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Methodology

The data collection process for this project began in February 2022 with the goal of collecting the dominant narratives of anti-trafficking organizations.

 

The still-image of each page/subpage within an organization's website were captured through a screen recording web browser extension and organized into broad categories reflecting the sites primary purpose. These exclusively designated labels included: home page, about us, general trafficking, donation/fundraising, and other. The date each screenshot was captured is reflected, as the contents of webpages are often updated. The images of each category are combined into one unit of analysis, but remain as a subset broken down into individual anti-trafficking organizations. 

Area of Focus

Organizations selected for the scope of this research project reflect all the following characteristics:

  • Provide residential, long term services

    • Long term generally includes any organization looking to provide more than emergency or transitional shelter​

  • Serve minors or serve a mixed population of minors and adults

    • No adult only serving organizations

  • Program specifically addresses or exclusively serves survivors of sex trafficking

    • Must be explicitly/clearly stated within website​

  • Have a public website

    • Operating, named programs listed in literature were searched for utilizing a search engine with "ProgramName+State" and the first 50 results examined in effort to include all known programs​

  • Are located within the United States

    • Including District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, & Guam​

Social /Economic/Political Considerations

When contextualizing the organization and curation of this data set, I specifically sought to include methods to account for major influences affecting each organization. 

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Social Influences:

Many of the organizations within the United States who serve trafficking victims have a religious affiliation. As available, this information is included when looking for patterns reflected between programs.

Economic Influences:

Most organizations serving minor survivors of domestic sex trafficking are non-profit organizations who rely upon donations and grants to operate. The like themed categorization process utilized during data collection seeks to provide an opportunity to examine differences between pages specifically seeking to advance fundraising needs versus those with a wider audience.

Political Influences:

The state in which the organizations operates may influence how the survivor is perceived legally. While the specifics of the protections offered vary state to state, safe harbor laws, generally recognize those involved in sex trafficking under a certain age to be automatically victims and may be shielded from prostitution related charges. Trends related to differences between programs are considered at the state level and when grouping states with safe harbor legislation versus those without.

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Research Questions:

R!: What dominant narratives (messages) about minor sex trafficking survivors are promoted through the organization's websites?

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R2: How do these dominant narratives frame minor survivors? What messaging promotes empowerment versus disempowerment and what is this messaging's impact on human rights? 

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R3: How are the dominant narratives and frames perceived by an individual with lived experience of sex trafficking? 

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