“I am not a victim of anything”: minors identified as victims of human trafficking in Italy
Assistant Professor Trine Mygind Korsby has contributed the book chapter ‘“I am not a victim of anything”: minors identifiedas victims of human trafficking in Italy’ to the edited volume Sex Work and Language, edited by Benedict J.L. Rowlett and Rodrigo Borba.
The chapter is based on fieldwork at a shelter for minors who have been identified as victims of human trafficking by the Italian state. The chapter sheds light on the friendships between the young women living at the shelter, as well as their relationships with the staff, and it investigates the young women’s experiences of having entered NGO-led programs tailored to victims of human trafficking.
Through an analytical focus on speech acts, the chapter zooms in on the complexities of agency which the young women are confronted with, being officially placed in a victim category. In particular, the chapter shows how the young women navigate and negotiate the victim label through their narratives and in their use of language.
The book can be accessed on Routledge’s website