The moral economy of revenge.

An analysis on unexpected appropriations of anti-trafficking devices.

Abstract

In our research experience with judicial files for crimes of trafficking in persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation, we have identified a recurring mechanism by which people who participate in the sexual commerce , appropriating anti-trafficking policies, make complaints to the police or judicial headquarters. to process interpersonal conflicts or disputes over the conditions of the employment arrangement. Some of these complaints show situations of abuse of power, violence, conflicts and rivalries within the framework of work arrangements and relationships that operate within a framework of illegality, and that do not have - either due to the lifestyles of those involved or the controversial issue - of an institutionalized mechanism for its resolution. Others report more precise intentions on the part of actors who seek revenge against events that they consider offensive or unfair. In this work we analyze three judicial cases for human trafficking that were processed in different jurisdictions of the country, which allow us to explore from an anthropological perspective, on the one hand, the logic that underlies these conflicts and revenge from the point of view of the the actors, and on the other, the effects of their translation in terms of the legal language. Thus, an anthropological “listening” of the files allows a contextualized reading of the narratives  of those often considered “victims” by the judicial system, providing an alternative to the dichotomy “victim” or “worker” as essentialized identities.