Innocence and Experience: Melodramatic Narratives of Sex Trafficking and Their Consequences for Law and Policy

Abstract

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Framing Human Trafficking: A Content Analysis of Recent U.S. Newspaper Articles

“…To the extent that there are reciprocal effects between media representations and official constructions of the trafficking issue -including a feedback effect of media reporting on government policy making or enforcement practices -these findings are important not only for the public's understanding of trafficking (via the media) but also for the ways in which the government prioritizes different aspects of the problem and commits resources to agencies and nongovernmental organizations in order to combat human trafficking (Vance, 2012). In other words, the media constructions analyzed in this article can have important ramifications for public policy, resource allocation, and enforcement practices.…”

“…The "ideal" or "legitimate" victim is weak, vulnerable, and trafficked by a shadowy, dangerous offender. Such constructions of victimhood simultaneously ignore the agency of individuals who choose to migrate for work and deny legitimate victim status to individuals whose experiences of exploitation "do not fall neatly into a very specific constellation of deception, abuses, debt bondage, and false imprisonment" (Lee, 2011, p. 64;Vance, 2012;Weitzer, 2015). When these constructs are combined with the idea that men are the principal victimizers, the result is an agenda that essentially ignores female perpetrators as well as male victims of trafficking (Lee, 2011).…”

“…The mass media can influence both official policies and public perceptions of human trafficking (Riffe, Lacy, & Fico, 2014;Vance, 2012). Such representations can invoke a variety of images.…”

‘Humanitarianized’ Development? Anti‐trafficking Reconfigured

“…Anti‐trafficking reconfigured as humanitarianism collapses boundaries between emotion and reason. Humanitarianism supplies righteous and visceral responses to complex questions of structural inequality, asymmetries and exploitation (Vance, ; Volpp, ).…”

“…Anti-trafficking reconfigured as humanitarianism collapses boundaries between emotion and reason. Humanitarianism supplies righteous and visceral responses to complex questions of structural inequality, asymmetries and exploitation (Vance, 2012;Volpp, 2006). This article thus dovetails with a broader discussion in scholarship on humanitarianism: how an emergency logic contributes to a broadening of a humanitarian enterprise (Calhoun, 2010;Chandler, 2010;Fassin, 2011).…”