This paper explores the experiences and the voices of the women who were forced to migrate to Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, and India from their home communities/places for sexual exploitation in Nepal. A participatory Action Research (PAR) as a liberatory and empowerment methodology was conducted with eight female trafficking survivors, after their return to Nepal, to critically understand intersectional gender oppression increased the vulnerability of the women to trafficking and hindered trafficking survivors in their reintegration. Participatory action research allowed survivors to critically understand their own oppression, develop strategies and effectively act towards ending forced migration and trafficking as preventive and protective measures. The research team that includes the researcher and the trafficking survivors, who are also recognized as ‘co-researchers’ in this paper, identified and used a wide range of pragmatic approaches/tools such as street dramas, conversation café, photo voice and press conference. This provided them with an opportunity not only to share their voices and experiences of migration and trafficking, but also to highlight transformative impacts, including personal and social transformation, promoted and advanced by PAR process. For the purpose of this paper, the research team will be presenting the paper in a group at the conference.

A national and international academic community and non-profit organizations in collaboration with the Government of Nepal (GoN) have conducted a number of studies to understand migration and human trafficking and its implications, however, research related to the areas from human rights and social justice standpoints, through the use of PAR, is still marginal, leaving communities, researchers and policy makers are uncertain of anti- human trafficking programs and policies development and its implementations. Using a case example from Nepal, grounded on the narratives of trafficking survivors, this paper aims to unpack forced migration and trafficking with a focus on cumulative impacts on survivors’ lives and community at large from intersectional lenses, and examine the model ‘Stop Observe Ask and Respond (SOAR)’ in order to effectively address the identified issue as it relates to human trafficking, informed by the research. This paper is structured into seven sections and they include: (1) migration and trafficking; (2) theoretical framework: critical and feminist theories; (3) participatory action research as a process and an outcome; (4) cumulative trauma; (5) intersectional gender oppression; (6) SOAR model; and (7) Implications for research, policy and practice. Overall, by utilizing survivors’ knowledge, skills and experiences in addressing the identified issues, through educational and advocacy campaigns such as dramas, posters and meeting with the Minister of Women Children and Social Welfare, their meaningful and effective involvement in this study is one of the most unique contributions of this PAR research.