This article critiques the binary approach adopted in the European Union Qualification Directive (2004) and the United Kingdom's Qualification Regulations (2006) requiring proof of both a "protected characteristic" and "social perception" for victims of human trafficking when they are seeking to avail themselves of refugee status on the basis of their membership of a "particular social group". Adopting a post-colonial critique suggestive of law's "epistemic violence" on those already violated, the article considers how the binary approach can be squared, eschewing a Western and euro-centric formulation which overemphasizes hybridity at the expense of material realities. © Authors [2015]. All rights reserved.

Human trafficking Refugee status postcolonialism Particular social group

regulatory framework immigration policy refugee European Union post-colonialism trafficking