Media framing of human trafficking

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been notably increased engagement of the international community in combating human trafficking, which has also been contributed by the media. The role of the media is reflected in building certain public attitudes and influencing political decision-making. Based on the selected literature, the paper considers the media framing of human trafficking from the 1990s to the present. The media decides on how to approach trafficking, content and causes, information sources, generating and presenting alternative solutions process, as well as motivational procedures for initiating actions of the public and politicians, thus creating diagnostic, prognostic and motivational frames. Based on the research, it is concluded that media frames of human trafficking are not holistic but segmental, and instead of a comprehensive approach, stereotypes are presented in which trafficking is identified with sexual exploitation or considered as the consequence of migration or organized crime actions. This harms the victims, makes the identification of all perpetrators difficult, and narrows the focus of the suppression efforts. It is noted that in the relations between the media, the public and the authorities, in the process of creating a policy and implementing solutions for combating, there are significant influences of policy-makers on media framing, and thus on public attitudes, which provides support and legitimacy of current or future political decisions. In order to illustrate the diversity of media representation of human trafficking, as a COM-plex phenomenon and the possibility of different analyses of media framing, the main findings of several studies in the USA, EU, and Serbia are presented.