Post-Trafficking Support for Women with Lived-Experiences of or Like-Trafficking: An exploration of government and non-government services in Australia and Thailand

Abstract

This research provides a deeper understanding of contemporary post-trafficking support-services in Australia and Thailand. In responding to the growing body of critical social justice scholarship that calls for the voices of service-users in this space, and the notable absence of meaningful attention paid to the post-trafficking experience, this research adds to the limited understanding of what takes place in the post-trafficking context. It is evident that support-services act as gatekeepers in protecting service-users from the academic community. Therefore, this research contributes to building a greater understanding of the extent that opportunities exist for agency on the part of service-users, from the perspectives of service-providers. The research included typical origin and destination countries, Thailand and Australia, where a robust body of work existed around the criminal justice underpinnings that shape the contemporary anti-trafficking agenda. The qualitative study was conducted by interviewing post-trafficking support-service practitioners, in government and non-government settings. The addition of a feminist, social science informed perspective to this research allowed for the integration of complex, intersectional socioeconomic factors that contribute to the post-trafficking experiences of women in the Asia Pacific region. The data revealed a substantial absence of meaningful mechanisms for women to regain and assert agency within the post-trafficking support-service experience.