Beyond Inclusion: Survivor-Leader Voice in Anti-Human Trafficking Organizations

Author: Lockyer, Sue

Abstract: Anti-human trafficking efforts have increased recently but have been largely ineffective at eradicating the crime. Scholars identify collaborative approaches and increased inclusion of survivor voices as ways to improve anti-trafficking efforts. Though human trafficking research is growing, few studies explore the perspectives of survivors or examine survivor-authored writing. To address this gap, I conduct a qualitative analysis of survivor-authored and informed literature (N = 9) which offers survivor perspectives on the inclusion of survivor-leader voice in anti-trafficking efforts. I take a communicative approach, viewing discourse as central to how organizations are created and sustained, and draw from intersectional feminist perspectives including the concept of voice and its tensions. Analysis finds authors frame survivor inclusion as guidance for working with survivor professionals. I explore four key themes that can inform more equitable, ethical, and meaningful inclusion of survivors in organizational processes: planning for tensions and paradoxes when working with survivors, valuing the expertise of survivors, engaging survivors in trauma-informed ways, and designing processes and mechanisms for meaningful survivor input. Centering the expertise of survivors can help to reframe structures of power and authority within anti-trafficking organizations, and inform more effective policies and interventions.

Keywords: Human trafficking, survivors, inclusion, communication, voice, anti-trafficking organizations, lived experience