PUBLIC service advertising, HUMAN trafficking, ORGANIZATIONAL sociology, AWARENESS, WORLDVIEW
Abstract
The assumption that the rural public lacks sufficient knowledge about human trafficking and that providing more awareness will reduce it still dominates the anti‐trafficking field. However, relying on original empirical data from Moldova, I found that rural people are more informed about this problem than other surveyed groups. First, they became more knowledgeable about trafficking precisely because of organizations' targeting strategies. Second, they are more incentivized to learn about this problem because it happens in proximity, and the information spreads easier in rural places. This paper challenges the organizational assumptions in Moldova, relying on Grunig and Miller's theory on organizations with an asymmetrical worldview. I argue that anti‐trafficking institutions' asymmetry leads to inaccurate assumptions and eventually can lead to flawed anti‐trafficking policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]