Trafficking in God: Exploring Racialization in Faith-Based Commercial Sex Trade Interventions Restricted; Files Only
Symmonds, Nicole (Summer 2021)
Published
Abstract
For the last thirty years, white evangelical Christians have been one of the most prominent groups on the frontlines of the anti-trafficking movement in North America. Whether advocating for policy changes on behalf of survivors, interacting with populations vulnerable to sexual exploitation, or staging rescues, these moral actors use Christian religious practices and values to respond to the issue. They also influence how people understand trafficking by blurring the lines between voluntary and involuntary sex work and classifying both as commercial sexual exploitation. Another way that white evangelicals affect perceptions of and responses to anti-trafficking is by operationalizing a view of race that promotes a particular subject and response—namely the white woman subject as the arbiter of sexual and moral virtue and the Christian religion as the paradigmatic framework for recovery. In consideration of the stronghold that evangelical Christians and conservatives have over commercial sex work interventions, this dissertation employs comparative historical analysis, qualitative research, and ethical reflection to explore how white evangelicals from the late eighteenth century to the present have racialized their anti-trafficking work. Historical analysis comparing eighteenth- and nineteenth-century anti-vice work with contemporary white evangelicals' anti-trafficking work reveals practices of racialization that determine who is and who is not a victim. The qualitative research draws on participant observation and in-depth interviews to describe religious practices and racial narratives that shape volunteer experiences in orientation and outreach. Finally, the dissertation proposes an ethic of encounter that assists anti-trafficking organizations in better recognizing and responding to Black women in the commercial sex trade. In this ethic of encounter, I center the voices of Black feminist and womanist theorists, ethicists, and theologians to talk back to history, re-member the Black woman’s body, untether whiteness and liberate God from the constraints of white evangelical anti-trafficking activism.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: White Slavery: The Beginning of Racialization in Anti-Trafficking Work 31
Chapter 3: History of a Hub: Atlanta’s Past and Moralizing Movements 58
Chapter 4: A Case Study in Anti-Trafficking Work in Atlanta 97
Chapter 5: Toward a Womanist Ethic of Encounter 136
Appendix 160
Bibliography 161
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File download under embargo until 20 August 2027 | 2021-07-09 13:27:46 -0400 | File download under embargo until 20 August 2027 |
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