Hearing our Voices: Pathways from Oppression to Liberation through Community-Based Participatory Research

Abstract

A number of qualitative-based participatory approaches have been used to analyse and address structural inequalities and intersectional gender oppression. This has been broadly evident in the academic environment and, particularly, in social work education and practice. However, more participatory aspects of social justice research, such as inviting and supporting disenfranchised and vulnerable populations to become more intimately involved in identifying their issues, together with developing remedial strategies and acting upon them, are still generally marginal, leaving both researchers and practitioners travelling on the uneven ground. In an attempt to level these troughs in social work education (and, by extension, practice), the paper will explore the transformative outcomes associated with participatory action research conducted as emancipatory and liberatory tools in research undertaken in collaboration with trafficking survivors in Nepal. The purpose of this paper is to explore the collective experiences of growing critical consciousness around social injustice and structural inequalities that contributed to survivors being “doubly victimisedâ€. Hence, in this paper, their resiliency in the face of that victimisation is not discussed. The goal of the paper is three-fold: (1) share the study process/approaches that supported an increase in the survivors’ critical thinking about their own oppression; (2) consider the impact of survivors’ solidarity in social and political action; and (3) examine the applicability of an emerging model of survivors’ liberatory practice. Overall, this paper will explore new and potentially liberatory ways to address the multiple and complex issues facing survivors upon return, and promote transformative praxis to support healthy individual and collective development.

Keywords

Collaborative Experiences, Critical Consciousness, Liberation, Oppression, Trafficking Survivors, Shakti Samuha, Community-Based Participatory Research, Nepal

Author Biography

Shanti Lama

Chair Person, Shanti Foundation

References

Agger, B. (2006). Critical social theories: An introduction. New York, NY: Paradigm.
Boal, A. (1979). Theatre of the oppressed. New York, NY: Theatre Communications Group.
Buet, L., Bashford, P., & Basnyat, M. (2012). Looking forward to tomorrow: A study on the reintegration of trafficking survivors. Kathmandu, Nepal: Asha Nepal, Terra des homes Foundation and Shakti Samuha.
Cameron, S., & Newman, E. (2008). Trafficking in human: Social, cultural and political dimensions. New York, NY: United Nations University Press.
Chaulagai, P. (2009). Trafficking survivors in Nepal: An exploratory study of trafficked women’s experiences and perceptions of their reintegration (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/1956/3471/1/58332708.pdf
Chen, C., & Marcovici, K. (2003). Exploring the status of reintegrated girls: A participatory study, Kailali and Kanchanpur, Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: Save the Children US.
Cord, J, & Hill-Rodriguez, D. (2017). The evolution of a nursing professional practice model through leadership support of clinical nurse engagement, empowerment, and shared decision making, Nurse Leader, 15 (5), 325-330.
Depoy, E., Harman, A., & Haslet, D. (1999). Critical action research: A model for social knowing. Social Work, 44(6), 560-569.
Dhungel, R. (2017a). Transformative impacts: Trafficking survivors for sexual exploitation and their involvement in an emancipatory study in Nepal. Asia Pacific Journal of Advanced Business and Social Studies, 3(1), 318-328.
Dhungel, R. (2017b). "You are a besya" Microaggression experienced by trafficking survivors exploited in the sex trade. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity of Social Work, 26(1/2), 126-138.
Dhungel, R. (2017c). A Critical approach: A comprehensive analysis of socially constructed factors for trafficking of women in Nepal, Perspective on Social Work Journal, 13(1), 31-41.
Dhungel, R. (2017d). Reintegration of trafficking survivors in Nepal. Doctoral Unpublished Dissertation. University of Calgary. Canada.
Dominelli, L. (2002). Anti-oppressive social work theory and practice. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave, MacMillan.
Fals-Boarda, O. (1988). Knowledge and peoples’ power. New Delhi, India: Indian Social Institute.
Fals-Boarda, O. (1979, March). Investing reality in order to transform it: The Columbian experience. Dialectic Anthropology, 4, 33-35.
Frederick, J., Basnyat, M., & Aguettant, J. L. (2010). Trafficking exploitation in the entertainment and sex industries in Nepal: A handbook for decision makers. Kathmandu, Nepal: Terra De homes Foundation.
Frederick, J. (2005). Status of support, care and reintegrating of trafficked persons in Nepal as of December 2005. Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, 14, 317-330.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Seabury Press.
Hoare, Q., &Smith, N. G. (1999). Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. New York NY: International Publishers.
Hennink, M., & Simkhada, P. (2004). Sex trafficking in Nepal: Context and process. Retrieved from http://stanford.edu/class/humbio129s/cgi-bin/blogs/marginalizedpop/2009/05/21/sex-trafficking-in-nepal/comment-page-1/
Herr, C., & Anderson, G. L. (2005). The action research dissertation: A guide for students and faculty. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hoffman, M. (1987). Critical theory and inter-paradigm debate. Journal of International Studies, 16(2), 230-249.
Locke, R. A. (2010). Rescued, rehabilitated, and returned: Institutional approaches to the rehabilitation of survivors of sex trafficking in India and Nepal (Master’s thesis). (UMI No. AAT 1478251). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database (http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca)
McNeill, L. A. (2008). The price of a life: Legislating sex work and trafficking in Nepal (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from, http://www.angelfire.com/me3/leila3/THESIS_secure.pdf
McTaggart, R. (1991). Principles for participatory action research. Adult Education Quarterly, 41(3), 168-187.
Mullaly, B. (2010). Challenging oppression and confronting privilege. Don Mills, ON, Canada: Oxford University Press.
Mullaly, B. (1997). Structural social work: Ideology, theory, and practice (2nd ed.). Don Mills, ON, Canada: Oxford University Press.
Park, P. (1993). What is participatory research? A theoretical and methodological perspective. In P. Park (Ed.), Voices of change: Participatory research in the United States and Canada (pp. 1-19). Toronto, ON, Canada: OISE Press.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of action research. London, UK: Sage.
Sagris, J. (2008). Liberatory education for democracy. The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, 4(3), 1-4.
Shakti Samuha. (2013). Shakti Samuha Annual report 2013. Kathmandu, Nepal: Shakti Samuha.
Sharma, P. (2014). Reintegration of victims and survivors of trafficking in Nepal. (Master’s Dissertation). Retrieved from, http://soar.wichita.edu/bitstream/handle/10057/10977/t14031_Sharma.pdf;sequence=1
Wagaman, M. A. (2011) Social empathy as a framework for adolescent empowerment, Journal of Social Service Research, 37(3), 278-293.
Winterdyk, J., Perrin, B., & Reichel, P. (2012). Introduction. In J. Winterdyk, B. Perrin & P. Reichel (Eds.), Human trafficking: Exploring the international nature, concerns, and complexities research in the United States and Canada (pp. 1-17). New York, NY: CRC Press.8).
Winderdyk, J., & Dhungel, R. (2018). Migrant Smuggling in Canada: Possible Lessons for Beyond Borders. Journal of Criminalistics and Law, 23(3), 211-231.