The trafficker speaks: voicing the other side of the coin

Author: Menezes, Sharon & Raghavan, Vijay

Abstract: This article is based on social and/or legal records of thirty-nine women and a minor girl accused for trafficking-related offenses in two districts in the State of Maharashtra, India. The women were in contact with Prayas, a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, that engages in criminal justice social work (CJSW). These women’s voices point to journeys of victimization into commercial sexual exploitation and ending up with being accused for trafficking offenses. The article reiterates challenges in establishing binaries in “victim” and “offender” roles. In this context, it outlines three key elements that characterize CJSW—working around meanings women associate with commercial sexual exploitation, sex trafficking and exiting commercial sex networks; negotiated relationships between the social worker and client; and realigning women’s relationships and associations toward promoting restorative, prospective and social justice. The article delves into how CJSW offers women associations outside the crime network, while also indicating that conventional justice measures are inadequate in offering women pathways outside crime networks.

Keywords: sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, crime network, criminal justice social work, social reentry