The Social Construction of Human Trafficking Victims in the Russian Media

The media contribute to the development and adoption of human trafficking legislation as they frame victims of human trafficking from different perspectives, which can influence constituent and government opinions. Despite the significant need for legislation to assist victims in Russia, the government is dragging its feet on adopting more comprehensive policies. In this paper, we examine how trafficking victims are framed in the media of Russia with quantitative systemic frames and qualitative substantive frames of 682 articles on human trafficking in Russian newspapers from 1997 through 2015. We found that increased media coverage was closely associated with legislative changes and declined after 2008, when Russia's authoritarian regime became more solidified. The results reveal that social constructions of human trafficking victims exclude other narratives that advocate for increased victims’ assistance in the Russian media. Negative and neutral frames with victim blaming, and stereotypes contributed to the limited policy development, which criminalized trafficking but offered no support for victims.