A very lucrative liquid: the emerging trade in human milk as a form of reproductive exploitation and violence against women

• Pages: 171-183
• Published date: 05 February 2020
• Date: 05 February 2020
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-07-2019-0058
• Author: Sarah Louise Steele,Eduardo E. Hernandez-Salazar
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations

A very lucrative liquid: the emerging trade

in human milk as a form of reproductive

exploitation and violence against women

Sarah Louise Steele and Eduardo E. Hernandez-Salazar

Abstract

Purpose –An emerging market in human milk exists for both nutritional and biomedical research

purposes. This commercialisation of human milk, however, raises issues about the exploitation and

violenceagainst women.

Design/methodology/approach –This paperexplores the framing of the issues as oneof human rights,

and whetherthe shifting of gender issues away from gender-specificspaces in legal and ethical debates,

makes their ethical consideration and the tangible consequences from these considerations, into a

potentialfurther sources of exploitation and otherforms of violence against women.

Findings –The authors find the commoditisation of human milk as a nutritionalproduct deprives women

from the centrality of their roles and, therefore, from the upholding of women rights and the adequate

prevention of violenceagainst women. They identify an emerging spacewhere trafficking in women and

girls can occur for their milkas part of a broader set of practices of reproductive exploitation. They also

identify that existinglegal, ethical and research discussions oftenframe labour or organ trafficking as the

appropriate framework but find this inadequate to address the inherently gendered aspect of

reproductive exploitation. The current response makes trafficking in women for their milk a potential

practice while concealing the structural inequalities that underpin women’s experiences as the buyers

and sellersof human milk.

Practical implications –The regulation of humanmilk sale should therefore move from a publichealth

paradigm focusedon safety to one of health and women’s rights, whereashuman trafficking laws around

the worldshould explicitly address reproductiveexploitation.

Originality/value –Emerging forms of exploitation, such as human milk sale remain underdiscussed

alongside other more prominentforms of reproductive exploitation, such as surrogacy.The authors call

for explicit consideration of the emerging trade as its burdens fall exclusively on women and existing

frameworks for addressing exploitation often overlook these emerging practices and the structural

inequalitiesfaced by women that drive these trades.

Keywords Gender, Human rights, Crime, Civil society

Paper type Conceptual paper

1. Introduction

In recent decades, extensive work has been done worldwide to promote breastfeeding

(Akre et al.,2011). Health-care professionals routinely emphasise that human milk is the

gold standard for infant feeding, whereas research continues to show the benefits of

breastfeeding to both mother and infant. Demand for human milk has therefore expanded,

especially in developed settings, such as the USA and UK, as increasingly diverse families

perceive the benefits of milk for feeding even where a parent is unavailable or unable to

produce it (Dutton, 2011). However, markets now exist in human milk not only for infant

feeding but also that market milk as a nutritional or fitness supplement, an alternative

medicine or treatment regime and a clean eat for those shunning dairy and other

Sarah Louise Steele is

based at the Department of

Politics and International

Studies, School of the

Humanities and Social

Sciences, University of

Cambridge, Cambridge,

UK and Intellectual Forum,

Jesus College, University of

Cambridge,

Cambridge, UK. Eduardo

E. Hernandez-Salazar is

based at the Intellectual

Forum, Jesus College,

University of Cambridge,

Cambridge, UK.

Received 31 July 2019

Revised 27 November 2019

Accepted 10 January 2020

DOI 10.1108/IJHRH-07-2019-0058VOL. 13 NO. 2 2020, pp. 171-183, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-4902 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE jPAGE 171