Biography
Bishnu Sapkota, Ph.D. Mahendra Ratna Campus Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Chitra Bahadur Budhathoki, PhD, Professor, Faculty of Education, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Glenn Miles, PhD, Professor, Independent Research, United Kingdom
Abstract
This exploratory qualitative study examines how trafficking survivors in Nepalese rehabilitation centres perceive recovery and experience resilience within Nepal's specific socio-cultural context. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews with six female sex trafficking survivors in Bagmati Province rehabilitation centres and analysed them through Bronfenbrenner's socio-ecological framework under the themes such as Hindu purity concepts, caste discrimination, joint family dynamics, and non-governmental organization dependency which shape their recovery experiences. The findings of the study reveal recovery as gradual emotional stabilization and future orientation rather than complete healing. Survivors describe stigma in terms of religious purity/pollution binary, with Dalit participants experiencing compounded marginalization from intersecting caste and trafficking stigmas. Extended family veto power—particularly uncles threatening to sever kinship ties—determined survivor acceptance more than parental attitudes. Non-governmental organization funding cycles created arbitrary time limits disconnected from recovery readiness. Further the results show resilience develops through interaction between personal agency and social-institutional environments, with Nepal's macrosystem factors—Hindu religious frameworks, caste stratification, patriarchal family structures, neoliberal service models—cascading through ecological levels to fundamentally shape individual recovery possibilities. Human trafficking survivors in Nepal face complex post-trafficking challenges shaped by the country's unique socio-cultural context, including Hindu purity/pollution concepts, caste hierarchies, joint family honour systems, and NGO-dependent services. The conceptualization of recovery is attested by the survivors as they experience recovery and resilience within the specific cultural and temporal contexts.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Sapkota, Bishnu; Miles, Glenn M.; and Buthathoki, Chitra B. (2026) "Recovery and Resilience of Survivors of Sex Trafficking in Nepal," Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 11: Iss. 3, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.23860/dignity.2026.11.03.05
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Development Studies Commons, Nonprofit Studies Commons, Social Justice Commons