The gendering of trauma in trafficking interventions

This chapter considers how psychology, and its ideas and practices, have been taken up in contemporary research on human trafficking and the consequences and risks thereof. In the chapter, I argue that considering the intersections of gender, race and power returns us to feminist concerns with the politics of knowledge and representations albeit in new ways given the changing global order. The chapter gives particular attention to the connections that have been drawn between trauma and human trafficking as an illustration of how psychological ideas shape migration praxis and contribute to its raced and gendered effects. What is clear from the illustrations used in this chapter is that the intersections of gender, race, migration and psychological knowledge constantly navigate complex political terrain, and the positive impacts of psychology, even where its helping imperative is evident, cannot be assumed. Rather it is necessary to better understand how psychological ideas are being used in practice and what kinds of interventions they render possible.