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In the Criminal code, by the very definition of the concept of trafficking (article 418), the issue of individual choice seems to be directly tackled; moreover, it seems to be at the heart of the perception/the understanding of trafficking itself by our Criminal Code. The personal narratives we have examined support the thesis according to which individual choice (and “consent”) in terms of trafficking is impossible: even those who claim it, in their personal narratives, display a deeply socio-culturally conditioned life “choices.”
It seems utterly inadequate to assume the possibility of individual choice and include it in the definition of trafficking. This is also something that complicates the legal process through the institute of “individual testimony” (since it touches upon the sense of responsibility, guilt, shame of the person giving the testimony, which is not only a form of institutional violence against the victim but also an obstacle for the process, since it is precisely the giving an account of herself that precludes the victim from giving testimony).
