Everyone loves a hero. The popular imagination of this hero is a sword-brandishing saviour who fights the villain, bleeds in war, and wears...
Everyone loves a hero. The popular imagination of this hero is a sword-brandishing saviour who fights the villain, bleeds in war, and wears their scars as a badge of honour. And when the war is one against slavery and trafficking, rescued survivors are brandished as trophies, and the slave-rescuing heroes are awarded for their altruism and courage.
The anti-trafficking or anti-slavery movements thrive off this popular imagination, because it capitalises on the collective memories of heroism that we have grown up on, through stories, films, mythology, and religion. We often look for that one voice, one face, one individual to laud for their courage and heroism that helped save the rest of humanity, and particularly survivors.
Heroism is easy to sell
Large international organisations that raise funds from philanthropists and governments for anti-trafficking projects report their struggles to convince donors of the value for money if they do not subscribe to the “rescue-rehabilitation” narrative. (According to this narrative, a person in exploitation needs to be rescued by nonprofits and anti-slavery crusaders who will then provide them with the courage, healing, and resilience that will ultimately restore them.)
Anti-slavery organisations working on this paradigm in India or Africa may need to produce claims such as “We freed 20,000 indentured...