ABSTRACT
In the absence of reliable data, and contested definitions of trafficking and modern slavery, stories of human trafficking have come to guide public understandings of the problem. Depictions of who the victims are, who the villains are and what the heroes do ultimately shape the representation of the problem of trafficking and imply solutions. Stories resonate with audiences, employing narrative conventions in order to convey a great deal of information in an immediately understandable format. This chapter reveals the narrative code embedded in trafficking discourse, detailing the essential story elements that serve as a conduit through which the problem of human trafficking is constructed. A triumvirate of familiar characters – victims, villains and heroes – underpin the trafficking narrative, represented in differing mediums including entertainment media, news reports, awareness campaigns and policy documents. In this chapter, I argue that the trafficking narrative is powerful, and purposeful, offering a causal story that blames some characters while celebrating others.
