Rethinking Voice and Agency in South Asian Sex Trafficking Fiction

This article examines the depiction of the power of sex trafficking survivors in contemporary South Asian fiction, situating these narratives within broader debates in world literature and human rights. Current sex trafficking fiction often presents protagonists as victimised figures with little or no agency. Although the violence associated with trafficking affects these characters psychologically and physically, I argue that this does not preclude the existence of agency and interiority. I analyse the problem of agency in relation to three texts: Mahasweta Devi’s short story ‘Douloti the Bountiful’ (1995), Tariq Mehmood’s novella Song of Gulzarina (2016), and Shobha Rao’s novel Girls Burn Brighter (2018), which depict survivors from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Drawing on trauma theory, feminist and postcolonial perspectives, and the ethics of representing human rights violations in literature, this article examines sexual violence and its effects on the voice and interiority of characters. It considers how voice, identity, and geographical relocation intersect to produce varying forms of agency among sex trafficking survivors in fiction. At points, these texts depict South Asian survivors exercising significant control or finding ways to resist, while at other moments they present them as more passive. I discuss the reasons behind this variation, including the exclusion of survivors’ voices and the absence of narrative detail in trafficking fiction. This article critiques the stereotype of the ‘helpless victim’ and highlights moments in which characters assert agency, navigate trauma, and maintain interiority despite structural constraints. The relevance of this research extends beyond literature, as these portrayals influence perceptions of real sex trafficking survivors. By situating these narratives within world literature and human rights frameworks, the analysis emphasises the importance of including survivor voices in fiction, challenging stereotypes of passive women of colour, and supporting more empathetic and informed approaches to rehabilitation and justice

Depiction · Human trafficking · Mainstream · Narrative · Sex trafficking · Sexualization · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Sex work and related issues · South Asian Cinema and Culture

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