Identity and resilience in victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation

Sexual violence is one of the most extreme violations of personal boundaries possible. It implies an absolute denial of both morality and a victim’s integrity and sense of self-determination. Trafficking for sexual exploitation adds slavery and often degrading, violent and cruel treatment to that. Individual life histories determine the availability of coping strategies. For example, while emotional consequences move in step with the degree to which one can preserve a feeling of autonomy in spite of what happens, safety, love and care while growing up are conditional for the development of a sense of self-respect and autonomy. The emotional impact of sexual exploitation also depends on its actual appraisal, i.e. the victim’s sensemaking of the event. This in turn is related to available inner coping resources like a strong sense of identity, which results from a nurturing and caring environment while growing up. On the other hand, early child abuse may sadly result in a certain familiarity with the violation of physical boundaries and therefore mitigate the emotional impact of sexual exploitation. This chapter explores sources of resilience and their relation with identity, and discusses the various aspects of the aforementioned dynamics in subsequent stages of victimhood of trafficking for sexual exploitation.