Human trafficking and psychosocial protective factors: the experiences of female victims of involuntary prostitution

[摘要] English: The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experience of psychosocial protective factors in the lives of female human trafficking victims, who have been forced into involuntary prostitution. Human trafficking is a global phenomenon and a major source of concern in South Africa as the country acts as a source, transit and destination country for many forms of trafficking, including involuntary prostitution. Over the past few years human trafficking received a lot of attention globally as well as in South Africa. Presently however, there is a paucity of psychological research on this issue in South Africa, as the majority of the studies on this topic address legal considerations in human trafficking, and not the related psychosocial factors. Research in the field of resilience has indicated the strong role of protective factors in buffering the effect of traumatic experiences as experienced by victims of human trafficking. Protective factors are defined as any positive attribute or strength which can lead to better outcomes or resilience. A qualitative multiple case study research design was used to explore the psychosocial protective factors in the lives of two victims of human trafficking. A single semi-structured interview was conducted with each of two victims of involuntary prostitution, who had been removed from the trafficking environment and was residing in two different shelters. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of thematic analysis. The themes identified included family and related protective/risk factors, social protective/risk factors, community and related protective/risk factors, and individual protective factors. The results of the analysis were compared to research on protective factors in South African as well as internationally. The findings of the study suggest that there are many protective factors in the lives of both participants, which may be an indicator of the possibility of future resilience.

[发布机构] University of the Free State