Human Trafficking Awareness and Reporting: Insights from Tennessee Police Websites and Social Media

• In Event: Human Trafficking Representations and Awareness

Abstract

Human trafficking remains an ongoing challenge for practitioners and professionals. Awareness of the crime among the public is a critical aspect in confronting the issue, and this task often falls to police agencies. However, there is concern that messages about human trafficking are not widely disseminated among the public. To understand how police advance awareness to the public on issues related to human trafficking, we examined the content of 241 Tennessee police websites and social media (e.g., Twitter) accounts. The results revealed that only 1% (n=2) of Tennessee police agencies with a website had any mention of human trafficking. Further, only 4.7% (n=4) of Twitter profiles maintained by Tennessee police agencies presented information on human trafficking. Discussions are presented on the importance of police establishing a clear online presence to bring public awareness and outreach to address human trafficking.

Authors

• Sadie Creel, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Teresa C. Kulig, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Ben Stickle, Middle Tennessee State University

• Kayla N. Meyer, Middle Tennessee State University

• Beth Maynard, Middle Tennessee State University

• Garrett Jeanes, Middle Tennessee State University