Survivor Visibility and Regard at a State Human Trafficking Summit

A Critical Trafficking Studies Inquiry

Bibliographic Data

ID12098789
AuthorsAlex Rister (0000-0002-4536-8170, Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume49
Issue2
Pages1-26
Publication date2026-03-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWomen s Studies in Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0749-1409 • E-ISSN: 2152-999X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07491409.2026.2636073
OpenAlexW7138849923
LanguageEN
References cited22

Building on critical trafficking studies (CTS) literature, this study examines how “human trafficking” is discursively constructed at a state’s annual summit. Through virtual participant observation of approximately 20 h of archival summit presentations across two consecutive years, the paper explores how government officials, advocates, survivors, and supporters frame and negotiate the meaning of human trafficking. Drawing on framing theory and CTS, the study foregrounds survivor visibility and voice, assessing how these are positioned within state-level anti-trafficking discourse. Findings of the virtual participant observation and subsequent thematic analysis revealed that both the 2023 and 2024 summits primarily framed human trafficking through legal and prosecutorial lenses, emphasizing law and order over survivor-centered and prevention-based approaches. While the summits countered media sensationalism and clarified legal definitions, both missed opportunities to center survivor voices, diversify anti-trafficking frameworks, and address root causes of trafficking. This analysis contributes to CTS by offering a more nuanced understanding of the politics of visibility and voice in anti-trafficking discourse, illuminating how power dynamics, ideology, and advocacy intersect in shaping public understandings of trafficking.

Human trafficking · Poison control · Sex trafficking · State (computer science · Visibility · Human Factors and Ergonomics · International Human Rights and Reproductive Law · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Sex work and related issues

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