TRAUMATIC MOTHERHOOD AND SEX TRAFFICKING; A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF TRASI’S ‘THE COLOR OF OUR SKY’

Abstract

This study examines the interconnected nature of traumatic motherhood, disempowerment, and sex trafficking through the textual analysis of Amita Trasi’s critically acclaimed novel ‘The Color of Our Sky’. The research intends to investigate the lived experiences of trafficked women and their experiences of compounded trauma when their identity of motherhood is confronted with coercion, loss, trauma and systemic exploitation. Drawing on Judith Herman’s trauma theory, the study highlights how disempowerment of trafficked women as mothers constitute the core of traumatic experiences, most particularly when they are unable to safeguard or nurture their children according to their will. Alongside Herman, Adrienne Rich’s theoretical distinction between motherhood as institution and motherhood as lived experience provides a triangulation in critical framework to investigate how patriarchal and exploitative systems weaponize women’s reproductive role to further subjugate them. Through close reading of the text, the analysis foregrounds how the novel depicts motherhood not only as a source of suffering under trafficking but also as a tenuous pathway to resistance and survival. The study argues that trafficked women’s maternal experiences represent traumatic motherhood, where grief, pain, and loss are compounded by structural violence. By integrating trauma and feminist theories, this research contributes to the broader discussions on gender, trauma, motherhood and literature’s role in illuminating the silenced experiences. Ultimately, the paper underscores that motherhood in the context of sex trafficking is both a site of systemic oppression and continuous resistance against trauma.