Regional Case Study of Albanian Sex Trafficking

This chapter shows how real-world trafficking aligns with the theoretical claims of the model of six Ds (the 6D model). Approached from the trafficker angle, this chapter contains a regional case study, which, in order to support the claims of the model, superimposes the 6D elements onto former Yugoslavia and Albania to show how each of the elements are manifest in Albanian sex trafficking. If trafficking is to be recognised as jus cogens, showing that the actions and attitudes of today’s Albanian sex traffickers in the real world are comparable to war time rapists will be helpful. The case study uses life-story interviews with traffickers and individuals who have encountered them to illuminate the elements of their criminality in line with the claims of the model. During incarceration, one of the traffickers wrote a semiautobiographical book, titled Balkan Boy. Passages from this book are used alongside direct quotes from the traffickers.