SEXTANT: masculinities, sexualities & decolonialities

ABSTRACT

This paper critiques an existing case study which analyses the trafficking of Cambodian men onto Thai fishing boats to demonstrate a possible pitfall of conducting study of an underrepresented issue; applying a Western framework to trafficking issues in the global south risks analyses skewered by (unconscious) colonial perceptions. This paper subsequently explores labour trafficking in Cambodia within its own context to reveal what effect hegemonic masculinity plays amongst this complex issue. Cambodian men strive to maintain a ‘breadwinner’ role or ‘provider’ identity which places them into vulnerable and precarious situations of—often repeated—trafficking. This paper then continues to suggest how adaptation of such a facet of masculinity studies could be utilised by NGOs working to prevent trafficking and rehabilitate those who have been trafficked.

KEY WOrDS

masculinities, Cambodia, trafficking, NGO, post-colonial

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.