Labor Trafficking of Men in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Camps of Madre de Dios, a Reflection from the Diaspora Networks Perspective

“Defined as “labor intensive, low tech mineral exploration processing,” the artisanal and small-scale gold mining is expanding worldwide due to the increase in the prize of gold and the demand for the mineral. The industry creates jobs for the poor contributing to the alleviation of poverty in some developing countries, but the lack or regularization of the sector has occasioned environmental and social problems, human trafficking among them. In this industry trafficking situations have traditionally been perceived as exploitation or as violations of worker’s rights, while policies have targeted sexual trafficking of women, leaving vulnerable miners unprotected. That is the case of Madre de Dios, a gold enclave in the Peruvian Amazon that has become an emblematic case study of a modern gold rush. Peru has an extensive legal framework to fight human trafficking; however, this country follows a state-centric, security-based approach, focused on sexual exploitation of women trafficked by criminal networks. This article compiles fieldwork research to conclude that the trafficking dynamics in Peru can be described as a domestic phenomenon, part of an affective economy of local diasporas. Thus, it is argued, the focus of state’s human trafficking strategy needs to adjust to this reality and move beyond the security approach