Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
type: channel
description: The Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress (JUMP) is a refereed interdisciplinary publication (Print ISSN 2574-3465 & Online ISSN 2574-3481) dedicated to the educational, economic, and social progress of minority and underrepresented communities around the world. JUMP strives to provide space for a meaningful, intentional, and actionable scholarship that aims to advance social justice.
publisher: STAR Scholars Network
language: en
publication name: Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
issn: 2574-3465
items: Geopoetics and More: Canadianism in Canadian Poetry
items: Human Trafficking in the Global South: An Academic Exploration
items: Post Migration: A Conceptual Continuum
items: Online Lures, Offline Nightmares: India’s Case Study on Social Media–Facilitated Human Trafficking
items: The Post-#MeToo Era of Feminism: A Qualitative Podcast Analysis of the Divine Feminine Traits
items: Landlessness in Nepal: Issues and Challenges with special focus on Dalit
items: Investing in Diversity: Enhancing Job Satisfaction among Faculty of Color through Work Environment
items: Education Disruption among Rohingya Children in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps (2017–2024): A Fragile‑State Perspective
items: Parental Factors and Academic Achievement of Minority Muslim Students in India
items: Assessing Vulnerability in Rohingya Relocation: A Comparative Study of Households in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, Bangladesh
items: Food Insecurity and Academic Self-Efficacy: Military Students and Student Veterans
items: Human Trafficking as a Non-Traditional Security Threat in Afghanistan: Post 2021
items: Exploring Intersectional Tyrannies: Battling Trauma through Empowerment in Ruchira Gupta’s I Kick and I Fly
items: Human Trafficking in Indo-Nepal Terai Region: A Study of Stakeholders Perspective
items: Case Studies on Trafficking Hotspots in Asia, Africa and Latin America: Patterns, Challenges and Interventions
items: Militarization and Youth Exploitation: Forced Crime and Trafficking in Malik Sajad’s Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir
items: The Cost of Being Heard: Intersectionality and Trauma in The Girl with the Louding Voice
items: Cinematic Framing of Child Trafficking:Victims and Perpetrators in Netflix’s Bhakshak and Sector 36
items: Trafficked Bodies, Stolen Lives: The Medico- Legal Politics of Organ Trade in Benyamin’s Body and Blood
items: Power, Privilege, and Abuse: A Marxist Examination of ‘Bacha Bazi’ in The Kite Runner
items: “Lost” at the Crossroads: An Exploration of Human Trafficking
items: Understanding Human Trafficking in the Eastern Himalaya: Case of India-Nepal and India-Myanmar Border
items: Factors Influencing Gender and Racial Disparities in Health Sciences Bachelor’s Program
items: Turkish University Students` Attitudes, Contact Quantity, and Ethno-cultural Empathy toward Syrian Refugees: A Mediation Model
items: Institutional Culture, Departmental Expectations, Professors’ Dedication to Teaching, and Students’ Success: The Nexus
items: “It’s not a Productive and Constructive Space for us as Black Students”: Reimagining Campus-wide Support for Black Students at West Coast AANAPISI/HSIs
items: Parrhesia & Governmentality: A Foucauldian Study on Sex Workers in India
items: Editorial
items: From Ignorance to Empowerment: Education’s Role in Sujatha Gidla’s Ants Among Elephants
items: Impact of Digitalization on Study Habits among Minority Students

Geopoetics and More: Canadianism in Canadian Poetry
type: item
description: The term ‘Geopoetics’, though travelled miles away from Kenneth White's original underpinnings, is still a useful tool to study how the geography, more narrowly, the topography of a country, with humans at its centre, shapes the poetry of a nation. But geopoetics alone, without corresponding historical and socio-political catalysts, cannot contain all the trajectories poetry is supposed to have. Canadian poetry exhibits a rare contextualization of geopoetics in modern times.This article interrogates geopoetics through the lens of emerging Canadianist discourse within the framework of Canadian poetry, and examines its thematic concerns alongside its historical trajectories. It ultimately posits that the intersection of land and language is constitutive of the essence of Canadian poetry.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Geopeoetics, Canadian poetry, Kenneth White, historical trajectories and Canadianist discourse
  topic: keywords
creator: Suresh Ranjan Basak
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
doi: 10.32674/z9vc0412

Human Trafficking in the Global South: An Academic Exploration
type: item
description: NA
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: human trafficking
  topic: keywords
creator: Aanchal Arora
creator: Parvanshi Sharma
creator: Manju Rani
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/0eq6rr68

Post Migration: A Conceptual Continuum
type: item
description: Living in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world, the unprecedented pace of change and confusion has the potential to create conflicts and unintended consequences. Consistent global tensions potentially modify foreign relations, and political polarization exposes deep cracks within nations. Existing conceptual and theoretical academic work on the topic of ‘migration’ majorly focuses on either hosts’ or migrants’ perspectives. Recognizing the necessity of bringing the two perspectives together, this paper focuses on identifying and discussing the enhancing factors and challenges faced by both immigrants and the host community in the process of migration. This paper attempts to discuss the push (challenges) and pull (protective) factors rooted in the process, space, and discourse of migration in a single frame by presenting it in a conceptual continuum. We also discuss how this model is different from the existing push and pull factor theory on the same topic.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Migration, Sense of belongingness, Life Satisfaction, Xenophobia, Discriminatory socio-political events, Shared space, Immigrants, Host community.
  topic: keywords
creator: Fathima Yusaira
creator: Rituparna Chakraborty
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
doi: 10.32674/4wnwa106

Online Lures, Offline Nightmares: India’s Case Study on Social Media–Facilitated Human Trafficking
type: item
description: This research study explores how traffickers use social media to target and lure people—mainly from tribal communities in India—into human trafficking, often by pretending to offer marriage or jobs. The researcher, based on various newspaper reports and field-based case studies, has tried to identify high-risk regions to support targeted prevention measures such as awareness camps. Through a qualitative case study approach, analyses have been done to find the traffickers’ methods, focusing on how trust, anonymity, and digital platforms are exploited to deceive economically vulnerable populations. The study pays particular attention to fake marriages that result in forced prostitution and abuse. The victimization pattern and the role of social media in facilitating exploitation have been studied and discussed here. It also examines the social and legal consequences of these crimes, the challenges in detection and prosecution, and gaps in existing legal frameworks and concludes with recommendations.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: Prostitute
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Media
  topic: keywords
subject: Exploitation
  topic: keywords
subject: Flesh Trade
  topic: keywords
subject: Forced Marriage
  topic: keywords
creator: Pyali Chatterjee
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/kznw6h87

The Post-#MeToo Era of Feminism: A Qualitative Podcast Analysis of the Divine Feminine Traits
type: item
description: The #MeToo movement brought renewed attention to the ways masculinist cultural logics-privileging dominance, control, and rationality-continue to shape organizational and educational contexts. In these contexts, what counts as appropriate expression tends to be tightly bounded, with women-particularly those navigating multiple forms of marginalization-often managing how, when, and whether to express aspects of themselves such as emotion, perspective, and personal voice. Rather than taking this constraint as given, the present study turns to how alternative possibilities are articulated in practice. It draws on narrative accounts shared by millennial women participating in a professional collective, focusing on six podcast conversations recorded before live audiences. Through an interpretivist thematic reading of these discussions, four interrelated areas of experience became salient: work–life challenges, the enduring influence of traditional gender norms, evolving attention to mind–body connections, and the articulation of what participants described as divine feminine traits. The findings suggest that authenticity is not merely a cognitive or discursive construct but is frequently experienced as embodied and, in many cases, shaped by earlier experiences of trauma that continue to inform professional identity. The study builds on feminist and organizational scholarship by examining women’s experiences through an explicitly intersectional lens. These insights point toward the importance of trauma-informed pedagogical approaches, equity-oriented mentoring, and the broader institutional recognition of relational leadership and well-being practices.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Divine feminine
  topic: keywords
subject: feminism
  topic: keywords
subject: mental health
  topic: keywords
subject: spirituality
  topic: keywords
creator: Jeffrey Overall
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
doi: 10.32674/1pdngw44

Landlessness in Nepal: Issues and Challenges with special focus on Dalit
type: item
description: Land occupies a significant position in the Nepalese socio-economic context. It is not just a mere productive resource, rather it is associated with a source of livelihood, identity and socio-political power. Still the Dalits, who hold a significant portion (about 13.8%) of total population, are disproportionately landless and excluded from the agrarian resources due to the structural and historical constraints like caste-based discrimination, dispossession and oppression. The paper highlights landlessness as both driver and consequence of poverty in Dalit community, entrenching bonded labor, food security, social vulnerability, gendered violence and inter-generational exclusion. The study employs the theoretical debate on caste and class and class formation process in understanding exclusion of Dalits, focusing on access to land resource and establishes strong association of caste system with land access and class status. It should include the structural transformations of agrarian relations, social protection, equity-focused land reform and recognition of the heterogeneity among Dalits (various categories among them). Only then Nepal’s aspiration of inclusive prosperity and social justice would be achieved.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Landlessness, Equity, Inclusion, Dalit equity
  topic: keywords
creator: Purna Bahadur Nepali
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/cnfdaj04

Investing in Diversity: Enhancing Job Satisfaction among Faculty of Color through Work Environment
type: item
description: Using a quantitative research design, this study examined predictors of job satisfaction for faculty of color, and how these predictors may vary by racial/ethnic background within this population. Overall, this study provided support for previous research indicating lower levels of job satisfaction for faculty of color and highlighted the role of environmental factors associated with their job satisfaction. In particular, we found that institutional characteristics, teaching commitments, and research area of emphasis tended to significantly affect job satisfaction among faculty of color. In contrast to previous research, the results of this study demonstrated that service work was not significantly related to job satisfaction among this population. The study discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the findings
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: job satisfaction
  topic: keywords
subject: faculty of color
  topic: keywords
subject: race/ethnicity
  topic: keywords
subject: institutional environment
  topic: keywords
subject: faculty experience
  topic: keywords
creator: Emi M. Kamei
creator: Young K. Kim
creator: David Edens
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/k51h9k90

Education Disruption among Rohingya Children in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps (2017–2024): A Fragile‑State Perspective
type: item
description: Since 2017, Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district has hosted over one million Rohingya refugees, nearly half of whom are children. Living in highly congested camps and dependent on humanitarian aid, Rohingya children face severe disruptions in learning and long-term human development. This study applies Fragile State Theory as its core analytical lens and conducts a qualitative content analysis of UN reports, NGO assessments, and academic literature published between 2017 and 2024. Findings indicate that while humanitarian agencies have expanded informal learning opportunities, access remains unstable due to host-government restrictions on formal education, chronic funding shortages, and deteriorating security conditions. The analysis shows that state capacity constraints in both Myanmar and Bangladesh reinforce a cycle of educational exclusion, producing a high risk of a “lost generation.” The study concludes with policy recommendations for accreditation pathways, sustainable financing, and stronger refugee participation in education governance.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Rohingya refugees
  topic: keywords
subject: Education in emergencies
  topic: keywords
subject: Fragile‑state theory
  topic: keywords
subject: Non‑formal education
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanitarian interventions
  topic: keywords
creator: JIA-YING LYU
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/np1tme13

Parental Factors and Academic Achievement of Minority Muslim Students in India
type: item
description: Minority Muslim students continue to exhibit poorer academic outcomes than their peers who hail from advantageous groups, despite numerous Government initiatives. While many surveys have disclosed the potential impact of parental support and academic monitoring on their children’s academic outcomes, few have disclosed insignificant findings leading to inconclusiveness. On the other end, the demographics they are imbued with, such as gender, socioeconomic status and status of exposure to Early Childhood Care and Education, will determine the pathway. The impact of two parental factors along with the students’ demographic variables on the academic achievement of 151 Muslim students in the state of West Bengal was analysed. The validated versions of the Perceived Parental Support scale and Perceived Parental Academic Monitoring scale in the Indian context were utilized. The results indicated that the parental factors had a positive correlation and varied within socioeconomic status. Policymakers and educators must develop targeted interventions that address socio-economic disparities among this community.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: academic performance
  topic: keywords
subject: muslim
  topic: keywords
subject: parental academic monitoring
  topic: keywords
subject: parental support
  topic: keywords
subject: socio economic status
  topic: keywords
creator: Sourav Choudhury
creator: Vijay Kumar Chechi
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
doi: 10.32674/9nf1jr77

Assessing Vulnerability in Rohingya Relocation: A Comparative Study of Households in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, Bangladesh
type: item
description: This study assesses the multidimensional vulnerabilities of Rohingya refugees and compares livelihood conditions between settlements in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. A survey of 154 purposively selected respondents was conducted using a structured questionnaire. The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) was calculated to measure overall vulnerability, and Chi-square tests examined associations between vulnerability factors across the two locations. The findings show that households in Bhasan Char experience higher MVI due to intensified economic hardship, weaker healthcare services, and greater social isolation, although residents benefit from permanent housing and closer neighborly support. Conversely, households in Cox’s Bazar exhibit lower overall vulnerability because of better access to income opportunities and healthcare services. However, the Cox’s Bazar camps are more prone to environmental hazards, which elevates certain dimensions of risk. The study emphasizes the urgent need for the international community to facilitate the safe and immediate repatriation of Rohingya refugees to ensure long-term security and dignity.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Rohingya, Minority, Relocation, Cox’s Bazar, Bhasan Char, Exclusion
  topic: keywords
creator: Farhana Zaman
creator: Ashek Mahmud
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/z3hd9j64

Food Insecurity and Academic Self-Efficacy: Military Students and Student Veterans
type: item
description: Food insecurity (FI) affects households worldwide and is also seen on college and university campuses with adverse effects on student success. We examine FI and academic self-efficacy levels of military students and student veterans enrolled in higher education in the United States which has not been extensively studied regarding FI. Military students and student veterans may have access to G.I. Bill funds and may not be perceived as requiring additional assistance. The results reveal that military students and student veterans have some level of FI. The qualitative analysis yielded five themes that center on FI, economic vulnerability, inequities in the veteran community, reintegration challenges, and support system gaps.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: military students
  topic: keywords
subject: student veterans
  topic: keywords
subject: food insecurity
  topic: keywords
subject: underserved populations
  topic: keywords
subject: academic self-efficacy
  topic: keywords
creator: Kim E. Bullington
creator: Matthew J. Smith
creator: William L. Nuckols
creator: Dennis E. Gregory
creator: Joshua L. Howell
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/hzftvf05

Human Trafficking as a Non-Traditional Security Threat in Afghanistan: Post 2021
type: item
description: Afghanistan, a South Asian country is known to be a hotspot for trafficking not only drugs but also persons. There exist numerous factors contributing to the human trafficking phenomenon, including weak political culture, ethnic cleavages, economic instability, lack of basic services and security, and decades of war and internal conflicts. The situation worsened in August 2021, when Taliban 2.0 took over political control resorting to amplified human trafficking practices in the name of protecting socio-religious practices and cultural norms, and to deal with an increased economic insecurity. Even boys are made the easy targets by the Taliban to be involved in “Bacha Bazi”. This paper will be qualitative in nature with an attempt to use Conflict Theory, Structural Functional Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory to understand an increasing menace of Human Trafficking of women and children in Afghanistan. It also aims to explain how it can be curbed
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: Afghanistan, Human Trafficking, Women, Children, Non Traditional Security THreats
  topic: keywords
creator: Divya Anand
creator: Harmeet Singh
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/vn9xwk06

Exploring Intersectional Tyrannies: Battling Trauma through Empowerment in Ruchira Gupta’s I Kick and I Fly
type: item
description: This article scrutinises Ruchira Gupta’s I Kick and I Fly through Kimberle Cranshaw’s theoretical framework of Intersectionality and Cathy Caruth’s Trauma theory to evaluate the intersecting tyrannies and the psychological distress of multidimensional stimuli shaping the protagonist’s journey of resistance and agency. The narrative revolves around the harrowing reality of sex trafficking in which people are suppressed, deployed and forced into performing non-consensual, derogatory sexual acts. In the narrative, the protagonist, Heera, is a young girl from a marginalised community in India whose weaknesses primarily stem from the oppressions of gender, poverty, caste and societal exclusion. These overlapping injustices render her vulnerable to the persuasive and gruesome phenomenon of sex trafficking and cause significant psychological suffering. The paper employs Cathy Caruth’s Trauma theory, which underscores trauma as a neglected and repetitive experience visible in Heera’s initial helplessness and tranquility imposed by her surroundings. The selected narrative explores her journey of regaining autonomy as a way to dismantle the trauma loop with her martial arts programme that symbolises empowerment and resilience. Therefore, this paper highlights Cranshaw’s concept of intersectionality by providing a voice to under-represented females and showing how people and groups can transform society in a better way, while Caruth’s Trauma theory focuses on the psychological wounds and illustrates how Heera’s emancipation functions as both testament and healing against societal abuse. As a whole, both these frameworks elucidate how Heera critiques systematic oppression that supports sex trafficking and challenges the hidden traumas it generates. The author’s narrative magnifies oppressed women's voices and stresses Heera’s path as a testimony to perseverance, liberation and solidarity.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Sex trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: Intersectionality
  topic: keywords
subject: Trauma theory
  topic: keywords
subject: Resistance
  topic: keywords
subject: Empowerment
  topic: keywords
creator: Varupi Chahal
creator: Neha Paliwal
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
doi: 10.32674/enbdpw73

Human Trafficking in Indo-Nepal Terai Region: A Study of Stakeholders Perspective
type: item
description: The Indo-Nepal Terai region, stretching nearly 1,700 kilometres, serves as a critical geographic and socio-economic corridor between India and Nepal. Covering Nepal’s southern plains and bordering Indian states such as Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, the region plays a central role in cross-border mobility. According to the 2023 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, both India and Nepal function as source, transit, and destination countries for human trafficking. As the world’s second-largest criminal activity, human trafficking represents a grave violation of human rights, encompassing sexual exploitation, bonded labour, organ trafficking, and domestic servitude. This article examines the underlying causes of trafficking between the two countries and explores stakeholder perspectives on existing laws, legal frameworks, and law enforcement effectiveness. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study draws on primary data from in-depth interviews and secondary sources. The findings reveal persistent institutional and operational gaps, highlighting the urgent need for stronger strategies, resources, and cross-border collaboration to prevent trafficking and support survivors effectively.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: Cross Border Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Indo-Nepal Terai Region, Stakeholder's perspective
  topic: keywords
creator: SMRITY UPADHYAY
creator: Kavita Arora
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/hqd3jn54

Case Studies on Trafficking Hotspots in Asia, Africa and Latin America: Patterns, Challenges and Interventions
type: item
description: Human Trafficking involves about 50 million victims worldwide in sex trading, labour trafficking organ removal and forced marriage, making it a lucrative business, generating an estimated 150 billion USD each year. Major trafficking hotspots have emerged in the Global South – South East Asia, Africa and Latin America due to socio-economic inequality, migration, ineffective law enforcement and ancient cultural practices. This paper explores case studies from these critical regions to analyse patterns, underlying drivers and recommend effective strategic interventions to eliminate human trafficking. The study adopts a comparative research framework, integrating secondary qualitative and quantitative data from global government reports, NGO initiatives and narrative literature of survivors. The research evaluates existing interventions, including leveraging technology, community-based efforts, international collaborations and legal regulations, highlighting their application and gaps. This study contributes to the increasing discourse on global anti-trafficking strategies providing actionable insights for policymakers, NGOs and international agencies to combat this multifaceted crime effectively.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: anti-trafficking strategies
  topic: keywords
subject: community-based interventions
  topic: keywords
subject: exploitation of humans
  topic: keywords
subject: human trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: international collaboration
  topic: keywords
subject: law enforcement
  topic: keywords
subject: NGOs
  topic: keywords
creator: Ashita Chadha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/07c02q68

Militarization and Youth Exploitation: Forced Crime and Trafficking in Malik Sajad’s Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir
type: item
description: Grounded in Johan Galtung’s Theory of Structural Violence, this paper focuses on systemic oppression and militarized control in politically volatile regions, with particular emphasis on Kashmir. Through a close reading of Malik Sajad’s graphic novel Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir, it examines how societal-structures contribute to trafficking, especially exploitation of youth. The graphic novel, portraying the Kashmiri people as endangered hanguls, provides an intensely personal narrative that reflects the broader socio-political challenges faced by the region. By examining the recruitment of vulnerable young boys into insurgent groups and their coercion into criminal activities, this study highlights how conditions of poverty, lack of education, and constant surveillance create an environment that mirrors the exploitative dynamics of human trafficking. The research situates these experiences within the framework of structural violence, drawing attention to the manipulation and psychological toll inflicted on individuals forced into insurgent activities. It emphasizes the need for community-based interventions, including education and rehabilitation programs, as preventive measures against trafficking.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: Forced Crime
  topic: keywords
subject: Militarization
  topic: keywords
subject: Human Trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: Structural Violence
  topic: keywords
subject: Youth Exploitation
  topic: keywords
subject: Conflict Zones
  topic: keywords
creator: Suvan Gupta
creator: Nipun Kalia
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/eax0jd92

The Cost of Being Heard: Intersectionality and Trauma in The Girl with the Louding Voice
type: item
description: This paper examines human trafficking as a systemic violation of rights through Adunni, the protagonist. The research paper investigates how the vulnerabilities of women in postcolonial countries are aggravated by intersecting oppressions related to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, applying the concept of Intersectionality and trauma theory. Dare’s novel presents an incisive analysis of how gender and socio-economic structures in the Global South perpetuate human trafficking, highlighting the contributions of local patriarchal structures to the persistence of exploitation. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality elucidates how Adunni’s marginalised position as a destitute, rural girl intensifies her exploitation by rendering her susceptible to the overlapping systems of patriarchy and financial turmoil. Moreover, Trauma Theory has been used to analyse both the psychological and spiritual consequences of these lived experiences, highlighting the way systematic violence and exploitation engrave scars that can never be erased from Adunni’s identity.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: voice
  topic: keywords
subject: Nigeria
  topic: keywords
subject: Trauma
  topic: keywords
subject: marginalisation
  topic: keywords
subject: Human Trafficking
  topic: keywords
creator: Komal Rathee
creator: Smarika Pareek
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/tej63m42

Cinematic Framing of Child Trafficking:Victims and Perpetrators in Netflix’s Bhakshak and Sector 36
type: item
description: This study examines the media framing of victims and perpetrators in Indian films addressing child trafficking, sexual abuse, and organ trafficking, with particular focus on Netflix’s Bhakshak and Sector 36. These films engage with vulnerable social issues by depicting the experiences of trafficked children and societal responses to such crimes. The paper evaluates narrative choices and cinematic approaches that shape representations of victims and perpetrators, highlighting how framing moves beyond conventional narratives to function as persuasive social commentary. It critically examines ethical representation, the reinforcement or disruption of stereotypes, and the risk of sensationalizing trauma for entertainment. Drawing on framing theory, narratology, and feminist film theory, the study analyzes how narrative structures influence audience perception of child trafficking and sexual abuse. The methodology employs narrative analysis of plot, character construction, camera work, and dialogue to assess identity formation. Addressing a gap in media and literary studies, the paper foregrounds Indian cinematic contexts and their role in shaping public discourse on trafficking and abuse.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: child trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: sexual abuse
  topic: keywords
subject: organ trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: cinematic framing
  topic: keywords
subject: victims
  topic: keywords
subject: perpetrators
  topic: keywords
subject: narrative
  topic: keywords
creator: Sheetal Kumari
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/x8873t30

Trafficked Bodies, Stolen Lives: The Medico- Legal Politics of Organ Trade in Benyamin’s Body and Blood
type: item
description: The paper critically examines Benyamin’s medico-thriller novel, Body and Blood (2020) to expose the malpractice of organ trafficking in India. Initially published in Malayalam as Sareera Shastram (2017), and translated into English by Swarup B.R., the novel offers a realistic account of the illegal harvesting and trade of human organs under the camouflage of organ donation to the needy population. The story revolves around vulnerable youngsters and the polemics of their exposure to deliberately brandished accidents. These accidents subsequently follow a nebulous series of reiterative actions that comprise pharmaceutically injected coma in the injured youths, non-permissive extraction of healthy organs for unlicensed trade to accomplish megalomaniac aspirations of religious mafias, and eventually leading to inevitable deaths of innocent victims. Using interdisciplinary methodology, the article contributes to the eye-opening revelation about the new-age churches and their pretentious strategies to attract the young to operate the heinous medical crime of organ trafficking in the nation-state.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: organ trafficking, religion, legal, medical,
  topic: keywords
creator: Jasmine Sharma
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/nnp52e87

Power, Privilege, and Abuse: A Marxist Examination of ‘Bacha Bazi’ in The Kite Runner
type: item
description: The term ‘Bacha Bazi’ is a commonplace term used in reference to the pervasive act of objectification and sexual abuse of preadolescent kids by predominant male patrons in the Afghanistan society, festering it rotten from inside. Existing in an unofficial, institutionalized setting, it often results in a culturally enforced and approved metamorphosis of young boys, affecting how they construct their social and sexual identity—which stays distinct and unaltered—as they are coerced into becoming dancing boys and male escorts for wealthy patrons compelling them to serve as both, a source of sexual pleasure and amusement. Bacha Bazi is a new social function that has been given cultural legitimacy by a society that is sharply split between the powerful and the powerless. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a sharp social commentary on the Marxist nature of this cultural malpractice from the points of view of Hassan and Sohrab. The current paper is qualitative research into the power play and politics of Bacha Bazi in the Afghanistan society from a Marxist perspective.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Bacha Bazi
  topic: keywords
subject: Culture
  topic: keywords
subject: Dancing Boys
  topic: keywords
subject: Marxism
  topic: keywords
subject: The Kite Runner
  topic: keywords
creator: Kritika Srivastava
creator: Manju Rani
creator: Aanchal Arora
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-05-25
publication date: 2025-05-25
doi: 10.32674/sq29f439

“Lost” at the Crossroads: An Exploration of Human Trafficking
type: item
description: Human trafficking impacts a growing population of people in today’s world. Due to mounting social, political, and economic problems and ongoing wars and conflicts, millions are now forced to leave their home countries and are trying to illegally immigrate to other countries in search of enhanced living conditions. That is why human trafficking urgently requires global attention. Various forms of human trafficking take place in the Global South. Türkiye, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and bordered by eight countries, plays a pivotal role in the recently escalating trafficking activities. As a well-established migration route and a strategic location, it is both a source and target country in human trafficking. This study aims at analyzing two award-winning Turkish movies, Seaburners and More, which depict vulnerability, exploitation, and struggle of the underrepresented minority, from the perspectives of children and women. The results, obtained through manifest and latent content analysis, will shed light upon this significant issue with the aim of contributing to the global fight against human trafficking. The study portrays vulnerabilities at the individual level and explores the potential social, political, and economic reasons and consequences of human trafficking through media works.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: Global South, human trafficking, movie analysis.
  topic: keywords
creator: Havva Kurt Taşpınar
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/cdyrek50

Understanding Human Trafficking in the Eastern Himalaya: Case of India-Nepal and India-Myanmar Border
type: item
description: Human trafficking is a serious crime and is considered a violation of basic human rights. It is also one of the fastest-growing illegal trades, which has affected the developing countries of South Asia. This paper suggests two different borders in the eastern Himalayas that have addressed border activities differently. First, the India-Nepal border has been prone to Human Trafficking due to its porous border, where there is no formal agreement. Secondly, the India and Myanmar border has a specific agreement to prevent human trafficking and has recently ended the Free Movement Regime due to cross-border activities. This paper uses snowball methods to collect data with its narrative to provide a picture of the day-to-day activities. It studies the collaborative effort of state and non-state actors and their success and failure in those two different borders.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: Human Trafficking
  topic: keywords
subject: India
  topic: keywords
subject: Nepal
  topic: keywords
subject: Myanmar
  topic: keywords
subject: SDG 5
  topic: keywords
subject: SDG 16
  topic: keywords
creator: Anmol Mukhia
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/chxe0132

Factors Influencing Gender and Racial Disparities in Health Sciences Bachelor’s Program
type: item
description: Though there is an increase in females receiving bachelor’s degrees, the number in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics continues to lag behind males. The factors that drive such disparities are not understood. This study aimed to examine gender-based differences and factors that influence starting a program. Active students and alumni from the Bachelor’s in Health Sciences program at RUSH University were surveyed and participated in focus groups. Analysis indicated that males and females enrolled in bachelor’s programs for career change. Flexibility, support, and personalized approach influence female enrollment, whereas males are influenced by curriculum rigor and recognition. Finances were a significant factor, particularly for underrepresented females, in starting and choosing a baccalaureate program. Gender disparities are a substantial driving factor for females. This data provides insight into factors that impact the choice of program, allowing for changes to the environment, curriculum, and recruitment to ensure a diverse student population.
subject: Special Issue on Health Disprarities
  topic: section
subject: undergraduate
  topic: keywords
subject: gender
  topic: keywords
subject: health sciences
  topic: keywords
subject: STEM
  topic: keywords
creator: Brinda Bradaric
creator: Dina Batlivala Tresselt
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-08-27
publication date: 2025-08-27
starting page: 1
ending page: 20
doi: 10.32674/h5btpn40

Turkish University Students` Attitudes, Contact Quantity, and Ethno-cultural Empathy toward Syrian Refugees: A Mediation Model
type: item
description: This study examined the mediating role of ethno-cultural empathy in the relationship between contact quantity and attitudes toward Syrian refugees in a sample of Turkish University students. Using a cross-sectional design in a sample of 275 university students (Mage = 22.46), an online measurement tool was applied that included demographic information, contact quantity, ethno-cultural empathy, and attitudes toward Syrian refugees. The results showed that ethno-cultural empathy was positively related to both contact quantity and attitude toward Syrian refugees. Moreover, ethno-cultural empathy was found to play an important mediating role in the relationship between frequency of contact and attitudes towards Syrians. This finding reveals that an increase in contact quantity is associated with an increase in ethno-cultural empathy and this relationship positively affects attitudes towards Syrians. In the attitude of the local people toward the Syrian refugees, socio-political strategies were discussed and suggestions for future work were made.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: attitude toward Syrians
  topic: keywords
subject: contact quantity
  topic: keywords
subject: ethnocultural empathy
  topic: keywords
subject: university students
  topic: keywords
subject: mediation model
  topic: keywords
creator: Mustafa Özmen
creator: Abdullah Atli
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-05-25
publication date: 2025-05-25
doi: 10.32674/bpp2xe37

Institutional Culture, Departmental Expectations, Professors’ Dedication to Teaching, and Students’ Success: The Nexus
type: item
description: This paper interrogates the claim that universities coddle some students, affording student-clients with deep pockets preferential treatment. Autobiographic and auto-ethnographic methods are applied for student evaluations and statements, to examine the author’s experiences with privileged students and the benefits accruing from the student-professor relationship, particularly fostering their learning ability and intellectual development. The paper centres on student responses to critical pedagogy and the synergy that develops when such pedagogy coalesces with student activism in the classroom. Also discussed are the benefits to be derived from introducing humour into the classroom.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: academic capitalism;
  topic: keywords
subject: critical pedagogy;
  topic: keywords
subject: Giroux;
  topic: keywords
subject: humour;
  topic: keywords
subject: Kincheloe
  topic: keywords
creator: Patrick Radebe
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-07-03
publication date: 2026-07-03
doi: 10.32674/fwgjxk29

“It’s not a Productive and Constructive Space for us as Black Students”: Reimagining Campus-wide Support for Black Students at West Coast AANAPISI/HSIs
type: item
description: Black students at four-year universities on the West Coast are often overlooked based on misconceptions that their experiences are inconsequential due to the region’s progressive nature. This study illustrates that Black students at West Coast Non-Black minority-serving institutions (MSIs) encounter barriers to getting an education: in class, on campus, and in student housing. This study examines 21 Black students’ perceptions of their dual-serving MSI (AANAPISI/HSI) on the West Coast to answer the research question: What stories do Black students attending AANAPISI/HSIs tell as their educational experiences? This sample produced three overarching ideas: (1) Black students encounter anti-Black language in their courses, (2) perceive their campus to provide little support outside of Black Campus Centers, and (3) feel their “Blackness” is targeted in various student housing interactions. Evidence-based recommendations provide MSI educators with ways to improve campus-wide support for Black-identifying students attending non-Black-centered MSIs and PWIs.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Black College Student Belonging
  topic: keywords
subject: Counternarratives
  topic: keywords
subject: Student Affairs Student Support
  topic: keywords
creator: Nicholas Lacy
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2026-06-07
publication date: 2026-06-07
doi: 10.32674/5ewhpz18

Parrhesia & Governmentality: A Foucauldian Study on Sex Workers in India
type: item
description: Sex trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes in the world. Generally, these acts are covert in nature. The main aim of this research is to study the life of the prostitutes using ethnographic research methodology. By employing Michel Foucault’s notions of Parrhesia & Governmentality, it is intended to be seen if the streetwalkers are willing to express the truth about themselves. It has been found out from the research that corruption and coercion are the two main contributors to trafficking and the eliciting of parrhesia from the victims and the police leads to positive transformation, thereby ushering in governmentality. Studying the lives of this underrepresented community following an interactionist approach motivates them to take better care of themselves.
subject: Special on Human Trafficking in Global South
  topic: section
subject: Coercion, parrhesia, sex trade, vulnerability, women
  topic: keywords
creator: Varun Jain
creator: Richa Arora
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-12-25
publication date: 2025-12-25
doi: 10.32674/7sm67h45

Editorial
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: N/A
  topic: keywords
creator: Rachel McGee
creator: Joyce Tardaguila Harth
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2024-12-07
publication date: 2024-12-07
doi: 10.32674/9ndytm44

From Ignorance to Empowerment: Education’s Role in Sujatha Gidla’s Ants Among Elephants
type: item
description: This research paper mainly focuses on Sujatha Gidla’s Ants Among Elephants, which thoroughly explores the systematic oppression and tenacity prevalent in the Indian social structure, specifically focusing on the caste system. The comprehensive study analyses how personal decisions and environmental constraints determine identity in the context of extensive societal hierarchy. Gidla, from an academic perspective, explores the significant impact of education in promoting empowerment and upward social mobility among marginalised communities. Inspired by Indian scholars who take an interdisciplinary approach to Dalit feminism and by the lens through which Hooks interprets Black feminism. Using intersectionality, this study investigates how caste, gender, and socioeconomic issues affect Dalits in the caste system scenario to highlight their marginalization.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Keywords- Caste, Suppression, Equality, Dalit, Intersectionality, Minority.
  topic: keywords
creator: Komal Rathee
creator: Smarika Pareek
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2024-10-30
publication date: 2024-10-30
doi: 10.32674/c72mhe88

Impact of Digitalization on Study Habits among Minority Students
type: item
description: This research report examines the impact of digitalization on minority pupils' study habits in government schools in the Punjabi regions of Ropar and Mohali. The study employs a survey method to gather data, allowing for a systematic analysis of the attitudes, behaviors, and experiences of minority students in utilizing digital tools for academic purposes. In all, 625 students were administered, comprising 325 males and 300 females between the age group of 14 to 15 years in the ninth grade. It investigates whether digital tools contribute to enhanced learning outcomes, collaboration opportunities, and access to educational resources, or if they exacerbate existing disparities in educational attainment, such as the digital divide.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: minority students
  topic: keywords
subject: digitalization
  topic: keywords
subject: punjab
  topic: keywords
subject: social media
  topic: keywords
subject: government schools
  topic: keywords
creator: Simarjeet Kaur
creator: Kamaljeet Kaur
creator: Rohan Verma
creator: Aprajita
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress
date: 2025-05-25
publication date: 2025-05-25
doi: 10.32674/6bq01b79