Women victims of trafficking: Forced criminality and the criminal justice system’s failure to recognize agency, victimization, and exploitation

This article explores how the criminal justice system misrecognizes women victims of trafficking who are forced into criminal activities. Drawing on feminist criminological theory and international legal instruments, this critique challenges the binary opposition between “victim” and “offender,” advocating instead for an intersectional and gender-sensitive approach. The principle of non-punishment, as codified in EU Directive 2011/36 and the Palermo Protocol, is examined in light of recent Italian jurisprudence. Case analysis and feminist advocacy highlight the systemic failure to acknowledge constrained agency and the continuum of coercion. The article argues for a structural transformation of criminal justice frameworks, proposing feminist-informed legal interpretations that prioritize the voices of survivors and social justice over penal logics. Keywords: trafficking in human beings, non-punishment principle, feminist criminology, forced criminality, gender-based violence.