In 1997, when I began the UNESCO trafficking program for the Mekong Region, there was little public interest in human trafficking. However, over the past decade and a half, human trafficking (sometimes clad in the sexier guise of 'modern slavery') has become a durable flavor of the month. To that extent, awareness-raising has worked. However, we must differentiate between careful investigative reporting and documentaries, authoritative research reports, and validated studies on the one hand; and 'real men don’t buy girls' feel good campaigns on the other. My view is that, today, broad-scale scatter-shot public awareness campaigns often do more harm than good.
Targeting those at-risk of harm
When assessing the net contribution of 'public awareness' campaigns, much depends how 'public' is defined. There are many publics: a tailored tested campaign that supplies culturally and linguistically appropriate safer migration information to villagers in remote areas can be effective, provided it recognises the constraints within which they make choices. Telling girls in a conflict area in Burma that they should stay home, stay in school, get good grades, and not be lured by bright lights and big cities is neither honest, nor effective given a well-founded fear of rape by the Burmese Army, and the short and long-term economic returns to education.
Telling girls in a conflict area in Burma that they should stay in school and not be lured by bright lights and big cities is neither honest, nor effective.
