to itself be the victim of violence.

Citation

Findlay, J. (in press). Modern Slavery, Victim Identification and the ‘Victimized State’. British Journal of Criminology, XX(XX), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae061

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 2, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Aug 21, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2024
• Journal: The British Journal of Criminology
• Print ISSN: 0007-0955
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3529
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: XX
• Issue: XX
• Pages: 1-17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae061