Rescuing Teenagers Caught in Sex Trafficking Motivates Student's Research

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Experience Rescuing Teenagers Caught in Sex Trafficking Motivates Student's

Research

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- When University at Buffalo School of Social Work doctoral

candidate Bincy tried to rescue teenage women from sexual trade slavery

working the streets of Goa, India, she was the frequent target of threats made

by the pimps -- some of them family members of the women -- whose livelihood

relied on keeping these women in sexual servitude.

(Media-Newswire.com) - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- When University at Buffalo School of

Social Work doctoral candidate Bincy tried to rescue teenage women from

sexual trade slavery working the streets of Goa, India, she was the frequent

target of threats made by the pimps -- some of them family members of the women

-- whose livelihood relied on keeping these women in sexual servitude.

" Threats, oh yes, they were part of the job, " says , who recently finished

two international conferences in which she presented on the need for

trans-cultural holistic interventions for women exiting the sex trade, and the

traumatic experiences of women in the trade. " You don't stay put fearing for

your own life when there is a need to rescue others. We worked in this field

because we were passionate about what we did, and the smile of hope on the

emancipated victims' faces is worth the risk taken. "

, 27, has tapped into the experiences of her young life for her study at

UB. A native of Bangalore, India, spent three years in Goa assisting

women in finding alternatives to working in the sex trade. More recently as a

therapist at " SAGE, " an agency with a similar mission in San Francisco, she was

able to address the traumatization in this prostitute population -- which has

fueled her interest and sense of urgency in her research.

She intends to use the knowledge gained from her research to help organizations

develop good interventions and other ways to provide services to victims of sex

trafficking.

Essential in 's research is the fact that sex trafficking is both a

worldwide and dramatically increasing problem. A 2010 report prepared by the

U.S. Department of State Government concluded the numbers of people -- mostly

women -- involved in human trafficking had increased by 59 percent in the past

two years. The International Labor Organization estimates that there are at

least 12.3 million adults and children who are trafficked for forced labor,

bonded labor and sex trade. And the problem extends across the globe, from

developed to developing countries, according to 's research.

" Sex trafficking is a global social justice issue, " said in her

presentation, " Developing Interventions for Women Exiting the Sex Trade:

Societal Perspectives, " that she and Barbara Rittner, associate dean for

external affairs in the UB School of Social Work, delivered at the annual

Conference on Human Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Work held at the

University of Toledo.

" Whatever attention it receives is driven by the rapidly increasing numbers of

people being trafficked internationally and by ( medical and health ) concerns

about sexually transmitted disease such as HIV/AIDS associated with the trade. "

" Working with Bincy created an important shift in my thinking, " says Rittner.

" Most of my work has been with children in foster care in the states, many of

whom had mothers in the sex trade, and many of my female adolescent foster

children were runaways recruited into the sex trade from the streets.

" The work Bincy and I are doing has helped me think differently about how women

enter the trade, why they stay in the trade and why what works in the West to

encourage exit may not be workable in the East or subcontinent India. This is

what makes working with international doctoral students so exciting. "

's two academic presentations, including a recent presentation in Atlanta,

tapped into her unique mix of scholarly expertise and experiences. They were

lessons from the years she and her coworkers intervened in the lives of young

women -- many still in their teens -- trying to escape lives of prostitution and

exploitation from pimps, who sometimes were their husbands and family members.

She was program manager at an Indian organization Arz, which translates to " Life

Without Injustice, " in the Indian coastal city of Goa where she worked as a

counselor rehabilitating young women forced to work in the sex trade for money.

" You see exploitation of these women in every way, " says , who came to

Buffalo with her husband who also enrolled in a doctoral program at UB.

" Not only is the trauma associated with their experience while in the sex trade,

but it is also attached to their past, even before they enter the trade. Most of

them are coming from lives of abuse, neglect and abject poverty, situations in

which they do not have a square meal or basic resources.

" The debilitating impact of being in the sex trade is visible not only when they

are in the sex trade, but also when they are trying to exit the trade. You find

them getting addicted to drugs or alcohol in order to cope with the experience

of sexual trauma, their health takes a major toll on them with multiple abuses,

abortions, miscarriages, menstrual and gynecological problems.

Most of the girls suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ), complex

PTSD, dissociation, depression, suicide attempts and severe anxiety. They

experience difficulty having a normal relationship because of their traumatic

sexual experience.

When they are in a relationship with someone they love, it becomes difficult for

them to get intimate due to the sexual trauma experienced while in the trade.

They are often viewed as mere sexual objects by men, and none care to know who

they really are within. "

While working for three years as a program manager in Goa, helped

establish an automatic laundry to give the sex trade workers an alternative for

making a living and a chance to be together for support. She and her coworkers

saw many success stories, she says, but it's the failed ones that often linger

most in her mind.

Three years ago, when she was 24, was working to rehabilitate women

working in the sex trafficking business in the infamous red light district of

Goa, a traditional destination for Indians and international jetsetters.

Thanks to their close ties to the community, 's colleagues heard about a

young girl accompanied by a man who had recently come to town, and the community

identified the man as the girl's husband.

A staff member brought the couple into 's office, and the husband told

workers how they came from a poor background and were in desperate need of

money; that's why the girl was working as a prostitute.

's colleagues offered the cooperative laundromat as an alternative, and at

the same time contacted police to prosecute the husband for trafficking his

wife.

But there were delays in getting the police involved, remembers. " The man

wanted to leave and not have anything to do with us, " she says. " Then he said he

wanted to take the girl to the doctor. So I said I wanted to accompany them to

the doctor. And he kept insisting on me leaving on the way. But I knew once they

left, we would not have any trace of where they were going.

" I started going along with them. And the girl kept insisting I leave because

the husband was pressuring her and telling me to leave. All the time, my

colleagues were trying to get the magistrate and anti-trafficking unit to come

and catch these two. "

On the way to the doctor's, the man said he needed to stop at his house because

they needed to get something there. So waited outside and watched while

the two went inside. " They exited through the back door of the house, "

says. " By the time the anti-trafficking force came, they had already escaped and

we had no trace of them. "

never saw either of them again.

" I keep seeing that picture of the girl's face in my mind, " says. " Even

now when I talk about it, I have a very strong image of that girl looking so

helpless and asking me to leave. She had this look of fear, not only for herself

but also for me, for something happening to me, because I was traveling alone

with them.

" She was very young, obviously a minor, very small build. She had this jazzy

lipstick on, trying to make her as attractive and marketable as possible. "

There are other stories, some much more successful. knows her very first

rescue victim is doing well. " She's getting married, she has a baby girl, " she

says. " The last time I was in Goa I saw her. It's really nice to see them

leading a better life, one that is not exploitative. "

Success or disappointment, what she saw on the streets remains a major

motivation in her work at UB.

" Research is a product of my experience and the time working in the field, " says

. " Whatever services are provided, something is still missing because I

see some women relapsing back into the same life. I am really interested in

exploring that missing factor. "

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a

flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest

and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their

academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and

professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a

member of the Association of American Universities.

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