“It’s Not Love, Baby Doll. It’s Science”: Experiences of Trauma Bonding Among Survivors of Sex Trafficking

Author: Casassa, Kaitlin; England, Gwen & Karandikar, Sharvari

Abstract: Trauma bonds between sex trafficking survivors and their traffickers or other perpetrators are one of the most complex and least understood concerns facing survivors. This community-based participatory research phenomenological study sought to understand how survivors have experienced trauma bonding. The sample consisted of 19 female survivors who were all participants in or graduates of a human trafficking specialty docket. Two themes emerged from the data. The first theme is the source of the trauma bond, namely who survivors had trauma bonds with. The second theme is features of trauma bonds, which included three subthemes: survivors have experienced trauma bonds (a) as involuntary, (b) as having lingering power, and (c) as consisting of both love and hate. These findings contain significant implications for practice, policy, and future research.

Keywords: human trafficking, sex trafficking, trauma bonding, survivors, perpetrators