Is gender identity the primary cause of insecurity in the context of trafficking? Country in focus: Ukraine

Abstract

The thesis examines the question of women trafficking arguing that taking gender lenses and offering human security framework will provide an important angle for examining the problem. It takes Ukraine as a case study and suggests that inbuilt in the Ukrainian society gender inequalities which reproduce gender identities is a major factor contributing to women’s insecurity on the one hand and making them vulnerable to trafficking on the other hand. It describes that traditional understanding of security in the field of international relations dominated by the realist discourse does not address the problem of trafficking. Women’s experiences are not included and trafficking generally is considered to fall within private sphere within public / private dichotomy. Human security framework may be a solution to locate the problem and make women’s experiences visible.