Fragile agency: the lived religion of human trafficking victims in East Nusa Tenggara Indonesia

ABSTRACT This article aims to describe the role of religion in the experiences of human trafficking victims from the migrant labourer sector. The research conducted in East Nusa Tenggara-Indonesia in 2020 interviewed 19 participants consisting of victims and their families. Working as a migrant labourer is a consequence of poverty intersecting with religious meaning. Workers' limited agency is fragile due to exploitation and violence. Participants are commonly alienated from their families, themselves, and society. Religion plays a significant role in alienation because experience shapes religious meaning, and religious meaning mediates an individual's actions.


Introduction
Human trafficking is a worldwide issue, transnational crime wherein people are recruited and transferred for various types of exploitation (Friesendorf 2010).It involves a lot of different people, including criminals, who do it for commercial or political reasons.Traffickers employ physical, economic, and psychological coercion to maintain and control their victims (Heil 2017).Trauma is an undeniable component of the human trafficking experience (Gagnon 2020).Victims of human trafficking are subjected to exploitation and abuse at every stage, from recruitment to repatriation, affecting their mental health.(Zimmerman, Hossain, and Watts 2011).The victims suffer complex trauma (Chambers et al. 2022;Ottisova, Smith, and Oram 2018;Pascual-Leone, Kim, and Morrison 2017).Different types of exploitation and violence lead to different types of trauma, so the trauma experiences of human trafficking victims cannot be generalised (Salami et al. 2018).The conversation about human trafficking has given more attention to sex traffickers than labour traffickers (Littenberg and Baldwin 2017).Victims of human trafficking from various sectors of low-skilled labour are highly vulnerable to physical and mental health needs, requiring appropriate health assessment and care (Turner-Moss et al. 2014).
A previous study found that human trafficking and religion are inextricably linked themes.Religion is an essential consideration in victims' psychiatric and psychological treatment (Taliani 2012).Prayer, church involvement, and a positive outlook on God are the most effective coping mechanisms that help victims of human trafficking stay alive (Hodge 2021).Spirituality helps survivors re-establish a sense of safety and connection, rebuild world meaning and trust, and rediscover the purpose in life (Nguyen, Bellehumeur, and Malette 2014).
Despite research about trauma and labour traffickers, studies on human trafficking from a lived religious perspective are few.There is research on sex trafficking applying lived religion to the Polish Catholic context (Deventer-Noordeloos and Sremac 2018).Lived religion studies the transcending patterns of action and meaning relating to the sacred from the experience of ordinary people in daily life (Ganzevoort and Roeland 2014).As a religious study based on experience in daily life, lived religion creates a space for the voice from the margins (Ammerman 2016;Dillen 2020).Pui-Lan, an Asian feminist theologian, emphasises that one of the Asian theological challenges involves the experience of grassroots, uneducated, and lower-class people (Kwok 2000).Lived religion at the intersection (Rosenfield 2012) of religion and human trafficking provides a space for victims silenced in society due to various stigmas.This article aims to fill a gap in the existing literature on human trafficking from the perspective of migrant workers, to understand the victims' experiences better, and to determine the role of religion.Religion was degraded as an interpretation, behaviour, community, and experience.
According to Herman, traumatic events disrupt fundamental human relationships, shattering family, friendship, and community bonds (Herman 2015).This article examines the significance of interpersonal connections in trauma, applied a lived religion approach, and was guided by two questions: What are the victims' stories?What is the role of religion?It begins by describing the migrant labourer as escaping poverty, intersecting with religious meaning.Their fragile agency alienates the participant from family, themselves, and community and religion mediate this alienation.

Methodology
This research was conducted in 2020, on Timor Island, in East Nusa Tenggara province, Eastern part of Indonesia.Human trafficking has been a major social issue on Timor Island (Susanti et al. 2020).The experience assisting victims of human trafficking in Timor since 2014 inspired this study.As a native Timorese researcher, familiar with the culture and manner of life, It promotes establishing participants' trust, allowing them to share their experiences more freely.
The research applied semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect the interview data as narrative material.Interviewed 19 participants, divided into two categories.The first category consisted of eleven direct victims (who have personally experienced human trafficking), and the second category consisted of eight indirect victims (parents or families of victims).Through analysing the two distinct groups, this research achieved a more comprehensive picture of human trafficking consequences on victims and their families.Most participants are members of the Evangelical Church in Timor, the biggest church in ENT.The interview was conducted in the local language and then transcribed and translated into English.
Using applied grounded theory, systematically developed a theory from data following the three stages of codes, conceptual categories, and interpretation (Engler and Stausberg 2013), assisted by ATLAS.tisoftware.The coding process began with open coding assisted by research questions to identify essential elements from the interview.The coding continued with initial coding through word-by-word, line-by-line, and incidentto-incident coding.The next stage was a focused coding stage to construct categories with more selective and conceptual codes.Focused coding is a higher level of abstraction than initial coding.It is used to synthesise large segments of data (Bryant and Charmaz 2010) and compare and combine the initial codes to determine the most substantial analytical code or new code that captured several initial codes as categories.The relations between the codes are described as conceptual categories.
God's way: migrant worker as escapee from poverty Indonesia is a significant source country for migrant workers who primarily work in the low-wage sector, according to the report on International Labour Migration (Tirtosudarmo 1999).Working as migrant workers within and outside Indonesia is not a recent phenomenon.Tirtosudarmo emphasised that sending Indonesian workers to work abroad is a way to gain economic benefits and, at the same time, maintain the country's stability.To the current day, the programme continues to operate.Indonesia is a significant source country for migrant workers who primarily work in the low-wage sector, according to the report on International Labour Migration ("Labour Migration | IOM Indonesia" n.d.).
East Nusa Tenggara, an archipelago province in eastern Indonesia, is a significant supplier of low-wage labourers for industries, including domestic workers and palm oil labourers inside and outside Indonesia.Moving to an urban area to find a well-paid job is a tempting offer in poverty areas with social inequalities, a lack of infrastructure, and slow money circulation (Wetangterah 2018).A well-paid job enabling workers to support their families and pursue a better future is a common desire.
Recruitment occurs in urban and rural areas, targeting low-income families, those with limited access to opportunities for high-quality employment, lack of public facilities such as transportation, healthcare, and education.The recruiter also targets areas with a high concentration of ex-migrant employees, where working in the city and abroad is considered an accomplishment.Most participants lived in an area where working outside the village was regarded as a success, while those who remained within the village were regarded as failures.Three of the participants have experienced domestic violence, and two of the participants are single parents.Single parents and the victims of domestic violence are the most vulnerable to working as migrant workers because home is not a safe space for them.Working away from home appears to be a viable option when the household's financial burden is substantial, and the home is no longer a comfortable environment.
The main transit cities where the participants arranged for documents were Kupang, Jakarta, Semarang, and Surabaya.The agent arranges and pays for the passport, visa, and work contract.There was insufficient medical testing but not insufficient training.Those who failed the medical exam to work in another country were dispersed throughout Indonesia.Most participants arrived in a group and stayed in the agent's shelter.
Female domestic workers recruit as domestic workers, swallow-nest labourers, and elderly caregivers.Male prospective workers are recruited to work as palm oil labourers.
Working as a migrant labourer is an escape from poverty that intersects with religious motivation.Recruiters use a variety of methods to persuade prospective migrant labourers, including the employing of religion as a justification tool.Maria, a mother of three, stated that she was persuaded by the recruiter when she was vulnerable, namely when she was a victim of domestic violence.The recruiter was also aware that Maria had been a prayer team member since childhood.The recruiter persuaded Maria to work as a migrant worker in Malaysia by stating that during one of the prayer sessions, the recruiter received a vision from God that Maria had been selected to work as a migrant worker in Malaysia.Maria, who has been a prayer team member since she was a child, believes that those who pray are unquestionably decent and honest individuals.At that time, Maria realised that working as a migrant worker abroad was God's way of providing for her children's education.
No one wants to go abroad and got tortured, I went abroad for the sake of my children, for me this was God's way to improve our life.(Maria) Likewise, Maria, Leona and most participants saw working as migrant labourers as a divine way to have a better life.Leona chose to work as a domestic worker in Malaysia to assist her husband in funding their children's education.This decision was difficult because Leona had to leave her younger son, a five-year-old child, behind.Leona explain: Participants agreed to be recruited mainly to earn money for their children's education, renovate their homes, and improve the family economy.Other factors included the influence of former migrant workers, the desire to board a plane, and the desire to gain work experience abroad.With the conviction that working away from home as a migrant is God's way to improve their life, they believe God will protect the journey and the families left behind.Some participants pray with family before leaving their homes as a symbol of involving God in the journey.As a mother, Yohana, one of the victim's parents, describes conducting a simple prayer service at home the day before her daughter departs from Malaysia.
We prayed in our household prior to my daughter's departure for Malaysia.The day before my daughter left, I invited the church elder to a simple prayer service.We requested God's presence.(Yohana) Carrying the Bible is another sign of God's protection.Yuka, a young woman, chose to work as a migrant labourer in Malaysia because she wanted to experience boarding an aeroplane.Former migrant labourers return to their hometowns with many stories of pleasant experiences.These experiences could affect others, including Yuka.Yuka, intent on gaining new work experience abroad and earn funds to ensure a prosperous future, departed home with only a Bible and a few articles of clothing.She believed that by carrying the Bible, God would guide their journey and their task.They will encounter obstacles and a foreign way of life, but they will be protected if they walk with God.
Before leaving her village, she prayed at her deceased father's grave, asking for his blessing and for God to safeguard her journey and provide a decent job.
I simply carried a few clothing and a Bible with me on the plane.I sealed them up in a plastic bag.My aunt advised me to pray to God if I was needy for money.I was warned not to mess things up, but I kept praying for whatever might happen.I think that if I pray and bring my bible, God will take care of me.(Yuka) Yuka and other participants live in a community where many people work as migrants, and migrant workers' success stories are well-narrated.In the community, people believe that working as a migrant worker is God's way to improve their lives the stories of exploitation and violence are frequently silenced.Religious communities are vulnerable to human trafficking because they believe that working as a migrant worker is God's will (Heil 2017).

Fragile agency
Religious meaning that regards migrant labour as God's way of changing the participants' lives are confronted with exploitation and violence that causes alienation.

Alienation from family
To improve the family economy, the participant must work away from home and alienate from their family.Leona, a mother of three, explained that leaving her child in the village to work in Malaysia was not a simple decision.Specifically, she had to leave behind her 5year-old son at that time.
When I was in Jakarta, I stayed in a shelter.I was thinking about the children; I left behind three children, my youngest child was only 5 years old at the time.I was sick for several months because too much thinking about my children.After recovery, I went to Kuala Lumpur.(Leona) It is challenging to leave the family, particularly their beloved children, to work away from home.Participants were enthusiastic about working but felt guilty about abandoning their parents, children, and other family members.
Working away from family, migrant workers step out of their comfort zone and uproot their identities.They must deal with new people from various cultures, languages, foods, weather, and lifestyles.The alienation is worsened by their inability to communicate with their family.Living in an unfamiliar environment causes their lives to depend entirely on the employer and agent.They work in tension, guilt, frustration, and fear.Because of this situation, most participants have been sick in the workplace, lost a sense of belonging, and the world appears not benevolent.The fact that they felt apprehensive impacted their sense of security.
Parents who allowed their daughters to work outside the home share their guilt.They feel guilty because earning money to fulfil the family's needs is their responsibility.Permitting children to work away from home is sometimes a dilemma.Silas explained that granting permission for his daughter to work in Malaysia was difficult.The permit was given to prevent her daughter from running away from home.While Yemalina, a mother who permitted her daughter to work in Malaysia, stated that after allowing her daughter to work in Malaysia, she was sick for months due to guilt and overthinking.
The family of the deceased experienced tremendous guilt and grief.Milka described her daughter's body coming home with autopsy scars and internal organs dismembered like an animal.It was a painful humiliation as the body is sacred in Timorese culture.Milka narrate: I'm sad because I can't imagine what they did to her that some parts of her body could be lost like that.The fact that she was being tortured like an animal, that's what makes me sad.This has never happened in our family.My daughter will never come back to life again, I was sick for almost three years because of my mind.When I saw my daughter's friends, I could only cry.She is gone and never come back.(Milka) Melki and Milka expressed their grief because, as parents, they never allowed their children to work away from home.One of the neighbours convinced their daughter to run away from home and work in Malaysia without the parents' permission.Parents experience guilt for not being able to meet their children's needs, causing their daughters to work abroad.
Tersia, the mother of another deceased victim, felt guilty for giving her daughter permission to work abroad as.She was ill for three years before accepting and acknowledging her loss.
All I think is my daughter.She left in a good form and came home dead.That's what makes me sad.I can't stand her death for the past 3 years.But in the end, I had to be able to accept it … All I can do now is accept her death.I accept because I don't want to get sick again.There is nothing that I can do.(Tersia) Moreover, other families always blame them as parents who let their children go to work till the children die.

Self-Alienation
In addition to alienation from their families, participants experience exploitation and abuse during recruitment.Recruiters apply the bonded debt method, organising documents and covering all costs, which count as a debt that will pay with salary deductions.As a result, in the transfer process, participants live in inappropriate shelters and become dependent objects of recruitment agencies.At the workplace, participants' salaries are deducted for six months; they are restricted in communication, social life, and religious activities.They experienced inadequate rest periods and physical and psychological abuse.
The employer applies the stick and carrot method, giving rewards when they do something appropriate and when they make mistakes, the employer will punish them.Hesky shared that she once experienced sleeping in the backyard as punishment for making a mistake in the kitchen.Maria and Erica experienced the worst violence as punishment, even when they made small mistakes.The participants had no other choice but to obey the agents and employers.The participants had no control over their own lives.Participants feel alienated from themselves because all control lies with the employers and agents.When participants' expectations did not match reality, and in vulnerable situations, all they could do was cry, learn to be helpless, regret their decisions to become migrant worker and get angry to themselves.Doroti, a participants who returned home disabled after an accident at the employer's home, also shows signs of self-alienation.Doroti narrate: I was angry and disappointed even with myself.My life changed completely, I who was used to living independently changed to having to depend on others.I could only lie in bed.My parents were old, we lived in poverty and I became an extra burden for them.I was amputated in 2008, it wasn't until 2014 when I was given a wheelchair that I was able to make peace with myself and adjust.(Doroti) After Doroti has electrocuted in working place, her two arms and one leg had to be amputated.The process of healing the amputation wound was lengthy and excruciating.Doroti required over six years to reconcile and accept the existence of her new body.Her body and life have changed so drastically that a lengthy self-adjustment process is required.
To make sense of the adversity, most participants perceive the exploitation and violence as a sacrifice determined by God, as a Divine plan.Maria identified her sacrifice as a part of Jesus' sacrifice.
I said to God that if I had to accept the torment as God had on the cross, then I'd be glad.It was April, the month of Easter, so I said to God that if I had to suffer, then so be it.I'd be glad to suffer but I asked for forgiveness.(Maria) Though Maria accepts adversity as a Divine plan and she asks God for forgiveness.Like Maria, other participants also understand that the violence they experience is God's punishment for their mistakes.
Perceiving suffering as a Divine plan as punishment from God relates to Timor culture.According to Middelkop in his research in the Curse, Retribution, and Enmity based on thirty-five experiences in Timor, suffering and the curse are inseparable themes.An adverse life event such as an Illness or accident is perceived as a curse, and people require confession and reconciliation (Middelkoop 1960).
When suffering is perceived as punishment from God, people tend to be silent about their suffering experience.The silence about the suffering is another sign of self-alienation.Participants tend to share only good experiences because suffering experiences are shame stories, not something to share.Nio, who works in Palm Oil, narrates: 'No, no need to tell my misfortune to others.I enjoy my life now' (Nio).As a male victim who lives in a patriarchal culture that tends to be silent about suffering experiences, sharing exploitation and violence is unusual.Lena says she prefers not to share her experience of exploitation and violence, even with her children.The participant alienates from their own experience.
Another sign of self-alienation is feeling useless and meaningless.Maria and Omri, two participants with a domestic violence background, described their husbands as frivolously spending all their earnings from Malaysia.Omri describes: I returned from Malaysia with a large sum of money, but it was all in vain.I am disappointed; I believe that all my efforts in working hard in Malaysia have been in vain.We still don't have a house, land, or animals.The husband spends all the money on unimportant things.(Omri) They intend to use their salary to build a home or a business but unfortunately in a patriarchal culture, men determine property right.
Useless and meaningless were strongly experienced by participants who returned home without money, describing feelings of futility and meaninglessness.Erika, Binus, and Veronika all share the experience of being labelled as losers.Since society considers returning home with money a sign of success, migrant workers who return home without money are considered shameful.

Alienation from community
When the participant is silent about their suffering experience, it is not only a sign of selfalienation but also a sign of alienation from community.The participant is physically present in the community as a church member or member of society, but their experience and existence as victims of human trafficking are ignored.When the participant silenced their suffering story, their existence as victims of human trafficking was not acknowledged as a reality within the community.
On the other hand, success stories dominate society and become the main drivers of individuals becoming migrant workers.Such conditions and added to the belief that being a migrant worker is God's plan to improve economic conditions become supporters to produce a community that is not aware of the dangers of human trafficking.People do not realise that the working as migrant worker is vulnerable to human trafficking.The lack of public awareness has made more and more people interested in becoming migrant workers.
According to Bia, 'life is life, giving not only good experiences but also bad experiences.'Working as a migrant worker is like playing with one's destiny; if one's luck is good, the individual will return with money, but if one's luck is terrible, the individual will return with nothing.The community is unaware that the exploitation and violence suffered by migrant workers is a purposeful crime intended to exploit.Understand that exploitation and violence result from becoming a migrant worker, acknowledged as an everyday phenomenon that does not require opposition.Under such circumstances, the human trafficking business thrives.The public does not realise that becoming a migrant worker is vulnerable to human trafficking, and the perpetrators remain free from legal entanglements.When society marginalise the victims of human trafficking, the traffickers continue to exploit.
The victims' mothers, Yemalina and Norma, explained that their daughter had worked as a migrant worker twice.Their daughter worked in Malaysia before moving to Singapore.Yemalina narrate: Throughout the nearly two years that my daughter worked in Malaysia, we did not have information from her.The employer did not allow her to call family.She call us when the end of contract, inform that she will return home.We were really concerned, but there was nothing we could do … upon her return to the village, she remained there for several months.She looks uneasy living in the village since she believes we work hard there: carrying litters of water for miles to drink and bathe, searching for fuel for cooking for ours, and the path to the garden is steep and long, but we have no money.The salary from Malaysia is being used to build a house but is not yet complete.Thus, she decided to return to Singapore to work as a migrant worker.First, I was concerned that she would find another bad employment, buts she told me to pray for her since she wants to try working in Singapore.She went in order to complete the house.(Yemalina) Working a second time, even in a different nation, necessitates repeating the same recruitment, transportation, and placement procedures, which are vulnerable to exploitation and violation.Moreover, coming home with money does not guarantee a better life; it depends on the individual's capacity to manage the funds.The money runs out if they spend it on consumable items such as buying a motorcycle or building a house; they may return to work as migratory labourers.
The lack of facilities that can meet the requirements of victims in the community is another indicator that victims are alienated from the community.Alienate from the community also means alienation from public service facilities such as hospitals, law protection to support the victims or safe houses.Participants who faced extreme assault, like Maria and Erika, or who returned disabled, like Nio and Doroti, or who also returned home with mental illnesses, like Silas's daughter, must recover themselves.In the absence of mental health services or institutions, victims must devise their own means of survival.
Silas is the father of two children with mental issue; the first child has had a mental disease since high school.The second child is a daughter who previously worked as a domestic in Malaysia but returned home with a mental disorder.Silas prefers to seek alternative options due to a lack of health services and limited access to health facilities.Silas decided to bring the children to the prayer team: For the healing of our children, we have attempted to attend a variety of prayer groups inside and beyond the village.So many requests have been made at the over 20 prayer meetings we have attended: some have prayed for healing using water, some have begged for goats, and some have requested me to smack my child with a broom while praying.I strive diligently to provide for my children's well-being.Once, we took him to the hospital, but the only hospital in the surrounding area is in the city.At the time, we were treated, but the distance prevented us from continuing.(Silas) Even though many prayer teams have visited for the healing of the children, the children show insufficient indications of healing.
Even if the traumatic experience has ended, the participant's body still bears the scars of violence.Omri displayed fractured fingers in an interview because she had to wash her hands daily with diluted bleach, while Maria displayed horrific wounds on her entire body, including a tongue that had been crushed with pliers by her employer.The participants returned home with physical and psychological injuries, but found it extremely difficult to access medical care due to a lack of facilities.There are limited health facilities designed particularly to meet the need of human trafficking victims.
Related to law enforcement, most of the participants, such as Tersia, tend to avoid law enforcement because it requires time, complicated procedures, and high costs.Tersia learns to be helpless and sincerely accepts reality, believing revenge belongs to God.Tersia describes: I can only accept my daughter death.There is absolutely nothing I can do.We did not wish to report it to the police because it was a family member that recruited our child, and filing a report would be costly and time-consuming.We simply give up and have faith that God will recompense us.Revenge belongs to God. (Tersia) Most of the participants determine to give up and surrender to reality because of the lack of public acceptability and the absence of public facilities that able support victims of human trafficking need.
The participant experience describes the victim's self-acceptance as contingent upon the community's acceptance.On the other hand, the community's meaning will be affected by the victims' willingness to speak out about their exploitation and violence.The relationship is the essential term in this process of meaning construction.In other words, to combat human trafficking, an intervention must focus on the relationship: changing the meaning of the community and the victim.
Regarding religious meaning, individual and communal religious meanings are interdependent.The community's religious meaning might impact the victim's religious meaning and have negative consequences since it excuses victim's alienation from the community.Similarly, the victim's religious meaning might influence the religious meaning of the community.Listening to the victim's experience is essential to religion because it can assist in creating a critical analysis of the established religious meaning.

Conclusion
The research found that working as migrant worker is an consequence of poverty which intersected by religious meaning.Participants meaning working as migrant labourers is God's way to escape from poverty.In addition, the participants are also affected by the surrounding environment.Recruiters are well-known persons, such as relatives, acquaintances, and neighbours, that apply various tactic to recruit prospective worker.The agent utilised a bonded debt recruitment strategy wherein the agency is responsible for all administrative, housing, and travel expenses.All these expenses are considered debts that will be repaid through a minimum six-month salary deduction.The strategy places participants vulnerable to exploitation, as agents would employ various techniques, such as identity falsification and social isolation.Participants labour domestically and Internationally as palm oil labourers, elder caretakers, and domestic worker According to the findings, working as migrant worker is a fragile agency.Participants alienated from their families and identities.The alienation is marked by guilt and regret for abandoning the family, particularly the children.The parents of deceased children experience the strongest feelings of guilt.Moreover, living away from family requires adaptation to a new environment.This process has a negative effect on a person's sense of belonging and discomfort.Participants also experience self-alienation because the abuse and exploitation places them in a position of self-blame, helplessness, meaningless, and hopelessness.Most of the participants did not want to share their stories of suffering with other people, including their own families.Final alienation is alienation from the community.The community is more aware of the success stories of migrant workers than of their exploitation and abuse.Lack of awareness that migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation results in the absence of public service that meet human trafficking victims' needs.
Other findings from this research indicate that religious meaning plays a significant role in the context of human trafficking. .Religious meanings, the belief that working as a migrant worker is God's way to change economic life, encouraged participants to work as migrant workers.Likewise, the understanding that suffering is God's punishment makes participants blame themselves and reluctant to share their experiences of violence and exploitation.
These findings contribute to the anti-human trafficking movement.Advocacy should consider how individuals construct religious meaning, assist victims in critically analysing their religious meanings.In addition, demonstrate that religious communities can be vulnerable to human trafficking.Religious communities should evaluate their religious meanings of migrant worker and create new meanings that can combat human trafficking.Further research can be conducted on the topic of analysing lived religion in a way that reduces the desire of people to become migrant labourers and assists in the campaign against human trafficking.