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Untold Stories of Human Trafficked Survivors and Sex Workers in Manipur
This study was sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (2017–19). The author is grateful to researchers involved in this study, and A Romita Devi, who helped her with the interviews. All trafficked survivors and sex workers are referred to by pseudonyms.
Manipur has emerged as an origin and transit point for human trafficking. Drawing from the narratives of survivors, government officials and social workers, one can clearly see how factors, such as neo-liberalism and globalisation, contribute to the issue of human trafficking. Exploring the gaps in existing policies, one is also led to examine the linkage between commercial sex work and human trafficking in Manipur. Ultimately, tackling the challenge of human trafficking requires the creation of social security and employment avenues, ensuring the social and financial well-being of vulnerable women.
The intersectional study of human trafficking is in its nascent stages in Manipur, and the discursive outline of the topic has not been well-established. The proliferation of views—both academic and non-academic—raised the public awareness needed to give more methodological rigour to the themes. The trafficked survivor’s traumatic experiences are often silenced, unspoken and disregarded. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore the unspoken narratives of trafficked survivors in order to examine their intersectional experiences.