The Uncanny Sacrifice: Sex Trafficking in Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail

This article argues that Abani's representation of sex trafficking aligns with the variously classified human rights/sex work/liberal feminist positions on trafficking and shows that the novella stages its intervention into anti-trafficking debates at the ideological level through the protagonist's rejection of the stereotypes surrounding the trafficking victim in mainstream discourse and policy. Moreover, the novella's critique of the moralistic and neocolonial agendas of many mainstream anti-trafficking positions is examined.