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ASIS&T addressing missed information opportunities and victims' information agency in the fight against sexual human trafficking
Author(s) -
Westbrook Lynn
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
proceedings of the association for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 2373-9231
DOI - 10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010053
Subject(s) - agency (philosophy) , public relations , government (linguistics) , political science , service (business) , sexual violence , human rights , criminology , sociology , business , law , social science , linguistics , philosophy , marketing
In the United States’ battle against sexual human trafficking, the nascent integration of criminal justice and social service agency work is severely hampered by an array of information problems, which are amenable to mitigation from Information Studies scholars. Naïve information organization and infrastructure design undermine many of these integrated projects. More critical however, is their general focus on process with little reference to supporting victims’ personal agency through their required mastery of information resources. Using a systematic analysis of current scholarly research articles on sexual human trafficking, this study identified 31 research and application projects developed in reference to concrete support for government and social service agencies. For each study, analysis examines the nature of the victims’ personal information agency, as well as the primary actors in each information situation. Disciplinary distinctions regarding the human rights approach to prostitution, underpin many of Information Studies’ missed opportunities for contributing to agency effectiveness.