‘I Am Elena’: rhetorical analysis as the first step to a ‘best practices’ formula for sex trafficking Public Service Announcements

This paper utilizes rhetorical analysis and feminist semiotic methodology to examine an anti-trafficking Public Service Announcement video produced in the United Kingdom and widely distributed online for a global audience. Rhetorical analysis necessitates looking not just at the meanings and possible interpretations of a communicated message, but also at the creators’ intent and the effect of the message through actual – or potential – audience response. All of these sites of meaning and interpretation are examined in this research project, and the author concludes with several guidelines for future anti-trafficking mass media campaigns, as well as suggestions for further research, specifically audience studies.