GENDERING SEX TRAFFICKING

A STUDY OF CHIKA UNIGWE’S ON BLACK SISTERS’ STREET

Abstract

This paper explores the engagement of African literature with the menace of sex trafficking. The quotidian nature of sex trafficking and how it affects black women are foregrounded in the work. The womanist theory is the lens through which Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street is analyzed. The theory is purposively selected because it accounts for the different shades of the vicissitudes of black women’s experience. The essay contends that race, class and gender are intersections that propel the vulnerability of black women to sex trafficking. Poverty, unemployment, war, objectification of black women’s sexuality by patriarchy, ‘sacrifice’ of motherhood and racial constructions are some of the catalysts identified as speeding up the rate at which women are trafficked. The paper advocates for more creative writing by African writers to further reflect the different shades of black women’s experience in the area of sex trafficking. The article recommends that there should be concerted effort from the government, non-governmental organizations and the society at large to check the scourge of sex trafficking and rehabilitate women who are victims.