Confronting sex trafficking: Gender depictions in newspaper coverage from the Former Soviet Republics and the Baltic states

Abstract

The Former Soviet Republics and the Baltic states are a primary source destination for sex traffickers. Drawing on framing theory and the gendered mediation thesis, this study uses a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative textual analysis to analyse how four English-language newspapers in the Former Soviet Republics and the Baltic states report on the issue of sex trafficking over a period of 11 years. Findings suggest that there is little coverage of sex trafficking in English-language newspapers in the region, existing coverage lacks a clear definition regarding what sex trafficking is and the issue appears to only be deemed newsworthy when tied to policy changes. This article argues that given the severity of the issue, it is important that it is brought to the public and policy makers' attention. News media have the ability to serve that function, but are not currently doing so.

Representations of Transnational Human Trafficking: A Critical Review

“…Wylie (2016) instead identifies the Palermo Protocol as part of the lifecycle. This increase in reporting would, initially, appear to be a positive development, as the public's and (untrained) practitioners' understanding of what HT is, and who the victims are, is dependent on media representations (De Shalit, Heynen, & Van der Meulen, 2014;Denton, 2010;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Papadouka, Evangelopoulos, & Ignatow, 2016;Sanford, Martínez, & Weitzer, 2016;Sobel, 2016). Problematically, however, the 'master' narrative of HT (Snajdr, 2013; see also Wilson & O'Brien, 2016), or the version of the story of human trafficking that has become the new normal (Wylie, 2016), is full of, and based on, unreliable statistics, maps, and visual images, and selective, binary, and simplified representations (ibid.).…”

“…The stereotypical global victim of trafficking is '[a] young, naïve woman who seeks a better life away from her rural home by answering an advertisement to become a waitress or a nanny and then ends up a sex slave, repeatedly raped, brutalised, and resold to other mafia pimps' (Lobasz, 2009, p. 340): she is female (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012;Andrijasevic & Mai, 2016;Columb, 2015;De Shalit et al, 2014;de Villiers, 2016;Dijk, 2013;Duong, 2014;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Hall, 2015;Johnston, Friedman, & Sobel, 2015;Lobasz, 2009;O'Brien, 2016;Pajnik, 2010;Plambech, 2016;Russell, 2014;Sanchez, 2016;Sanford et al, 2016;Sharma, 2005;Small, 2012;Sobel, 2016;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016;Yick, 2010), young (Andrijasevic & Mai, 2016;de Villiers, 2016;Dijk, 2013;Farrell & Fahy, 2009;Hall, 2015;Hua & Nigorizawa, 2010;Johnston et al, 2015;Kara, 2010;Lobasz, 2009;O'Brien, 2016;Sanchez, 2016;Sanford et al, 2016;Small, 2012;Szörényi & Eate, 2014;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016;Yick, 2010), and unwilling to per...…”

“…The trafficker, in the meanwhile, is painted as 'big and bad', a shadowy, mysterious, powerful figure, often male (De Shalit et al, 2014;de Villiers, 2016;Hua & Nigorizawa, 2010;Lobasz, 2009;Moore & Goldberg, 2015;O'Brien, 2016;Pajnik, 2010;Plambech, 2016;Sanford et al, 2016;Sobel, 2016;Wilson & O'Brien, 2016;Yick, 2010), with generally no mention of whether the victim and trafficker had any prior relation. The offender is simply established as the polar opposite of the victim (Szörényi & Eate, 2014), even though in reality, this distinction may be unclear.…”

“…There are indicators that a substantial number of traffickers have previously been trafficked (De Shalit et al, 2014;Moore & Goldberg, 2015). Lastly, 'Johns', or the consumers of sex work, are only occasionally mentioned (O'Brien, 2016;Sobel, 2016), only occasionally held responsible for sex trafficking, and are generally identified as male (Kara, 2010;Moore & Goldberg, 2015;Sanchez, 2016).…”

“…This means that if one wishes to be seen as a victim, one must deny all agency. Once a person is a designated 'victim', their agency is also not acknowledged in subsequent proceedings, as victims are presumed unable to speak for themselves (De Shalit et al, 2014;Dijk, 2013;Sobel, 2016). Even more so, the characteristic of lacking agency and having victim-status are circular; Alvarez and Alessi (2012), Chuang (2015), and Columb (2015) suggest that the victim-status itself implies a lack of agency, while the (assumed) lack of agency facilitates victim-status.…”