Examining Evangelicalism in Faith-Based and Secular Anti-Human Trafficking NGOs

(In-Person) Oral Panel—Rights of Humans

This research focuses on the sociopolitical role of Evangelical ideology in anti-human trafficking organizations through stigmatizing and criminalizing sex work in the United States. How do antihuman trafficking organizations utilize Evangelical beliefs about sex to control the moral narrative of sex work and influence policy? In order to address this question, I researched the websites of 8 antihuman trafficking NGOs, ranging from secular to explicitly faith-based, as well as interviewed 3 sex workers. My findings concluded that negative attitudes about sex work were pertinent amongst all of these NGOs, sharing almost-identical ideas regardless of religious affiliation, in contrast to more positive viewpoints expressed by the sex workers I interviewed. Consequently, Evangelical-oriented beliefs about gender and sexuality permeated arguments against sex work, framing it as a gendered act in which deviant, heterosexual males are the perpetrators of exploiting innocent, heterosexual females and children. This led me to infer that anti-human trafficking organizations base their solutions on reinforcing sexual standards rather than empowering sex workers. As sexual culture is changing and people are discussing the importance of sex workers’ rights, it is vital that NGOs are held accountable for the messages they convey and that organizations that empower sex workers are prioritized, not those who have an insidious mission to enforce their personal sexual standards and beliefs.