Between “freedom” and “slavery”: tales of agency and suffering on missionary fight against human trafficking in Fortaleza, Brazil

Abstract:

This article discusses “freedom” and “slavery” narratives in transnational evangelical actions to fight human traffick­ing. Based on an ethnographic study developed from 2014 to 2017, it argues that missionary strategies to publicize their initiatives are built upon the ability to move between domestic and public domains, ritual and ordinary actions, religious and secular contexts. The success of missionaries in making these transits implies the reading of suffering marked by gender inequalities as an expression of “freedom,” while other forms of these inequalities would be evidence of the “slavery” of the sup­posed “victims.”

Keywords:
Gender; Human trafficking; Rituals; Mission