Udea: Fairytales and Human Trafficking
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Angela Farr-Schiller
Department
COTA - Theatre and Performance Studies
Abstract
In September of 2017, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported an estimate of 24.9 million victims of human trafficking worldwide. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, […]or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion,[…]or the abuse of power,[…] for the purpose of exploitation.” The ILO also reports that 71 percent of these victims were women and girls. Udea: Fairytales and Human Trafficking questions how our global disposition towards patriarchy and the subjugation of women allows this issue of trafficking women and girls to grow. My adapted fairytale performance “Udea” questions and rejects the patriarchal norm of traditional fairytales wherein a princess is rescued by a prince, or a girl is given away by her father. By definition the women and girls in these stories that we tell our children are being trafficked. Through pointing out the workings and systems of these fairytales, “Udea” allows us to see how these stories told around the world, reinforce the oppression of women and girls. Ultimately my project concludes that the patriarchal systems within fairytales play a part in the larger issue in the global oppression and trafficking of women and girls, and it is the job of all persons, princess or performer, to push against these systems.
Disciplines
Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory | Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Other Theatre and Performance Studies | Performance Studies
Udea: Fairytales and Human Trafficking
In September of 2017, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported an estimate of 24.9 million victims of human trafficking worldwide. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, […]or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion,[…]or the abuse of power,[…] for the purpose of exploitation.” The ILO also reports that 71 percent of these victims were women and girls. Udea: Fairytales and Human Trafficking questions how our global disposition towards patriarchy and the subjugation of women allows this issue of trafficking women and girls to grow. My adapted fairytale performance “Udea” questions and rejects the patriarchal norm of traditional fairytales wherein a princess is rescued by a prince, or a girl is given away by her father. By definition the women and girls in these stories that we tell our children are being trafficked. Through pointing out the workings and systems of these fairytales, “Udea” allows us to see how these stories told around the world, reinforce the oppression of women and girls. Ultimately my project concludes that the patriarchal systems within fairytales play a part in the larger issue in the global oppression and trafficking of women and girls, and it is the job of all persons, princess or performer, to push against these systems.