WOMEN COLONIZED: TRAFFICKING AND COMMODIFICATION OF WOMEN REVISITING SHAHID NADEEM’S DUKHINI

Abstract

          Human trafficking for sexual exploitation and bonded labour are major problems in third-world countries, including South Asian countries. This paper addresses the situation of trafficked women who are dehumanized and treated as colonized subjects even after seventy-five years of the end of colonialism in South Asia. Dukhini a play of the Ajoka Theatre, Pakistan, represents the humiliation of trafficked women and lays bare the patriarchal structures manipulating women of the subaltern class into subjugation. This critical study of the text of Dukhini and its stage performance, argues that the experiences of women under male domination and of colonized subjects or slaves are analogous. Dukhini, thus, is the visual version of feminists’ textual objectification of women as bodies for their exploitation and validates that the objectification of women as bodies is the major cause of their oppression in patriarchal societies. Dukhini’s success crossed the borders of South Asia and made alliances with Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi audience appreciation. This success, however, has not put a stop to human trafficking; women are still bought and sold. This study, therefore, strongly recommends meaningful involvement in anti-trafficking interventions by community-based organisations, such as the Ajoka Theatre. Further, and more importantly, collaborative public efforts at all levels for awareness about the harms of trafficking, and strict enforcement of anti-trafficking policies, are some of the much-needed strategies for eradicating the trafficking of women.