Chapter 7: The Resilience and Resistance of Survivor Mothers Remodelling Lives After Modern Slavery in the United Kingdom

Some women who left situations of exploitation falling under the umbrella term of modern slavery in the United Kingdom (UK) are mothers whom I calls survivor mothers in this chapter. Some are determined agents driven to provide better lives for their children. In their journeys after exploitation, they may draw resilience from various resources such as children and survivor communities. The findings in this chapter are based on data collected as part of a broader research project focussing on women’s journeys after exiting exploitation in the UK. Through decolonial feminist methods using a narrative analysis of semi-structured interviews with survivor mothers, I have examined children and survivor communities as resources of resilience in tandem with the structural violence that harms survivor mothers’ capabilities of remodelling life after exploitation. At the same time, I recognise that vulnerability caused by structural violence can drive resistance. By way of resistance, some survivor mothers assert agency. Additionally, I criticise the reductive use of resilience as it often ignores complex structural factors. I conclude that it is impossible to employ resilience uncritically in life after exploitation.