IDS Bulletin
Volume 37, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 102-109
'Streetwalkers show the way': Reframing the debate on trafficking from sex workers' perspective (Article)
Bandyopadhyay N. ,
Gayen S. ,
Debnath R. ,
Bose K. ,
Das S. ,
Das G. ,
Das M. ,
Biswas M. ,
Sarkar P. ,
Singh P. ,
Bibi R. ,
Mitra R. ,
Biswas S.
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a
[Affiliation not available]
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b
DMSC
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c
DMSC
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d
Sex Workers Own Cooperative Society, Usha, India
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e
[Affiliation not available]
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f
[Affiliation not available]
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g
[Affiliation not available]
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h
[Affiliation not available]
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i
[Affiliation not available]
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j
[Affiliation not available]
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k
[Affiliation not available]
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l
[Affiliation not available]
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m
[Affiliation not available]
Abstract
Challenging the dominant discourses on trafficking which fail to include or reflect the experiences of those who are trafficked into a range of labour markets every year, and deny the trafficked 'victims' any possibility of autonomy or voice, Durbar, an organised forum of sex workers based in West Bengal, has intervened into the debate on trafficking and has offered creative, inclusive and effective ways of thinking about and acting on the issue. The article recounts the stories of women who had once been trafficked, to understand why and how some women get trafficked, and more critically, how they exercise their agency to get out of the trafficked condition. In analysing these stories and Durbar's position on and intervention against trafficking, the article also explores the ways in which a marginalised group of poor women can claim citizenship rights by participating in public discourses and voicing and actualising their demand for self-determination. © 2006 Institute of Development Studies.
Author Keywords
[No Keywords available]
Index Keywords
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-33750121261&doi=10.1111%2fj.1759-5436.2006.tb00292.x&partnerID=40&md5=1b54911bf5d45f516141329b2a359284
DOI: 10.1111/j.1759-5436.2006.tb00292.x
ISSN: 02655012
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English