Survivors share their thoughts on successful reintegration in a new collection of narratives
A newly published collection of reintegration stories gives a voice to trafficking survivors, Canada terminates its supply contracts with a Malaysian glove maker due to forced labour allegations, and Aura Freedom launches a human trafficking information and resource hub.
Winrock International, Humanity Research Consultancy and the Institute of Development Studies have published Resilience and Reintegration: Our Stories as Trafficking Survivors, a collection of reintegration stories told from the survivor perspective. Based on a research project designed to understand survivor experiences, the stories explore their thoughts on what constitutes successful reintegration, and what they feel would best support them in their reintegration journeys.
The purpose of the research project was not only to create knowledge, but also to amplify the voices of survivors and support their agency in shaping the conditions in which they live. To that end, the survivors speak in their own voices in these stories, and provide us with their expert perspectives on the experience of trafficking and the subsequent reintegration journey.
The stories have been translated from the original language and lightly edited to switch from a conversational interview form to a narrative form for clarity. The editors have made every effort to minimize their footprint and preserve the survivors’ style of speaking, and hope that these stories will serve as a valuable resource for policy makers and practitioners. The stories provide invaluable insights into how trafficking happens, how it is experienced, how people encounter risks as they migrate for work, and what really matters when they try to reintegrate into society later on.
The team conducted 40 in-depth interviews with both male and female survivors (22 men and 18 women) from Bangladesh and Cambodia. The published collection includes eight stories from survivors of forced labour and sexual exploitation, many of them now working in their communities or as social workers, to prevent trafficking.
For example, one Bangladeshi survivor shares the story of her secret reintegration, which she concealed from those around her in the belief that her family and community would blame and criticize her if they knew of her trafficking experience. She describes the way in which girls are more harshly judged and less valued than boys, particularly in rural areas, and says that, if she filed a legal case against her perpetrator, her decisions and actions would be questioned, rather than the actions of the trafficker. Justice would not be done, she says, but her own values held to account and her dignity lost.
The full analysis and findings of the research project can be found in the report Survivors' Perspectives on Successful Reintegration After Trafficking, which was published in 2020. The report discusses the fact that, contrary to the way in which reintegration is typically discussed in academic and grey literature, survivors tended to think about reintegration, primarily, as the ability to survive, escape extreme poverty, and to achieve acceptance and reconnection within their families and societies. In general, they did not think about reintegration in terms of accessing specific resources, though material resources and support from service providers is indeed an important element in achieving success for most survivors. The key elements of successful reintegration are 1) financial health, 2) mental health, 3) connection with family, and 4) acceptance within society.
The report’s key insight is that each element of success is tied up with the others in a complex and systemic relationship. This creates the potential for a feedback loop, which may either keep the survivor trapped in a downward spiral or can help leverage success in one element into success in the others. Working closely with survivors and remaining attuned to those linkages may be the best way to help survivors achieve successful reintegration.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Last week, following allegations that the nitrile gloves it manufactured in Malaysia for use by Canadian healthcare workers were made with forced labour.
Urgent action is required to assist and protect around 400 Vietnamese migrant workers who were allegedly trafficked to Serbia, experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Friday. Eight companies, including Vietnamese labour recruitment agencies and Chinese construction firms registered in Serbia, have reportedly been implicated in serious human rights abuses, they said, citing information received.
Recently published research indicates that US law enforcement’s understanding of sex trafficking, and attitudes towards victims, vary greatly depending on individual and department. There are many law enforcement officers who are sincerely motivated to address sex trafficking and better serve victims, and the authors call on these officers to reexamine their use of operations and instead support anti-sex trafficking efforts that do not harm victims and to commit to reforms that would help further the aims of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
This article by one of our community members seeks to explain Venezuelan migration to Colombia and the existence of the risk of human trafficking. It explores the current situation of migration from data, but also from international instruments and relations that are generated at the regional level through cooperation and joint action on humanitarian aid and prevention. (Available in Spanish only.)
Aura Freedom International has recently launched a Human Trafficking Info Hub. This grassroots collection of information and resources, which currently focuses on sexual exploitation, is a culmination of Aura Freedom’s years of experience of grassroots human trafficking prevention and survivor support, and includes carefully curated information to support others’ anti-trafficking work.
The FAIR Fish Project is looking for three individual consultants, or three teams of consultants, based in the US, Europe and Australia, to support its efforts to improve Thai seafood-processing SMEs’ awareness of the relationship between expanded export opportunities and buyers’ expectations regarding supplier compliance with laws, regulations and codes of conduct related to human/labour rights.
On February 1 at 9am ET, ”, a qualitative survey of human rights violations against live-in domestic workers in South Africa, co-published by the Solidarity Center and IZWI Domestic Workers Alliance, a network of domestic workers in Johannesburg that advises workers on their labour rights and conducts related advocacy and research work.
Journalismfund.eu will host a webinar on “Ethics and journalism: reporting human trafficking responsibly”, on 9 February, 3pm CET, covering ethical guidelines when reporting on victims and survivors of trafficking, sexual exploitation and labour abuse. Registration is free.
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