Human Trafficking 2.0: The Intersection between Human Trafficking and New Media in Canada

Abstract

<p><em>Human Trafficking 2.0</em> is an interdisciplinary, major research project born at the crossroads of Web 2.0 technological advances and domestic human trafficking in Canada, two seemingly disconnected issues. This project will first define human trafficking by situating the issue in a uniquely Canadian framework, specifically through critical discourse analysis of the RCMP’s 2010 national report on human trafficking in Canada. The second section of the project will employ the method of content analysis, investigating 20 Canadian newspapers’ reporting on the issue of <em>Craigslist</em> and human trafficking, proposing how Canadian news reporters might more effectively address future issues of domestic human trafficking, and rally consensus among Canadian public, government, and law enforcement officials. Ultimately, this project will raise questions, make propositions, and interrogate possible communications solutions pertaining to domestic human trafficking in an attempt to create change by envisioning, and mobilizing, the ideal, anti-human trafficking climate in Canada.</p>