Human Trafficking Heroes and Villains
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| Author | Erin O’Brien |
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663915593410 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Social & Legal Studies
2016, Vol. 25(2) 205–224
Human Trafficking Heroes
ª The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permission:
and Villains: Representing the sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0964663915593410
Problem in Anti-Trafficking
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Awareness Campaigns
Erin O’Brien
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Abstract
Since the declaration by the United Nations that awareness raising should be a key part
of efforts to combat human trafficking, government and non-government organizations
have produced numerous public awareness campaigns designed to capture the public’s
attention and sympathy. These campaigns represent the ‘problem’ of trafficking in spe-
cific ways, creating heroes and villains by placing the blame for trafficking on some, whilst
obscuring the responsibility of others. This article adopts Bacchi’s ‘what is the problem
represented to be?’ framework for examining the politicization of problem represen-
tation in 18 anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. It is argued that these campaigns
construct a narrow understanding of the problem through the depiction of ‘ideal
offenders’. In particular, a strong focus on the demand for commercial sex as causative of
human trafficking serves to obscure the problematic role of consumerism in a wide range
of industries, and perpetuates an understanding of trafficking that fails to draw a nec-
essary distinction between the demand for labour, and the demand for ‘exploitable’
labour. This problem representation also obscures the role governments in destination
countries may play in causing trafficking through imposing restrictive migration regimes
that render migrants vulnerable to traffickers.
Keywords
Consumerism, forced labour, human trafficking, migration, prostitution, sex trafficking,
sex work
Corresponding author:
Erin O’Brien, School of Justice, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Level 5, X Block,
Brisbane, Queensland 4000, Australia.
Email: erin.obrien@qut.edu.au
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Social & Legal Studies 25(2)
Introduction
In recent decades, many nations have introduced policy designed to combat human traf-
ficking, driven by a vocal social movement calling for an end to this ‘modern form of
slavery’. In most developed economies, particularly across Europe as well as North
America, Australia and New Zealand, trafficking legislation is now in place, but anti-
trafficking activists continue their efforts to raise awareness among the general popula-
tion and to shape evolving policy. These awareness-raising efforts disseminate informa-
tion about the victims of trafficking, the causes of trafficking, possible solutions to
trafficking, and, very occasionally, trafficking offenders. Andrijasevic and Anderson
(2009), Hoyle et al. (2011) and O’Brien (2013) have previously identified the dangers
of anti-trafficking campaigns representing only a specific victim narrative, where some
victims believe they cannot access victim services unless they fit the dominant idea of a
‘pure victim’ (Hoyle et al., 2011: 32). The depiction of the trafficking offender has
received comparatively little attention, though also plays a key role in the construction
of the problem of trafficking in public narratives. This article thus examines the impact
of depictions of the trafficking offender in the representation of the human trafficking
problem.
The construction of the ‘problem’ of trafficking is a key factor in the development
of responses to human trafficking at both the national and international level. King-
don (2003) argues that ‘problem recognition’ is the first step in policymaking and
plays a vital role in setting the agenda for which policy proposals are likely to be
adopted by legislators. Victims’ stories have played a central role in creating a nar-
rative of trafficking that informs policy and contributes to the recognition of the prob-
lem, with individual victim narratives often establishing the guiding definitions of
social problems (Jones and McBeth, 2010; Nowlin, 2011). Boswell (2011) has previ-
ously examined the importance of narratives in the development of migration policy,
identifying the aspects of narrative necessary for achieving problem recognition.
According to Boswell, narratives first attempt to define the scale and scope of a prob-
lem. Second, they make assertions about the causes of the problem. Third, they imply
that certain policy interventions are likely to address the problem (Boswell, 2011: 4–
5). Awareness campaigns and materials are a key source of trafficking narratives in
the form of victims’ stories, key facts and proposed solutions. Whilst the trafficking
narrative presented in these materials often lacks complexity due to the limitations of
specific media formats (leaflets, posters and billboards), it nonetheless aims for a
problem of trafficking to be recognized not only has by decision-makers but also the
general public.
Whilst much of the research on constructions of human trafficking have focused on
policy documents from governments and non-government organizations (NGOs), there
is a growing interest in the role trafficking awareness campaigns play in contributing to
public understandings of human trafficking. It is important to examine awareness cam-
paigns first because of the audience they are created for. Awareness campaigns are
designed to elicit a response, either from members of the public or policymakers. This
response may be to donate money, sign a petition and lobby government. It is also the
aim of these campaigns to influence legislation and policy responses to human
O’Brien
207
trafficking. The audience for these campaigns is thus extremely wide in scope, and whilst
some campaigns may target a specific audience (e.g. legislators), as a collective whole
these awareness campaigns aim to shape the wider public’s understanding of the problem
of human trafficking. Due to the potential power of these campaigns in shaping wider
public understanding, it is important to analyse the message they are disseminating. It
is also important to examine awareness campaigns because of their specific form within
the discourse. They typically disseminate a snapshot of human trafficking, which is
restricted due to the limitations of specific media formats (leaflets, posters and short
video clips). In creating this snapshot, the architects of awareness campaigns are engaged
in a process of distilling human trafficking down to its most compelling image or story.
In this process, they make key choices about what aspects of the crime will be portrayed,
and what victims’ stories will be told. However, it is the stories that remain untold, the
choices not made and the spaces between the narratives that can communicate so much
to audiences about human trafficking.
The representation of the problem of trafficking through awareness campaigns is
intended to define a problem, and imply causes of and solutions to human trafficking.
However, choices made in what aspects of the crime are portrayed, and those left unad-
dressed, result in the politicization of the problem. Bacchi (2007) argues that in order to
achieve ethical policymaking, it is necessary to scrutinize ‘what the problem is repre-
sented to be’ not only to understand what is positioned as the problem but also what
aspects of the issue are overlooked and excluded. What aspects of the situation remain
unproblematized due to key choices made in the representation of ‘the problem’? Bac-
chi’s framework for policymaking demands greater reflection on the assumptions that
underpin the representation of a problem; who is to blame, who benefits and who is
harmed according to specific representations of the problem and the dissemination
of problem representation ‘as an exercise of power’ (Bacchi, 2007: 14). The prolifera-
tion of awareness campaigns and materials within the anti-trafficking movement is one
form of dissemination of problem representation, exercising power over public under-
standings of human trafficking. Bacchi’s approach has primarily been utilized in scru-
tinizing public policy proposals, however, it also has utility as a tool to examine
problem representation in wider policy discourse (Bacchi, 2012b: 23) occurring
before, during and even after the implementation of public policy. Contestation sur-
rounding policymaking does not cease following the implementation of legislation
(Miller, 2012: 2). Analysing awareness campaigns through the lens of Bacchi’s frame-
work allows for a unique examination of the ongoing construction of human trafficking
through these campaigns that are primarily interested in not only what is depicted but
what is overlooked.
This article examines the awareness-raising efforts of 18 anti-trafficking organiza-
tions and coalitions in order to understand the implicit assumptions about the causes
of trafficking that underpin recent campaigns.1 The materials analysed include cam-
paigns from Europe, North America and Australia, as well as multi-country campaigns
including the Blue Blindfold Campaign (disseminated in the United Kingdom, Ireland
and Canada), the United Nation’s ‘Blue Heart’ Campaign and the Body Shop’s ‘Stop’
Campaign. These campaigns represent a mix of government, non-government and cor-
porate campaigns, reflecting a diversity of actors in the anti-trafficking movement.
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Social & Legal Studies 25(2)
Significant thematic similarities are present in the diverse campaigns, resulting in the
construction of a typical trafficking offender. The analysis of the campaigns consisted
of identifying both...
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