Ethno-theatre: Exploring a narrative intervention for trafficking survivors

In the age of positivist research inquiry, evidence-based research is gaining momentum. Quantitative data supporting theoretical reasoning is allowing several advances in the Western social work curriculum and practice. However, with increasing emphasis on quantifiable significance of research outcomes, several issues and populations are being underrepresented in social work arena. Historically, the Eastern social work tradition has embraced multiple research approaches from various social science disciplines. Deriving from an anthropological approach, in this article ethno-theatre is used as a tool of narrative therapy for victims of human trafficking to assess its impact of witnessing lived experience narrated by trained actors. Results of this study reveal that staging victim narratives for girls who were sex-trafficked as minors create a cathartic environment of comfort where victims feel positive, important and empowered. This model hypothesizes that ethno-theatre operated within the framework of narrative therapy can expedite the process of recreating victim stories to build a positive social environment in the process of empowering survivors of human trafficking.