Shelter Homes - Safe haven or prison?

Authors

  • Dr Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14197/atr.201223207

Abstract

Shelters are the most common form of assistance available to trafficked persons in Malaysia and other countries. They may offer a safe and protected environment in which they can begin their recovery and access services such as legal, medical, or psychosocial aid. However, the rules imposed in the shelters and the overall victim protection mechanisms in Malaysia have been heavily criticised for violating human rights principles. This is because ‘rescued’ victims are forcibly detained in shelters until they are repatriated, which may take months or even a year. This article considers the conditions of victims’ detention from a socio-legal perspective. Drawing upon interviews with 29 trafficked women and 12 professionals from a shelter in Kuala Lumpur, it explores the women’s living conditions and access to legal support and mental and physical healthcare within the facility. The article concludes that routine detention of trafficked persons in shelters violates fundamental principles of international law and is therefore to be considered unlawful.

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Author Biography

Dr Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid

Dr Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. She obtained a PhD in Criminology from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and was a practising lawyer in the Malaysian courts for 17 years. Her areas of interests include human trafficking, criminology, victimology, sexual crimes, policing, international crimes, and human rights.

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Published

26-04-2023

How to Cite

Abdul Hamid, H. B. (2023). Shelter Homes - Safe haven or prison?. Anti-Trafficking Review, (20), 111–134. https://doi.org/10.14197/atr.201223207