TRAFFICKED AND THE TRAFFICKERS IN AKACHI ADIMORA-EZEIGBO’S TRAFFICKED: AN INTRA GENDERED DISCOURSE

Abstract

Human trafficking has not only received critical attention over decades but also has been presented by some critics as a feminist issue. As a trade of human beings for the purposes of forced labour and trans border prostitution, female migrants are more vulnerable to abuse and sexual exploitation than their male counterparts. Many scholars have portrayed the plight, trauma, pain, humiliation and experience of the trafficked victims. Their studies are aimed towards sounding a clarion call to end the abominable business. Not much, however, has been written on the role of women in a business that reduces the image of women. The study seeks to critically discuss the concept of human trafficking as it affects females. Using the content analysis approach of qualitative research method and the feminist theory, the paper examines Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked, to highlight the activities and intricacies of the human trafficking business. This will provide an insight into the involvement of female characters in the sex trade. An appraisal of the ordeal and the utterances of the female trafficked victims in the text reveal that their oppression is both inter-gender and intragender. This means that apart from male persecution, instances of women-on women hostility are also evident. The activities of Madam Dollar and Madam Gold encourage continuity of human trafficking.