Juraschek E, Legg A, Raghavan C. The Reconsecration of the Self: A Qualitative Analysis of Sex Trafficking Survivors' Experience of the Body.
Violence Against Women 2024;
30:1842-1865. [PMID:
38505932 DOI:
10.1177/10778012241239948]
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Abstract
The understudied bodily harm women experience after commercial sex (CS) may be partially explained by the prominence of Cartesian mind-body dualism in psychological science. Accordingly, we qualitatively explored the mind-body relationship among 79 female sex trafficking survivors. Survivors reported long-term negative alterations in feelings about the body, sex, and physical touch posttrafficking and these negative outcomes did not differ across women who self-perceived as consenting and women who self-perceived as forced. Implications for future research are presented, particularly on measuring dehumanization in CS which contributes to extensive harm even in the absence of physical aggression.
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