Victims Who Fight Back: Claiming in Cases of Professional Sexual Exploitation

Professional sexual exploitation is becoming a widely recognized problem. Before someone who has been exploited can fight back through legal or administrative action, she must first define herself as a victim and move through the stages of the transformation process as described by Felstiner et al. (1981). Based on interviews with victims who have fought back, and the lawyers and the professionals who work with them, this article will describe the particular ways in which the transformation process plays itself out with these victims. It illustrates the role of gender and social attitudes in the efforts by the victims to obtain redress through the legal and administrative systems. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this process for the law and for those who work with victims in claiming redress.