Bringing the problem home: The anti-slavery and anti-trafficking rhetoric of UK non-government organisations

Abstract

Rhetoric is a way to explain policy problem framing by recognising the practical necessity to persuade audiences in contextual situations. Modern slavery and human trafficking is a complex and emotive problem, simplified through rhetorical demands to motivate an audience of supporters. This article analyses rhetoric by 212 UK anti-trafficking and anti-slavery non-government organisations (NGOs) to uncover rhetorical practices and their effects on policy framing, supplemented by archival research to compare past and present anti-slavery oratory. Our data show NGOs use rhetoric to motivate supporters and promote a humanitarian problem frame, in opposition to a state-driven security frame. Findings confirm other research in identifying an emphasis on female victims and on sexual over labour exploitation. Past and present rhetoric are equivalent in terms of liberal, Christian values (ethos) and appeals to pathos through sympathy for victims. Historical rhetoric is distinctive in arguing for the equal human status of slaves, whereas contemporary activists argue victims are denied agency. Contemporary rhetoric represses the question of migration, whereas past rhetoric is more deliberative. Rhetoric varies with the requirements of persuasion related to contextual distance, between unlike humans in the past, but in regard to geographical distance today.

Constructions of migrant victims of labor exploitation in Nordic court cases

“…Several scholars have studied how the construction of the ‘victim ‘ not only reflects ideologies and preconceived notions of a problem but also serves to prescribe certain policy solutions to the problem in question. This research includes studies on representations of trafficking victims in general (Sharapov, 2017; Turnbull and Broad, 2020; Viuhko, 2020; Wilson and O’Brien, 2016); representations of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and prostitution (e.g. Agustín, 2005; Andrijasevic, 2007, 2014; Doezema, 2010; Heber, 2018; Hoyle et al, 2011; Jacobsen and Skilbrei, 2010; Kempadoo, 2005; Spanger, 2011); and representations of victims of labor exploitation (Åström et al, 2013; Smiragina-Ingelström, 2020; Spanger, 2022; Spanger and Hvalkof, 2020; Strauss, 2016; Yea, 2015).…”

Introduction to the special issue: Rhetorical approaches to contemporary political studies

“…The article underlines a number of key points; it reveals the prominent position that 'economic growth' has in climate policy in the United Kingdom, highlights the availability of alternative ideas, and calls into attention the link between terms used in disputes about climate action and broader debates on socio-ecological transformation. Turnbull and Broad (2020) are concerned with rhetoric as a means to construct and explain public problems to audiences. They focus on the multifaceted issue of modern slavery and human trafficking which, they suggest, loses its complexity in public debates.…”