HUMAN TRAFFICKING

AND ROLE OF MEDIA

- Shruti Vishnoi (57)
- Srushti Raval (59)
INTRODUCTION

■ The media is the window for the public to many issues that we may not normally
encounter, and has the ability to shape our understanding of critical topics such as human
trafficking.
■ Media is a really powerful tool as it’s reach and ability results in social change.
■ At times, some journalists doesn’t have enough knowledge about Human Trafficking
phenomenon or do not have sufficient understanding of the dimensions of the problem. As
a result, some media coverage confuses the issue with others, such as migrant smuggling.
Media publicity should take into consideration the rights-based approach and ensure that
there is no violation of the rights of victims and survivors.
■ To avoid sensationalism or bias, journalism on such issues must be balanced and well-
executed. However, many modern news outlets prioritize sensationalism over fact-based
coverage of trafficking.
■ Human trafficking stories dealing with the victimization of women and girls
disproportionately dominate news outlets and often use stylized images of women and girls
in bondage as illustrations for stories. This narrative perpetuates stereotypes and
misconceptions, especially the one that trafficking always involves the use of physical force
or restraint. This is only likely to do more to empower traffickers than to protect would-be
victims of this horrible crime.
■ Exploitation can assume many forms, not just the one of forcing victims into prostitution.
Most victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children. Other vulnerable
segments include migrant laborers, undocumented workers, young children in the welfare
system or even those who travel unaccompanied.
COUNTRIES THAT ARE AFFECTED BY
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
■ Human trafficking affects every country of the world, as countries of origin, transit or
destination - or even a combination of all.
■ Trafficking often occurs from less developed countries to more developed countries,
where people are rendered vulnerable to trafficking by virtue of poverty, conflict or other
conditions. Most trafficking is national or regional, but there are also notable cases of
long-distance trafficking.
■ Europe is the destination for victims from the widest range of destinations, while victims
from Asia are trafficked to the widest range of destinations. The Americas are prominent
both as the origin and destination of victims of human trafficking.
Countries With The Largest Number Of
Trafficking Victims
1. India
2. Pakistan
3. Thailand
4. China
5. Bangladesh
are in the top 10 for countries with the largest number of trafficking victims around the
world.
― India is at the top of the list with 14 million victims
― China comes in second with 3.2 million victims
― Pakistan comes in at third with 2.1 million victims.
― According to a report by the U.S. State Department, Belarus, Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan remain
among the worst countries when it comes to providing protection against human trafficking and forced
labor.
DO’S
Telling the truth
Be accurate, objective and fair
Using the masking techniques to avoid
revealing the identities of victims and
their families.
Digging into the reasons behind
trafficking.
Visiting the source areas to understand
the complexities of the root cause.
Being investigative in tracking down
perpetrators, cooperate with law, and
enforcement authorities
Highlighting the challenges that
Survivor had faced
Covering the story in court; focus on
the law, its enforcement, delays, etc.
Choose the correct words and language
DON’T’S
Treating the survivors as objects
Taking photographs of victims
Asking questions that violate the dignity
of survivors (like, how many times
were you raped? How many clients
did you service each day?)
Distort or blur the actual facts just to
sensationalize the story.
Using tabloid-like or sensational
headlines
Trying to take victims to their place of
exploitation or make them mentally relive
their experience
ROLE OF MEDIA

1. ENABLING PUBLIC VISIBILITY THROUGH THE “RIGHT” IMAGES

Using images as a powerful tool in helping audience visualize the crime, is a big
responsibility of the media outlets, which should have the right knowledge and cautiousness
regarding the symbolism and sensitivities that they represent. Attaching images to human
trafficking coverage should cultivate in public the principle of un-commodify of human
beings.
2. RESPONSIBLE ADVERTISING
Advertisements in the print or online media providing information for services/jobs, etc. can
sometimes result into exploitation of trafficked victims. To help prevent media outlets becoming a
conduit for the exploitation of people, NGO-s should empower them to have the potential to follow
these principles:
─ Provide trafficking hotlines alongside adult classified listings
─ Cooperate with police in investigations where they are able
─ Those persons who are interested in obtaining adult services, must be aware that they may
encounter victims of trafficking. They must also be aware of where to report any such suspicions

3. PROMOTING DISCRETION
Media has the duty of respecting discretion with reference to personal information about victims,
prioritizing their anonymity, considering their difficulty to reintegrate into society and the possibility
of their re-victimization being always present. Due to the lack of a realistic validation of these cases,
the challenge in covering such stories is narrating them undocumented. However, by pointing out the
connection between our daily lives and modern day slavery, through these stories media plays a great
role in holding the perpetuators “on the hook”, but also call upon the society, consumers and
governments.
4. USING RELIABLE DATA AND INVESTIGATE INDEPENDENTLY
In response to unreliable official data, debatable diverse methodology used by other entities,
journalists should have the tools to dig deeper into the issue of human trafficking aiming to
portray it more responsibly, sensitively and ethically. Reporters often are led by numbers
and look for provable traces, but reliable statistics related to human trafficking are difficult
to find, especially in the developing countries where Internews work is focused. Human
trafficking is a clandestine crime and few survivors come forward for fear of retaliation,
shame, or lack of understanding of what is happening to them. Numbers are not always the
story. To make awareness raising sustainable, continues investigative journalism on
trafficking should be promoted and encouraged.