ABSTRACT

The anti-trafficking movement is the manifest hero of the human trafficking narrative. Many different characters populate the movement, ranging from the concerned citizen who tweets an awareness-raising link, to the commando who raids brothels to rescue victims. They are nevertheless connected in the narrative by the framing of their actions as heroic. This chapter questions what it means to behave heroically, as shaped by the calls to action of prominent anti-trafficking groups in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. I also consider the narrative implications of the action hero’s raid and rescue approach to human trafficking. While there is a vast difference between ‘spotting the signs’ of human trafficking and the direct rescue of victims, these forms of heroism target the victim as a symptom of trafficking, rather than focusing on the causes of the problem. The action hero narrative of the ideal victim rescued by the Western hero infantilises victims while invoking a metanarrative of Western exceptionalism.