Music and dance: Creative steps in child trafficking research

Deciding to undertake ‘child trafficking’ research with young people directly affected by trafficking brought a number of challenges in the research process. Not least was the difficulty in this kind of research not having been done before, requiring my research to be flexible and exploratory. Reflections are offered on fieldwork and qualitative methods in accessing and engaging young people, focusing on creative arts-based methods (with photos of arts project).
The focus is on key method of improvised dance and beats, in building trust, fostering openness and self-expression. Creative methods assisted with accessing and listening to children and young people’s voice about being trafficked, a difficult and sensitive subject area. The paper makes theoretical links between art and social science, the embodiment of sharing music and dance as enriching the research process and data. Highlighted as a novel method for communicating epistemology, supporting self-assertion and creativity. Critically, creative methods not only engaged young people to openly share their experiences of trafficking abuse, but also how they were ignored and discriminated by front-line services.