Exploiting vulnerability: a study of the lives of Filipino women who have been trafficked into sex work

Young women who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation have unique perceptions about their lives and the significance of having been trafficked. This research highlights Filipino women’s experiences of sex trafficking. Grounded in a transformative critical feminist framework, it subverts stereotypes of a homogenous sex trafficking experience. Consisting of rich descriptions and interpretations of the domestic trafficking experience through stories collected in the course of focus groups and in-depth interviews, this study provides new ways of understanding the phenomenon, and it builds on a theoretical literature that is largely framed within seven sex trafficking paradigms. An eighth paradigm is proposed in this thesis, whereby women’s sex trafficking experiences may be understood in the context of the life course. This life course paradigm allows for the multiplicity of trajectories that characterise sex trafficking and reflects individual events, transitions and turning points over the life span. It also recognises the historic, socio-economic and political contexts in which trafficking occurs. An analysis of the women’s stories through a Third-Way Feminist perspective builds on and provides an innovative and new context for understanding and responding to the women who have been trafficked for sex. This is significant for those seeking to address sex trafficking, in particular, social workers, service providers, policy makers, program developers and trafficked women themselves.