Empowerment at Work?: Examining Employment-Based Economic Empowerment Initiatives for Survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Abstract

Many organizations serving survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) have begun economic empowerment programs, providing financial literacy education, vocational training, and/or employment opportunities for survivors. Yet, very little research has examined these programs, especially those that employ survivors. This project draws on a qualitative, multi-method study of 15 organizations that serve and employ CSE survivors to examine how economic empowerment is constructed through organizational discourse and practices, what tensions emerge in these processes, and how organizational actors frame and respond to them. The findings outline the components of “economic empowerment” and explicate the key tensions of authority-autonomy and compassion-accountability.