| dc.description.abstract | Human trafficking is a global issue that most countries have battled to control and combat in
recent times. It is exploitative, abusive and violates human rights. Research showing the
prevalence of human trafficking in mostly underdeveloped and developing countries with slack
border controls and ineffective immigration activities seem to foreground women as victims in
most cases. Although men, women and children are all prone to trafficking, young women and
girls are more vulnerable due to political, economic and social factors. This study focuses on
the experiences of young women who survived trafficking. Working within a qualitat ive
feminist framework, this study explores the lived experiences of trafficked young women
across a border in Nigeria. Five participants aged twenty to twenty-five were selected through
convenience and snowballing sampling. Narrative thematic analysis was used as a
methodology for data analysis. Findings from this study clearly show multiple factors which
contribute to young women's vulnerability to trafficking. Some of the factors included family
instability, feminization of poverty and gender inequality, which saw male children preferred
over their female counterparts. Low levels of education and lack of care and support from the
family further emerged as a source of vulnerability to trafficking for young women due to their
low level of education. Gender and sexuality played a role in the reason for trafficking in this
case, because all of the survivors were trafficked for the purpose of commercial sex work. | |
