An Image Is Worth a Thousand Words: Exploring Visual Imagery About Trafficking in the Online Domain – an Italian Case Study

Despite literature critically examining trafficking representations, few studies have investigated visual representations of trafficking, or done so with reference to the national policy context wherein they are being utilized. This article explores visuals associated with trafficking in Italy with a focus on digital imagery retrieved via Google. The findings show that more "international" understandings of trafficking coexist alongside national conceptualizations, expressed through representations which conflate irregular migration, smuggling and trafficking. These representations convey national anxieties, that are reflected in policy and practice. The article discusses how visuals can help construct trafficking within a given society as well as raises questions and makes tentative suggestions about their interaction with policy-making. Given the critical lens adopted throughout the paper – including crucially as concerns raced and gendered representations – and its critique of images which are produced and circulated in the online space, this article supports progress toward UN SDG 5- Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment and 12- Responsible Production and Consumption.