Navigating to a renewed sense of self: Trauma and coping among returned survivors of trafficking in Vietnam

This inductive, qualitative study provides a contextualized analysis of the experiences of female survivors of trafficking who have returned to Vietnam, in order to elucidate the conditions and events that the women were subjected to as victims, as well as, their new sensibilities and challenges as survivors.

Fifteen women aged 18 and above who provided oral consent were interviewed face-to-face and in Vietnamese. Thematic analysis involved dividing texts from verbatim transcripts of interviews into “meaning units,” which were assigned codes then categorized into themes, and themes into two domains: trafficking experience and coping responses. 

The women's trafficking experiences were categorized into three phases. In the (1) pre-trafficking phase, women were uprooted from their “normal livelihoods,” which led to a loss of their sense of belonging and trust in others. In the (2) peri-trafficking phase, women attempted to understand the “new realities” of being in “no man’s land;” of being a commodity in the “human marketplace;” and of finding companionship and compassion in unlikely places. In the (3) post-trafficking phase, they returned and faced the “new normal,” which encompassed residual fears, strained relationships, and living with a “social evil.” As the result of extreme changes in relationships and environments throughout the trafficking process, the women exhibited three main coping strategies: (a) regulating emotional expression and thought; (b) creating opportunities within constraints; and (c) relating to cultural schemas such as fate, karma, and filial piety.  

These findings show that future reintegration efforts must recognize the the complexities of the overarching process of “navigating to a renewed sense of self” among trafficked women who return to their country of origin. Of particular focus should be the salience of the collectivist, community-oriented values by which many trafficked women, especially those in Eastern societies, still subscribe after their return.