Debt and the (In) Dependence of Women In the Context of Migration
Pages 344 to 362
Cite this article
- MALSAN, Sylvie,
- Malsan, Sylvie.
- Malsan, S.
https://doi.org/10.3917/rdm.039.0344
Cite this article
- Malsan, S.
- Malsan, Sylvie.
- MALSAN, Sylvie,
https://doi.org/10.3917/rdm.039.0344
Studies on the phenomenon of human trafficking usually hold women to be either total victims or, inversely, totally autonomous. Starting from ethnographic documents on various contexts of female migration, this article examines the debt incurred by immigrant women that are victims of trafficking and who are involved in prostitution. The financial and symbolic debt determines a form of servitude and/or dependency from which it is difficult to escape. This article aims to understand how a minority of these women (re)act against a price to be paid that they consider unfair and an abuse of their rights that constrains their freedom of circulation in geographical as well as social space.