Speaking Intimacy: Non-Monogamy in the Defence of Sexual Exploitation in Belgian Trafficking Case Law

Author: Lannier, Salomé & Horii, Hoko

Abstract: This article examines how narratives of non‑monogamies are mobilized in the defence of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Belgian case law. Analysing three appellate judgments, it shows how defendants invoke polygamy, open relationships or multiple “marriages” to obscure coercion and contest criminal liability. While consent is legally irrelevant to the qualification of trafficking, it remains central to judicial reasoning on related sexual offences, creating tensions in cases involving intimate relationships. Drawing on queer, non‑monogamy and “rough sex” scholarship, the article argues for moving beyond the “loverboy” anti-trafficking concept towards a contextual analysis of coercion embedded in intimate settings.

Keywords: human trafficking, sexual exploitation, loverboy, non-monogamy, consent