Embodied Citizenship: Mediating the State Through the Self  (BSA) Conference

Invited keynote presented, January 18^th, University of Nottingham.

Title: Bodies, Belonging and (Sexual) Citizenship
Author: Diane Richardson, Newcastle University
Abstract: This paper is part of a bigger project that seeks to examine the limits to and limitations of ‘sexual citizenship’, both in terms of its conceptual construction and in relation to political activism. Which communities do we have in mind when we think about sexual citizenship? Does the concept have a universal or particularist reach? In what ways have movements for social change and neoliberal states informed practices of sexual citizenship? To progress the field theoretically, I argue that there is a need for a timely revisioning that includes a de-centering of the ‘western-centric’ focus in order to advance understandings of how sexual citizenship operates both in the Global North and South. The focus of this paper is on the sexualisation of citizenship in terms of ideas about how individuals should and can be (sexual) citizens and how the ‘body’ is significant in struggles over rights of  (sexual) citizenship. Debates over the ontology of sexualities, in particular biological essentialism, have been central to the ways in which both support and opposition to (sexual) citizenship has been rationalised.  In the case of lesbians and gay men, for example, it is largely through being configured as non-choosing sexual subjects that rights of sexual citizenship have been advanced.

Royal Geographical Society- Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG) Annual Conference, 30^th August-  2^nd September,  Royal Geograpghical Society, London.

Title: Post Trafficking, Wellbeing and Geographies of Stigma
Authors: Nina Laurie (University of St Andrews) , Diane Richardson (Newcastle University); Meena Poudel (IOM, Nepal);Janet Townsend (Durham University)
Abstract: In this paper we develop a framework for understanding how geographies of stigma influence post-trafficking, with implications for how return migration, border crossing and ‘re-integration’ are understood more widely. Drawing on research on post-trafficking, sexuality and livelihoods in Nepal, we argue that increased migration from Nepal is blurring the categories of trafficked and migrant women in complex ways, which affects how women can access services, build solidarities and make new lives. We illustrate how geographical hierarchies of stigma, influenced by the destinations women return from and to, shape their well-being as they try to move on from diverse trafficking situations. Mental health issues and the stigma associated with assumed status as HIV positive women are interwoven with a lack of citizenship and livelihood options for many returning women. Drawing on material from both rural and urban settings, we explore how the boundary between trafficked and migrant identities is performed and negotiated upon return. We explore how ‘post-trafficking’ is given meaning and expressed through spatial form and relations. This approach focuses on understandings how specific geographical imaginaries underpin everyday experience of stigma and wellbeing. This includes an analysis of the contexts in which trafficked women (wish to and are able to) ‘pass’ as migrant workers and, in some cases, scenarios where migrant women chose to claim a trafficked identity in order to access resources. We explore the implications of these forms of identity making for women’s solidarities as well as for wider anti-trafficking and return migration debates. 

Development in South Asia (DISA) Annual Conference

Invited keynote given at the DISA conference on 'The State of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in South Asia and South Asian Diaspora’, April 15th, 2015, Columbia University, New York, USA.

Title: Sexuality, Stigma and Citizenship in Nepal
Author: Diane Richardson, Newcastle University
Abstract: Extreme poverty, a large rural population and a post-conflict situation where processes of redefining national space are ongoing, together with Nepal’s geopolitical location between China and India, are key factors in shaping debates about changing definitions around citizenship. There are indications of new possibilities of doing gender and sexualities emerging post-conflict that challenge ‘traditional’ cultural expectations and social norms. Nepal has made significant legal advances in respect for sexual and gender minorities, including providing gender-variant people full recognition as citizens on official documentation, although such advances may obscure a more complex social reality. Nepal remains a highly patriarchal society where there is social pressure to conform to heteronormative social conventions and discrimination, stigmatisation and social rejection towards those who fail to conform. This paper examines gendered and sexualised constructions of citizenship in the ‘new’ Nepal post-conflict through a consideration of groups who have been sexually stigmatised and have actively lobbied for changes in citizenship rules including those campaigning for LGBT rights, women’s rights, and rights for people living with HIV and AIDS.

Development Studies Association Gender group: “Researching Sensitive Subjects” Conference. Paper presented 15th November 2015, Birkbeck University

Title: Doing Sensitive Research and ‘Doing’ Impact
Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University
Abstract: This paper explores some of the challenges and possibilities for co-producing research working with sensitive subjects. It is set in the context of research on anti-trafficking advocacy where the focus is on moving from engagement to promoting a rights-based and social justice agenda. It seeks to bring to the fore the tensions between doing research and also reporting on that work for academic auditing processes, which in the UK context means specifically the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and end of grant funding reports and evaluations.

The paper draws on ‘evidence’ provided in an article “Anti-trafficking Activism: Collaborating on Transforming Citizenship”, jointly produced by a Nepal-based anti-trafficking NGO, Shakti Samuha, founded and directed by women who have returned from trafficking situations, and four feminist researchers (three British – two in current academic positions, one an emeritus researcher and one Nepali, now working in a high-level donor policy setting in Nepal). The paper targeted an international development policy journal in order to make an ‘impact’ by getting post-trafficking scenarios onto international development agendas. (Most trafficking research addresses its causes and characteristics, feeding into policy frameworks targeting the ‘rescue’ of those experiencing diverse trafficking situations. Post-trafficking, starts when these scenarios end.) Drawing on research in Nepal, the article presents four types of co-produced data that indicate how collaboration can be woven through research design, data collection and analysis in order to prioritise returnee women’s voices and engage in changes around citizenship access. Had it been accepted on first submission (it wasn’t), this article could have been used as evidence in two REF Impact case studies. This paper is therefore also an opportunity to reflect upon some of the challenges that the systemisation of impact oriented ways of doing research has posed for me recently as a feminist academic committed to wanting to do work (and in ways) that makes a difference including through work on and with sensitive subjects.

Title: Making celebrity: embodied geographies of anti-trafficking. Invited paper presented at Waikato University New Zealand. May 2015.
Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University
No abstract

Title: Embodying global anti-trafficking: “Doing” and “making” celebrity. Invited paper presented at the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. May 2015.
Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University
No Abstract

Title: Celebrity and development: insights from the world of anti-trafficking. Invited paper presented to the Geography Department Otago University, New Zealand, March 2015.
Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University
No Abstract

Royal Geographical Society –Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG)Annual Conference.

Keynote given at Pre–conference workshop. 26th–29th August 2014, London, RGS.

Title: Ethics, Politics and Practices: Conceptualising Impact in the Global South: the Case of a Trafficking Project. Generating Research Impact.
Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University

Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers Annual Conference. Paper presented 26th–29th August 2014, London, RGS.

Title: Anti-trafficking Activism: Collaborating on Transforming Citizenship.
Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University
Abstract: click here to read Abstract

This paper explores some of the challenges and possibilities for co-produced research to move from engagement to social justice in the context of anti-trafficking advocacy. It draws on ‘evidence’ provided in an article “Anti-trafficking Activism: Collaborating on Transforming Citizenship”, jointly produced by a Nepal-based anti-trafficking NGO, Shakti Samuha, founded and directed by women who have returned from trafficking situations, and four feminist researchers (three British – two in current academic positions, one an emeritus researcher and one Nepali, now working in a high-level donor policy setting in Nepal). The paper targeted an international development policy journal in order to make an ‘impact’ by getting post-trafficking scenarios onto international development agendas. (Most trafficking research addresses its causes and characteristics, feeding into policy frameworks targeting the ‘rescue’ of those experiencing diverse trafficking situations. Post-trafficking, starts when these scenarios end.) Drawing on research in Nepal, the article presents four types of co-produced data that indicate how collaboration can be woven through research design, data collection and analysis in order to prioritise returnee women’s voices and engage in changes around citizenship access. Had it been accepted on first submission (it wasn’t), this article could have been used as evidence in two REF Impact case studies. This paper is therefore also an opportunity to reflect upon some of the personal challenges that the systemisation of impact oriented ways of doing research has posed for me recently as a feminist academic committed to wanting to do work (and in ways) that makes a difference.

Minorities and Migrations: States, Minorities, Indentities. CITSEE Conference

Invited discussant at the CITSEE conference at University of Edinburgh, June 2013

Title: Contesting the existing frameworks of citizenship: Sexuality, gender and feminism

Author: Diane Richardson

No abstract

Informed Programming Based on Empirical Studies: Leading Research Methodologies Workshop

Leading a workshop at the Asia Foundation in Kathmandu, September 2012

Title: Post-trafficking in Nepal: Sexuality and Citizenship in Livelihood Strategies Research Project
Author: Meena Poudel
No abstract

Nationality Working Group, USAID

Paper presented to the Nationality Working Group, USAID in Kathmandu, November 2012

Title: Post-trafficking in Nepal
Author: Meena Poudel
No Abstract

World, City, Queer 

The Event is funded by the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council. The Paper presented at the Conference in McGill University, Montreal, Canada on September 7-8th 2012

Title: (Re) Constituting Identities and Livelihoods: The city, sexuality and stigma in Nepal
Authors: Diane Richardson, Newcastle University
Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a global issue,  yet many aspects remain poorly understood. Post conflict Nepal is a focal point for international donors and NGOs. In the new landscape of ‘aidland’ Kathmandu has gained an international profile, yet the urbanisation experiences of specific globalised subjects, in this case returnee trafficked women, often remain invisible. The stigma and rejection they face in rural communities pushes them to settle in Kathmandu post return as the city becomes the only option for livelihoods. In this specific context of the urbanization-globalization nexus the paper examines the complex relationship between what is regarded as acceptable and appropriate sexuality, constituted through marriage and motherhood, and 'queer' sexuality, which in this context is the returnee trafficked woman who, defined against the desired( hetero) norms is typically judged, as a ‘prostitute’, and often also  an 'AIDS carrier',  to be a ‘bad woman’ who is ‘spoiled.’  The paper looks at processes of managing stigma and (re) constituting identities and asks how these processes are linked to geographies of 'passing' and heteronormativity.  

Institute of British Geographers (IBG): Gender, Justice and Security stream

Paper presented at the IBG Conference in Edinburgh University, July 2012

Title: Whose agenda? Securitisation and Prosecution in Anti-trafficking: Some Lessons from Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend, Newcastle University

Abstract: Donor interests and policy initiatives in anti-trafficking globally have come to focus increasingly on securitisation issues in recent years. Anti-trafficking legislation and development funding have subsequently become tied more and more to agendas that aim to tackle the global flows and networks associated with terrorism and organised crime. How do such interests shape the practices and effectiveness of anti-trafficking advocates in specific local settings? How do women who have been affected by trafficking experience criminal justice systems and Non Government Organisation activities relating to prosecution in their own countries and abroad? To what extent do these women see criminalisation and prosecution as the most important ways to prevent other women facing the same experiences? To examine these questions this paper draws on findings from a recent ESRC project on post-trafficking livelihoods and citizenship in Nepal. It draws on qualitative data from a two-and-a-half year project including in-depth interviews with 45 returnee trafficked women a number of whom have become key actors in the anti-trafficking lobby nationally and internationally. 

Unsung heroes? Anti trafficking advocacy and celebrity at the grassroots

Paper presented at the Institute of Development Policy and Management, Manchester University, June 19-20th 2012

Title: Capitalism, Democracy and Celebrity Advocacy A Manchester Symposium

Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University

Abstract: While there is growing attention to the role of celebrity advocacy in development and the emergence of new development actors such as celebrity agents and brokers, very little attention has been given to celebrity making processes in the global South. There is scant work on the impact of these processes on grassroots activism and advocacy in the South itself. Drawing on a two and half year ESRC project on post trafficking livelihoods, sexuality and citizenship, this paper explores the role of celebrity in anti-trafficking advocacy with particular reference to Nepal. Recently here the national and international profile of the anti trafficking lobby has been raised by two international awards (a CNN ‘heroe’s’ award and a US state department award presented by Hilary Clinton) to representatives of different anti-trafficking groups. This paper explores the impact of these awards on anti-trafficking professionalization in the country. It analyses how they created national celebrities and explores the effects of that on local perceptions of trafficking. This includes examining the reactions of different groups (e.g. politicians, donors, NGOs, returnee trafficked women and their families and the wider public). Connecting with wider debates on trafficking, the paper examines the extent to which celebrity awards and engagement in advocacy map onto cleavages within the anti-trafficking lobby more globally. How do processes of celebrity making in the South affect advocacy at local, national and international scales? To what extent do these processes facilitate struggles for citizenship in contexts where historically many returnee trafficked women and their children are stateless, non –citizens?  

Geographies of Post Trafficking in Nepal

Paper presented at the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge University on May 23rd 2012

Title: Centre Research Seminar

Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University

No Abstract

Professionalization and Celebrity in Anti-trafficking Advocacy

Paper presented at a workshop at the Departmental Research Seminar at Exeter University on May 3rd 2012

Title: Departmental Research Seminar

Author: Nina Laurie, Newcastle University

No Abstract

Doing fieldwork back home: relationship manager or a researcher?

Paper was presented at the workshop at Newcastle University on April 17th 2012

Title: Fieldwork in difficult contexts

Author: Meena Poudel, Newcastle University

No Abstract

Policy Making for Livelihoods Post-Trafficking

April 11th 2012

DFID UK Stakeholders Group on Trafficking

Department for International Development (DfID), London

End of project presentation

American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Conference

Paper was presented at the annual conference of the AAG on February 23rd - 28th 2012 in New York

Title: Non belonging and claiming citizenship: anti-trafficking activism and professionalisation in Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: This paper explores the changing context for anti-trafficking activism in Nepal.  It draws on an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project on ‘Citizenship and Livelihoods Post Trafficking’ which is a collaboration with Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organisation founded and run by women who themselves have experienced trafficking. Anti-trafficking activism in Nepal has a strong international profile, evidenced by, for example, the award of CNN hero status to founding members of two anti-trafficking NGOs in recent years. Nepal’s strategic location between China and India also brings extra dimensions to border enforcements and national security issues which help configure the spaces in(to) which anti-trafficking advocacy can act. At the same time the move to democratic reform and the establishment of a Constituent Assembly has generated interest from international donors with implications for the professionalisation of anti-trafficking organisations.  In examining this context, the paper focuses on how anti-trafficking activists have attempted to lobby at a range of scales through the new political spaces opened by the Constituent Assembly. It also analyses changing patterns of activism on and across the border with India, highlighting how the experience of activism shapes returnee trafficked women’s aspiration for future livelihoods. Constructions of activist careers and biographies are examined in relation to increased professionalisation and its implications for the political mobilisation of the category ‘trafficked women’ over time.

Anti-Trafficking Inter-Agency Co-ordinating Group Meeting

November 10th 2011 The Asia Foundation, Kathmandu, Nepal

Title: Post Trafficking in Nepal: Sexuality and Citizenship in Livelihood Strategies

Authors: Diane Richardson, Meena Poudel, Nina Laurie and Janet Townsend.

Making Livelihoods Post Trafficking: Sexuality, Citizenship and Stigma Research Seminar

November 4th 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal

Title: Making Livelihoods Post Trafficking: Sexuality, Citizenship and Stigma 

Authors: Diane Richardson, Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel and Janet Townsend

National University of Singapore International Conference on Migration

Paper will be presented at the International Conference "Crossing Borders, Traversing Boundaries: Bridging the Gap between International and Internal Migration Research and Theory" on October 13-14, 2011, at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

Title: Crossing Back Over the Open Border: Geographies of Post Trafficking Citizenships in Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: This paper argues that bringing to light the everyday ways in which returnee trafficked women deal with the stigma and marginalisation they experience upon return to Nepal illuminates how open borders circumscribe and shape women’s lives in powerfully embodied ways. We explore how the geopolitically strategic location of Nepal between India and China shapes donor involvement in aid programs and national debates about changing definitions of citizenship in ways that have consequences for the categories through which women’s political subjectivities can be mobilised. We argue that more academic attention needs to be given to the situation of trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post trafficking in Nepal, we focus on the processes and mechanisms of citizenship, examining the interplay of state and non-state actors (national and transnational) in constructing political subjectivity in Nepal. We argue that state codifying of collective identities in relation to citizenship occurs in ways that marginalise the lived experiences, and related political rights based claims, of returnee trafficked women and the organisations that represent them. 

Department of Geography and Migration Research Cluster, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Paper was presented at the conference at the National University of Singapore on 11th October 2011.

Title: (Re) Constituting Identities Post Trafficking in Nepal: Markers of ‘doubt’ and ‘ordinariness’.

Authors: Nina Laurie, Diane Richardson, Meena Poudel and Janet Townsend

Abstract: click here to read abstract

Institute of British Geographers Annual Conference, Royal Geographical Society, London

Paper will be presented at the annual conference of the Institute of British Geographers Annual Conference with the Royal Geographical Society, 31st August - 2nd September 2011, London

Title: Geographies of Livelihoods and Passing Among Returnee Sexually Trafficked Women in Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: This paper explores the implications of a focus on returnee sexually trafficked women for conceptualisations of return migration. Little academic attention has been given to the situation of sexually trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect in their ‘home’ country. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual-trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a Constitutional Assembly. We argue that state codifying of collective identities in relation to citizenship occurs in ways that marginalise the lived experiences, and related political rights based claims, of returnee trafficked women and the organisations that represent them. Drawing on interviews with women returning to both rural and urban settings, we explore how the boundary between trafficked and migrant identities is performed and negotiated upon return and how these processes are spatialised. We examine the extent to which some women who have been sexually trafficked are able to ‘pass’ as migrant workers on return to Nepal, aided by particular  constructions of citizenship and established geographies of stigma. We also explain why, despite regimes of stigma, others choose to identify as returnee trafficked women rather than migrants, exploring how these forms of identification change over time and in different settings. 

British Society of Criminology Conference 2011

Paper was presented at the British Society of Criminology Conference 2011, Economies and Insecurities of Crime and Justice, July 3rd - July 6th 2011, Northumbria University

Title: Law, Identity and Livelihood in Post Trafficking in Nepal

Authors: Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson, Nina Laurie and Janet Townsend

Abstract: This paper draws on an ESRC project ‘Post Trafficking Livelihoods in Nepal’ which focuses on the development and citizenship challenges faced by women who have returned from being sexually trafficked. Sexual trafficking is not often seen as a development issue despite the causes of sexual trafficking being linked in multiple ways to issues of poverty and uneven development. While research has focused on the processes that cause and facilitate sexual trafficking, policy and aid money target programs that make up a growing ‘rescue industry’ that focuses on enabling women to leave trafficked situations. Very little research or development aid is dedicated to addressing the longer term challenges faced by women after they return from trafficking. This presentation examines how construction of stigma and poor access to citizenship negatively shape these women’s livelihood options in post trafficking situations. It explores how returnee trafficked women themselves are organising to claim better livelihood options and have a voice as activists in current policy context focusing in particular on current lobbying activities around the Constitutional assembly.

Performing Geopolitics Workshop

Paper was presented at the Performing Geopolitics Workshop, Durham University 22nd - 23rd June 2011

Title: Living the Geopolitics: Geographies of Passing Among Post Sexual Trafficking Women in Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend, Nina Laurie

Abstract: This paper argues that bringing to light the everyday ways in which returnee trafficked women deal with the stigma and marginalisation they experience upon return to Nepal illuminates how geopolitics circumscribe and shape women’s lives in powerfully embodied ways. We explore how the geopolitically strategic location of Nepal between India and China shapes donor involvement in aid programs and national debates about changing definitions of citizenship in ways that have consequences for the categories through women’s political subjectivities can be mobilised. We argue that more academic attention needs to be given to the situation of sexually trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal, we focus on the processes and mechanisms of citizenship, examining the interplay of state and non-state actors (national and transnational) in constructing political subjectivity in Nepal. We argue that state codifying of collective identities in relation to citizenship occurs in ways that marginalise the lived experiences, and related political rights based claims, of returnee trafficked women and the organisations that represent them. Conceptually we explore the usefulness of notions of ‘passing’ for understanding the different ways in which individual women manage the consequences of the geopolitics that have become ‘written on their bodies’. This also constitutes a consideration of what bodies do and do not matter. Specifically, in this context, how dominant norms of gender and sexuality shape, regulate and connect with notions of  recognisable personhood and humanity.

Oxfam GB Research Seminar

Paper was presented at the Policy Research and Campaign Division of Oxfam GB, June 14th 2011, Oxford

Title: Rights and Wrongs: Trafficked Identity, Citizenship and Livelihood

Authors: Meena Poudel

Abstract: This paper draws on recent fieldwork in Nepal for an ESRC project ‘Post Trafficking Livelihoods in Nepal’. This project focuses on the development and citizenship challenges faced by women who have returned from being sexually trafficked. Sexual trafficking is not often seen as a development issue despite the causes of sexual trafficking being linked in multiple ways to issues of poverty and uneven development. Research traditionally focuses on the processes that cause and facilitate sexual trafficking while policy and aid money target programs that make up a growing ‘rescue industry’ that aims to enable women to leave trafficked situations. Nevertheless very little research or development aid is dedicated to addressing the longer term challenges faced by women after they return ‘home’. This presentation examines how geographies of stigma and poor access to citizenship negatively shape these women’s livelihood options. It explores how returnee trafficked women themselves are organising to demand better livelihood options and have a voice as activists in current citizenship initiatives focusing in particular on current lobbying activities around the Constitutional assembly. 

Development Studies Association Gender Workshop

Paper was presented at the Development Studies Association Gender Workshop, University of York on 4th June 2011
Title: Trafficked Woman: Sexuality and Citizenship

Authors: Meena Poudel, Janet Townsend, Nina Laurie and Diane Richardson

Abstract: The links between human rights and development have long been recognised. In a number of countries constitutional assembly processes are providing new contexts for channelling citizenship claims and shaping future development trajectories. This presentation focuses on the case of Nepal and the struggles of sexually trafficked women who have largely been excluded from citizenship upon their return to Nepal to ensure their voices are heard in current debates over the new constitution. While research has focused on the processes that cause and facilitate sexual trafficking, very little research or development aid is dedicated to addressing the longer term challenges faced by women after they return ‘home’. Findings from an on-going ESRC funded research project on post trafficking livelihoods shows how citizenship rights play a central role in generating better livelihood options for women. This presentation outlines the way the anti-trafficking lobby has been attempting to address issues of citizenship exclusion in recent months in Nepal and addressed some of the challenges of feminist, activist-academic work in this field.

Gender, Sexuality and Political Economy Conference

Paper was presented at the Gender, Sexuality and Political Economy Conference, Department of Sociology 24-25th May 2011, Manchester Metropolitan University

Title: Sexuality, Development and Citizenship

Authors: Diane Richardson, Meena Poudel, Nina Laurie, and Janet Townsend

Abstract: After a decade of civil war Nepal is undergoing a political transformation by restructuring the nation and re-drafting the constitution through a Constitutional Assembly process. Associated with this is a re-definition of citizenship, where it is anticipated that an established gender bias will be overturned. Models of citizenship have historically operated in ways that are sexualised as well as gendered, with heterosexuality configuring normative citizen status. In this paper we focus on the situation of returnee trafficked women and specifically, the livelihood opportunities available to them as they experience differing notions of citizenship and processes of sexual stigmatisation. In addition to the fact that there has been very little attempt to document poverty alleviation strategies post trafficking within the mainstream development literature, there has also been  little attention given to questions of sexuality and how they relate to development and poverty reduction strategies and constitutional reform. This paper addresses these themes by drawing on findings from a large Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) UK funded study, illustrating how normative assumptions about acceptable and appropriate sexuality, constituted through marriage and motherhood, intersect with these gendered models of citizenship. 

Britain-Nepal Academic Council Annual Workshop

Paper presented at the Nepal Study Day 2011, Britain-Nepal Academic Council, 20th-21st April 2011, University of Campbridge

Title: Confirmed Boundaries: Sexuality, Citizenship and Livelihood

Authors: Meena Poudel, Nina Laurie, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: This paper draws on an ESRC project ‘Post Trafficking Livelihoods in Nepal’ which focuses on the development and citizenship challenges faced by women who have returned from being sexually trafficked. Sexual trafficking is not often seen as a development issue despite the causes of sexual trafficking being linked in multiple ways to issues of poverty and uneven development. While research has focused on the processes that cause and facilitate sexual trafficking, policy and aid money target programs that make up a growing ‘rescue industry’ that focuses on enabling women to leave trafficked situations, very little research or development aid is dedicated to addressing the longer term challenges faced by women after they return ‘home’. This presentation examines how geographies of stigma and poor access to citizenship negatively shape these women’s livelihood options. It explores how returnee trafficked women themselves are organising to demand better livelihood options and have a voice as activists in current citizenship initiatives focusing in particular on current lobbying activities around the Constitutional assembly.

American Association of Geographers Annual Conference, Seattle, USA

Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers in Seattle, USA 12th - 16th April 2011

Title: Geographies of Passing: Post Sexual Trafficking Citizenships in Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: Little academic attention has been given to the situation of sexually trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a new Constitutional Assembly. We focus on the processes and mechanisms of citizenship examining the interplay of state and non-state actors (national and transnational) in constructing political subjectivity in Nepal. We argue that state codifying of collective identities in relation to citizenship occurs in ways that marginalise the lived experiences, and related political rights based claims, of returnee trafficked women and the organisations that represent them. We examine the extent to which  some women who have been sexually trafficked are able to ‘pass’ as a migrant worker on return to Nepal, aided by particular  constructions of citizenship and established geographies of stigma. We examine the technocratic and bureaucratic practices around citizenship emerging from the Constitutional Assembly and ask to what extent these reflect returnee trafficked women’s expectations of citizenship(s)? We seek to locate these national discussions within the wider framing of anti-trafficking advocacy and citizenship debates in the South Asia region.

British Sociological Association, London School of Economics

Title: Passing Borders: Sexuality, Stigma and Citizenship

Paper presented at the British Sociological Assoication, London School of Economics,
April 6-8th 2011

Authors:  Diane Richardson, Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel and Janet Townsend

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments yet many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In particular little attention has been given to the position of trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a new Constitutional Assembly. Our research partners are Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organization (NGO) created and staffed by returned trafficked women.  We examine the extent to which  some women who have been sexually trafficked are able to ‘pass’ as a migrant worker on return to Nepal, aided by particular  constructions of citizenship. Related to this, we explore whether how policies and public discourses desexualise some forms of sexual trafficking more than others and ask how these processes  affect the potential poverty alleviation strategies available to returnee trafficked women.

Institute of Development Policy and Management, Manchester University

Paper presented to celebrate International Women's Day in seminar series of the Institute of Development Policy and Management, Manchester University on the 8th March 2011

Title: The Politics of Methods: Citizenship and Livelihoods Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

International Development Conference 2011, 'Inequality: Challenging and Assumed Reality'

Paper presented at a student organised national annual development conference: International Development Conference 2011 'Inequality: challenging an assumed reality', 26th February Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne

Title: Returning home and making livelihoods: The development challenges facing women post sexual trafficking

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is not often seen as a development issue despite the causes of sexual trafficking being linked in multiple ways to issues of poverty and uneven development in the world. While research has focused on the processes that cause and facilitate sexual trafficking, policy and aid money target programs that make up a growing ‘rescue industry’ that focuses on enabling women to leave trafficked situations. Very little research or development aid is dedicated to addressing the longer term challenges faced by women after they return ‘home’. Drawing on an ESRC funded research project on sexually trafficked women who return to Nepal after being trafficked across the open national border with India and in some cases onto further destinations in Asia and the Middle East, this presentation examines how geographies of stigma and poor access to citizenship negatively shape women’s livelihood options. It also explores how returnee trafficked women themselves are organising to demand better livelihood options and have a voice as activists in current development and citizenship initiatives in Nepal. 

Global Poverty and Development

Title: Gender,Trafficking and Livelihoods in Nepal

Invited lecture presented at the School of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Northumbria, for the Undergraduate module Global Poverty and Development a core module for second year Sociology and Sociology & Criminology students. 19th November 2010

Author: Nina Laurie

Abstract: This lecture provides an introduction of the origins of sexual trafficking in relation economic and political change and rural poverty and outlines the processes through which trafficking occurs, highlighting among other issues the role of false marriage. It examines the ways in which development policy intersects with anti-trafficking agendas highlighting to role of the Trafficking in Person Report and the role of donor, (I)NGO and diverse advocacy groups in South Asia in Particular. It provide a detailed case study of Nepal, focusing on the challenges of making livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal and highlighting the roles of geographies of stigma and issues of citizenship.

University of the Third Age, Durham, November 2010

Title: Post Sexual Trafficking Livelihoods in Nepal

Invited presentation to the (U3A) Current Affairs Discussion Group of the University of the Third Age (U3A) Durham

Author: Nina Laurie

Abstract: This talk explores the situation of returnee trafficked women in Nepal. It examines the differences between international anti-trafficking advocacy positions as expressed CATW and GAATW. In relation to Nepal it explores the work of Shakti Samuha as the only anti-trafficking organisation founded and run by returnee trafficked women themselves. The talk discusses Shakti’s support for GAATW as well as. Discussion focuses on the difference between urban and rural areas in terms of female vulnerability to trafficking. 

Dialogues in Human Geography Research Seminar Series

Title: Women, Livelihoods and Citizenship Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal

Paper presented at Dialogues in Human Geography Research Seminar Series, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University. 5th November 2010

Author:  Nina Laurie

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments yet many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In particular little attention has been given to the situation of trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a Constitutional Assembly. (Our research partners are Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organization (NGO) created and staffed by returned trafficked women, and the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization.) Focusing on the negotiations involved in these processes over the last ten years, we examine the configuration of feminist advocacy networks and the everyday negotiations that underpin policy formation in emerging democratic settings. We analyse how the issues faced by returnee trafficked women are being addressed through new political spaces and processes, charting how grassroots NGOs and donors align themselves differently around human rights, violence against women, HIV/AIDS, migration and anti-trafficking agendas. We explore the exclusions and inclusions associated with new alliances and ask how these influence the citizenship subjectivities available to returnee trafficked women. For Shakti Samuha, rights and access to citizenship are necessary for these women to secure livelihoods and inclusion.

Human Geography Seminar Series, Geography Department, University College London

Title: Post Sexual Trafficking: the Politics of marginalization and citizenship in Nepal

Paper was presented at Human Geography Seminar Series, Geography Department, University College London. Organised by Jason Dittmer, 5th October 2010

Author: Nina Laurie

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments yet many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In particular little attention has been given to the situation of trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a Constitutional Assembly. (Our research partners are Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organization (NGO) created and staffed by returned trafficked women, and the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization.) Focusing on the negotiations involved in these processes over the last ten years, we examine the configuration of feminist advocacy networks and the everyday negotiations that underpin policy formation in emerging democratic settings. We analyse how the issues faced by returnee trafficked women are being addressed through new political spaces and processes, charting how grassroots NGOs and donors align themselves differently around human rights, violence against women, HIV/AIDS, migration and anti-trafficking agendas. We explore the exclusions and inclusions associated with new alliances and ask how these influence the citizenship subjectivities available to returnee trafficked women. We trace the ways in which wider regional geopolitics and security fears are currently influencing development funding targeting anti-trafficking in Nepal. 

"Ten years of 'war against poverty': what have we learned since 2000 and what should we do 2010-2020?"

Paper was presented at "Ten years of 'war against poverty': what have we learned since 2000 and what should be do 2010-2020?", Chronic Poverty Research Centre, International Conference, Brooks World Poverty Institute, The University of Manchester, Hulme Hall, 8-10th September 2010

Authors: Janet Townsend, Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel and Diane Richardson

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments yet many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In particular little attention has been given to the situation of trafficked women when they return from trafficking situations and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on citizenship and livelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a Constitutional Assembly. (Our research partners are Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organization (NGO) created and staffed by returned trafficked women, and the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization.) Focusing on the negotiations involved in these processes over the last ten years, we examine the configuration of feminist advocacy networks and the everyday negotiations that underpin policy formation in emerging democratic settings. We analyse how the issues faced by returnee trafficked women are being addressed through new political spaces and processes, charting how grassroots NGOs and donors align themselves differently around human rights, violence against women, HIV/AIDS, migration and anti-trafficking agendas. We explore the exclusions and inclusions associated with new alliances and ask how these influence the citizenship subjectivities available to returnee trafficked women. For Shakti Samuha, rights and access to citizenship are necessary for these women to secure livelihoods and inclusion.

"Looking Forward Strategies After a Decade of Optional Protocol? UN Global Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons.

General Assembly Sixty Four Session: Agenda Item 104 Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice 29th July Draft Resolution submitted by the President of the General Assembly"

Title: Review of UN Global Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons

Paper was presented the UN Country Team meeting, 19th August 2010, UNCT Meeting, UN House

Authors: Meena Poudel

Beyond Citizenship: Feminism and the Transformation on Belonging Conference

Title: Discourses of Democratisation and the Development: Constructing Sexual Trafficking and Citizenship in Nepal

Paper was presented at the Beyond Citizenship: Feminism and the Transformation on Belonging Conference, Birbeck, University of London, 30th June - 2nd July 2010

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments yet many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In particular little attention has been given to the situation of trafficked women when they return home and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on Citizenship and Livelihoods Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a Constitutional Assembly. Focusing on the negotiations involved in such processes we examine the configuration of feminist advocacy networks and the everyday negotiations that underpin policy formation in emerging democratic settings. We analyse how the issues faced by returnee trafficked women are being addressed through new political spaces and processes, charting how grassroots Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and donors align themselves differently around human rights, violence against women, HIV/Aids and anti-trafficking agendas. We explore the exclusions and inclusions associated with new alliances and ask how these influence the citizenship subjectivities available to returnee trafficked women.

Development Studies Association Gender and Development Workshop

Title: Sexual Trafficking, Poverty, Marginalization and Citizenship in Nepal

Paper was presented at the Development Studies Association Gender and Development Workshop, Vanbrugh College, University of York, Heslington, York Saturday 5th June 2010

Authors: Janet Townsend, Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel and Diane Richardson

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments yet many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In particular little attention has been given to the situation of trafficked women when they return home and seek to (re)establish a sense of belonging and respect. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council project on Citizenship and Livelihoods Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal, we focus on how the livelihood opportunities available to returnee trafficked women intersect with gendered and sexualised models of citizenship in a post-conflict situation where citizenship is being seen as the key mechanism for establishing new forms of belonging, institutionalised through a Constitutional Assembly. (Our research partners are Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organization (NGO) created and staffed by returned trafficked women, and the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization.) Focusing on the negotiations involved in these processes over the last ten years, we examine the configuration of feminist advocacy networks and the everyday negotiations that underpin policy formation in emerging democratic settings. We analyse how the issues faced by returnee trafficked women are being addressed through new political spaces and processes, charting how grassroots NGOs and donors align themselves differently around human rights, violence against women, HIV/Aids and anti-trafficking agendas. We shall explore the exclusions and inclusions associated with new alliances and ask how these influence the citizenship subjectivities available to returnee trafficked women. For Shakti Samuha, rights to and access to citizenship are necessary to these women to secure livelihoods and inclusion.

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Seminar Series: Activism, Volunteering and Citizenship.

Title: The Place of Trafficked Women's Biographies in Anti-Trafficking Activism in Nepal

Paper presented at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Seminar Series: Activism, Volunteering and Citizenship. Final Seminar: Biographies of Activism and Social Change. Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st June 2010, Newcastle University

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

Abstract: This paper draws on reflections six months into a new ESRC project on citizenship, sexuality and levelihoods post sexual trafficking in Nepal. This interdisciplinary project seeks to examine the sexual politics of poverty by prioritising the voices of returnee women and exploring the extent to which national and transnational discourses and networks frame grassroots women's activism. The project is an explicitly feminist collaboration with the academic team working in partnership with Shakti Samuha, a Nepali Non Government Organisation founded and run by women who themselves have experienced sexual trafficking. In this paper we outline the role of biographies in our research focusing in particular on the tensions around trafficked women's constructions of activist biographies and the methodological challenges associated with examining these processes.

Panel Session: Volunteering around issues of gender and violence: reflections
on forging activist - academic biographies

Abstract: The purpose of this panel is to provide a counter to some of the over celebratory accounts of volunteering and activism. Insights from activists academics working on issues of gender and violence bring into high relief the personal cost of activism around difficult issues. The panel seeks the challenges faced by activist academics working in both Global South and Global North settings, what lessons can be learned about knowledge production and activist-academic biographies from people whose academic career is linked to their activism around gender and violence.

Author: Meena Poudel

Feminist Research Seminar Series

Title: Post Trafficking Livelihoods in Nepal: Sexuality, Citizenship and Development

Paper presented at the Feminist Research Seminar Series, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, 20th May 2010

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel, Diane Richardson and Janet Townsend

BSA 2010 Annual Conference

Title: 'Spoiled Goods': Women's Exclusion Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal

Paper presented at the annual conference of the British Sociological Association, Inequalities & Social Justice, 7-9 April 2010, Glasgow Caledonian University

Authors: Diane Richardson, Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel and Janet Townsend

Abstract: In this paper we focus on an area that has received scant attention in the literature: the situation of sexually trafficked women when they return home, specifically the livelihood opportunities available to them as they intersect with models of citizenship. Bringing together distinct literatures on sexual citizenship and sustainable livelihoods we develop our analysis of these themes through a focus on the livelihood opportunities and strategies of returnee trafficked women in Nepal. In particular, we explore the relationship between marriage and sustainable livelihood opportunities illustrating the complex relationship between what is regarded as acceptable and appropriate sexuality, constituted through marriage and motherhood, and unacceptable and inappropriate sexuality, which in this context is the returnee trafficked woman who, defined against the desired norm is typically judged, as a ‘prostitute’ and often also an 'AIDS carrier', to be a ‘bad woman’ who is ‘spoiled.’ The paper, finishes by outlining some preliminary findings from a new ESRC funded interdisciplinary research project and their implications for understanding the emerging political spaces through which notions of sexuality and citizenship are being re-worked

Post Trafficking in Nepal Study

Title: Post Trafficking in Nepal Study

Paper presented at the Gender Studies Centre Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, February 2010

Authors: Diane Richardson, Meena Poudel, Nina Laurie and Janet Townsend

European Sociological Association

Title: Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal: livelihoods, Sexuality and Citizenship

Paper presented at the European Sociological association Conference, Lisbon, Portugal 2009

Authors: Diane Richardson, Janet Townsend, Nina Laurie and Meena Poudel

Abstract:  Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments and has increasingly become a focus for debate within the academy. Despite this, many aspects of sexual trafficking remain poorly understood. In this paper we focus on an area that has received scant attention in the literature: the situation of trafficked women when they return home and specifically, the livelihood opportunities available to them as they experience differing notions of citizenship and processes of sexual stigmatisation. In addition to the fact that there has been very little attempt to document poverty alleviation strategies post trafficking, within the mainstream development literature little attention has been given to questions of sexuality and how they relate to development and poverty reduction strategies and constitutional reform. Bringing together distinct literatures on sexual citizenship and sustainable livelihoods we develop our analysis of these themes through a focus on the livelihood opportunities and strategies of returnee trafficked women drawing on qualitative research carried out in Nepal. In particular, the Nepal case study examines the relationship between marriage and sustainable livelihood opportunities illustrating the complex relationship between what is regarded as acceptable and appropriate sexuality, constituted through marriage and motherhood, and unacceptable and inappropriate sexuality, which in this context is the returnee trafficked woman who, defined against the desired norm is typically judged, as a ‘prostitute’, to be a ‘bad woman’ who is ‘spoiled.’ The paper, finishes by outlining a new interdisciplinary research agenda for understanding how advocacy around ‘the sexual politics of poverty’ and anti trafficking engage with the policies and practices associated with the new democracy in Nepal.

International Gender Studies Seminars

Title:  “Feminist Development? From Colombian rainforests to a Nepali NGO” 

Seminar delivered at the Institute of Gender Studies, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford, November 26th 2009

Authors: Janet G. Townsend

Abstract: I shall draw on personal experience from 44 years of applied research seeking to influence policy. This will take me from my D.Phil. research in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia 1966-8 to work with a Nepali NGO from October 2009 to 2011 (we hope – delays over contract!) in which one goal is to support the NGO’s efforts to influence the redrafting of Nepal’s constitution. I shall be reflecting on successive changes in research thinking, from ‘extractive research’, mining for data, to highly participatory research, and from single objective truths to multiple truths, and in development practice, from gender-blindness to ‘gender and development’ (feminist insights often used in distorted forms), and from a climate of ‘transfer of technology’ to ‘neoliberalism’. I shall do this through my struggles to gain the respect of others for women and men pioneers in the rainforest in Colombia and Mexico and later struggles to learn about NGOs and women’s empowerment in Mexico. This last led to a series of research projects. The first, in response to requests from women participants in the power project, was into the circulation of information, ideas and knowledge in the transnational community of NGOs. The second, from requests in Ghana, dealt with changing relationships between NGOs and the state under the new forms of aid. The Nepali NGO, Shakti, was founded and is staffed by women who had been trafficked for sex work, mainly to India, then escaped or were rescued but found themselves excluded by their families, communities and the state on their return. They are eager for research to help them work for rights to citizenship and livelihoods.. In this ESRC-funded project, Shakti asked Meena Poudel for this research, when she was working for her Newcastle PhD with Diane Richardson. The team are Meena, Diane, Nina Laurie and myself Janet.

Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers)

Title: Constructing Citizenship and Livelihoods: Post Sexual Trafficking in the 'New' Nepal.

Paper presented at the “Sexualities in/of the Global South” pre-conference workshop of the RGS-IBG 24th August 2009, Manchester

Authors:  Nina Laurie, Diane Richardson, Meena Poudel and Janet Townsend

Abstract:  Click here to read the abstract

Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers)

Title: “Contested Sexualised Fields? Structuring democratisation in Nepal and Bolivia”

Paper presented at the feminist geographies seminar “Connecting Feminist Geographies: Continuities and differences across Time and Space. Reading University, 3rd December 2009

Author: Nina Laurie

Annual American Association of Geographers Conference (AAG) 2008

Title: Returning Livelihoods? Constructing Citizenship and Livelihoods Post Sexual Trafficking in Nepal

Paper presented at the Annual Americal Association of Geographers Conference (AAG), Boston, 15-19th April 2008

Authors: Diane Richardson, Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel

Abstract: Sexual trafficking is a priority issue for many governments and has increasingly become a focus for debate within the academy. Despite this, many aspects of sex trafficking remain poorly understood. In this article we focus on an area that has received scant attention in the literature: the situation of trafficked women when they return home, specifically the livelihood opportunities available to them as they intersect with models of citizenship. In addition to the fact that there has been very little attempt to document poverty alleviation strategies post trafficking, within the mainstream development literature little attention has also been given to questions of sexuality and how they relate to development and poverty reduction strategies. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to seek to highlight a new research agenda and to develop an interdisciplinary framework to understand what we have termed ‘the sexual politics of poverty’. Bringing together  distinct literatures on sexual citizenship and sustainable livelihoods we develop our analysis of these themes through a focus on the livelihood opportunities and strategies of returnee trafficked women in South Asia, drawing on policy analysis at national and regional levels and preliminary research carried out in Nepal.  In particular, the Nepal case study highlights problems with skills training for returnee women and examines the relationship between marriage and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

Building on Post Colonial Economies: Making Connections and Developing Pedogogies, ESRC Postcolonial Economies Seminar Series

Title: Returning to Livelihoods? The Sexual Politics of Poverty in South Asia

Paper presented at the ESRC Postcolonial Economies Seminar Series, Newcastle University, 12th-13th September 2007

Authors: Nina Laurie, Meena Poudel and Diane Richardson