ABSTRACT
Escape or exit from trafficking is a critical moment in the lives of trafficked persons. Trafficked persons must recover and come to terms not only with their own exploitation, commonly involving multiple layers of violence and hardship, but also with the reactions and responses of their family members. Based on fieldwork conducted in Indonesia, in the province of West Java and Jakarta from 2014-2016, this chapter explores some of the multi-layered tensions, complications, and challenges that Indonesian trafficking victims and their family members face when reintegrating after a trafficking experience. It considers in particular the challenges faced by Indonesian women trafficked as domestic workers, as they reunite with their families, including financial problems resulting from or exacerbated by trafficking exploitation; tensions and conflict due to stress or distress; feelings of shame or being blamed; and damage to family relationships. Identifying, disentangling, and understanding common points of tension and complication are valuable starting points for improved reintegration programmes and policies.
