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WHDL - 00020006

Reducing vulnerability of young women survivors of child sex trafficking in Kolkata, West Bengal India: A case study analysis

Bradley Gabriel Mark Thompson

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

The study aimed to understand the vulnerability of young women survivors of child sex trafficking in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, and to identify effective strategies that prevent re-trafficking and exploitation. Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological framework was used to understand what factors influence young women survivors to be vulnerable to re-trafficking or re-exploitation, and to identify effective intervention approaches to prevent re-trafficking and exploitation of trafficked women. A case study design was used to understand the vulnerabilities of young women survivors of trafficking. Seven young women aged eighteen to twenty-five years were selected by purposive sampling from in and around Kolkata. In-depth interviews with survivors were triangulated with key informant interviews of NGO leaders and church leaders engaged in anti-trafficking efforts. Interview data was transcribed, translated, and coded in NVIVO, and analyzed to provide insight and answer the research questions. The factors that lead to vulnerability and the trafficking of girls and young women for sexual exploitation include extreme poverty and hardship, a history of early marriage, a history of child labour, lack of safety in the home, lack of education and vocational skills, lack of access to sustainable livelihoods, living in a red-light district, and feeling pressured. In addition, factors like violence in the home, loss of a parent, having a parent in the sex trade, being sold by a parent or family member, and pressure from the family to earn an income by any means. Other community and societal factors add to the vulnerability of being trafficked for sexual exploitation. The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on survivors and their families. Survivors experienced lack of food, loss of income, loss of jobs, increased debt bondage, and some were pushed back into engaging in prostitution and were sexually exploited. Programmes need to be prepared for disasters and ready to support survivors in emergency situations. Interventions that survivors said benefited them include vocational training, access to livelihoods, counselling services, family counselling, prosecution of traffickers, community awareness activities to address worldviews and stigma, and efforts to ensure that survivors have access to justice and compensation. There is a need to strengthen access to jobs and post-integration counselling services, and to organise effective awareness programmes, address stigma and discrimination, sensitise law enforcement, and ensure access to compensation and prosecution of traffickers. There is also a need for ongoing counselling and support groups. Churches and faith-based organizations are engaged in various interventions including building awareness, rescue efforts, vocational training, job placements, building faith, hope, and resilience among survivors, strengthening their identity and self-worth, and enabling supportive relationships. The organizations are engaged in both spiritual nurture and providing practical support. Based on the synthesis of the findings from this study and grounded in established theory, the researcher proposed an integrated framework to reduce vulnerability of girls and young women survivors building on Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model. The framework articulated interventions across individual, relational, community and societal levels. The study highlighted the fact that survivors are vulnerable following the trauma experienced as a result of being trafficked and exploited. They require specific and individually tailored interventions across the various levels of the socio-ecological framework for effective reintegration. It is vital that stakeholders collaborate well to ensure that survivors are protected and thrive.

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Publish Year: 2024

Subject Index

Religion - Christianity

KeywordsTrafficked young women, Bronfenbrenner socioecological framework, Intervention approach, re-trafficking, human trafficking,

Degree AwardedPh.D. in Holistic Child Development

Awarding InstitutionAsia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary

Committee MembersBrenita Nicholas-Edwards, Romerlito Macalinao, Stella Girish Bokare, David Ackerman

Supervisor or ChairNativity A. Petallar

Peer Reviewed?No

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Dissertations in Holistic Child Development

13 Resources

Religion - Christianity
Social and Behavioral Sciences

English

This collection contains the dissertations of our graduates that fulfilled the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Holistic Child Development at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary. The program is designed for those preparing to be equipped in leadership, teachers of children, practitioners, and pastors, so that they will have the gifts, skills, and capacity to care holistically for children inside and outside the church.