Sex Slavery in India: Unpacking the Stories of Trafficking Victims

While there is no consensus on the number of domestic sex trafficking victims in India, the phenomenon is estimated to be widespread and the evidence of its impact on victims is devastating. This paper explored the narratives of 10 sex trafficked women from a major non-government organization in New Delhi. Qualitative methodology was adopted and data were collected through open-ended unstructured interviews. The victimological paradigm including the Lifestyle Risk Model (LRM) by Van der Hoven and Maree provided the framework to discuss the key issues related to sex trafficking. Psychological experiences such as being abused by husbands, and in some cases, victims’ own families; social conditions such as poverty and education; cultural practices such as vulnerability of women and marginalization; and lifestyle risk factors were observed throughout the stories of the victims. Furthermore, shame was found to be the core emotion in the stigmatization process. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.