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Silence and Silencing of Women: The Case of Trafficked Women
- For policymakers
- Summary created: 2021
Trafficked women are entitled to self-respect, human rights and dignity. They should be treated like any other person and are capable of exercising their own agency
This research provides an insight into trafficked women’s experiences and their responses in navigating the harms experienced throughout their migration period. It provides a nuanced understanding of agency and victimhood and explores women’s experiences of being trafficked.
Insights
This research discovers the nuances and commonalities of women’s migration and trafficking experiences and exposes how the notion of ‘protection’ is used as a euphemism for state control.
The findings of the study demonstrate how silencing is used as a strategy to minimise harm and how women are silenced through language barriers.
What it means
This research also provides an analysis on how silence has been used as a tool to control trafficked women. It demonstrates how traffickers and state institutions control women by dismissing their voice, or by depriving them from exercising their agency. In this respect, women who are vocal and verbalise their opinions are categorised as defiant and need to be controlled. Such beliefs stem from patriarchal influences that have been normalised and are deeply embedded in social structures, cultures, religions and social practices.
In view of understanding the nuances of harms experienced by trafficked women, this research builds upon the agency theory which discusses how silencing is used by male-dominated structures to deny women’s agency and marginalise women. It aims to understand the harms of trafficking and the methods used by traffickers to control women.
Based on these objectives, semi-structured interviews were conducted in a government-run shelter home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over a period of four weeks (mid-April to mid-May 2016). Throughout this period, 29 trafficked female migrants comprising seven different nationalities were interviewed. The study also interviewed 12 professionals that mainly consist of government officials to understand the implementation of the victim-protection policies.
This research was based on migrant women who have been trafficked to Malaysia for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
The situation faced in Malaysia bears a similar resemblance to the situation in Cambodia. Here a video was produced that entitled ‘sex workers don’t cry’. The video demonstrates the plight of sex workers who are regularly being disrupted by police raids and labelled as victims when they do not feel victimised. The sex workers association argue that the repeated raids are aimed to get and sustain funding from stakeholders.
This research is very useful for human trafficking advocates and relevant NGOs around the globe – particularly for enforcement officers, sex workers groups, NGOs and sex workers themselves.
Suggested next steps
There need to be a political will to implement changes
The women who are rescued should have a choice to choose if they want to sheltered by the government or otherwise
Many of the rescues that takes places occur during trafficking raids
The act of rescue should follow certain procedures and conducted in a more humane and compassionate way which shows that a victim is being rescued rather than arrested
Women need to be rescued from trafficking in a more humane way
Victims need to be respected at all times
Acknowledgements
Thank you to ASEAN
These insights were made available thanks to the support of ASEAN, who are committed to the dissemination of knowledge for all.
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