Wronged by Rescuers: Perspectives of Asian Migrant Defendants of the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts in New York

ABSTRACT This article presents a subset of findings of a qualitative study, conducted with 33 Chinese female migrant massage parlor workers who were defendants of the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts (HTIC) in New York City. Data were collected through individual and focus group sessions and were analyzed for themes and subthemes using the interpretative phenomenological analysis. Themes of negative experiences from their interactions with law enforcement and the HTIC system emerged in the study and contextualized their lives as im/migrants who work in the underground economy, especially in unregulated, lucrative jobs that potentially involve morally sanctioned types of labor. This article concludes with an outline of implications for human service professionals whose work might impact the lives of others whose lives are similarly impacted by the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts – or other carceral mechanisms designed to end prostitution/sex work.