NCJ Number
229194
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Dated: November-December 2009 Pages: 617-626
Date Published
December 2009
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Using the model of a natural history of social problems (Spector and Kitsuse, 1973) as the theoretical framework in examining the public framing of human trafficking in the United States, this study analyzed text from U.S. newspaper articles on human trafficking from 1990 to 2006; challenges following definitional shifts in human trafficking over time are discussed.
Abstract
The study found that although print media coverage of human trafficking increased substantially following the enactment of the Federal Trafficking Victims Violence Prevention Act (TVPA) in 2000, the degree of media coverage of trafficking and their framing of the problem changed over the time period examined. The study identified three stages of human trafficking framing. The first period was before Federal legislation was passed. In the early 1990s, human trafficking was relatively unknown. Fewer than 100 news articles used the phrase "human trafficking" or "trafficking in persons" between 1990 and 1995. The second period of public framing of human trafficking was between initial Federal legislation and its first reauthorization (2000-2002), which encompassed the September 11, 2001, attacks. As the nature and consequences of human trafficking gained public recognition, some groups in the antitrafficking movement attempted to expand the scope of trafficking in persons to include all forms of prostitution, regardless of whether or not a person was forced into prostitution. Members of feminist advocacy groups and fundamental Christian organizations mounted opposition to the narrow definition of human trafficking supported by the Clinton administration and human rights groups that limited sex trafficking to forced prostitution. The third period encompassed the first reauthorization of Federal trafficking legislation and the peak of the post-September 11 responses. This involved basing antitrafficking efforts in the anti-immigration and terrorism dialog of post-9/11. 2 figures,1 table, 15 notes, and 77 references