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Abstract
Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, a feature-length documentary film produced to raise awareness about human trafficking, has shaped discourse related to sex trafficking for more than a decade. This study identifies the rhetorical vision promoted by this film and two other anti-trafficking films on Cambodia and diagnoses how their use of language and imagery affects the dignified human identity and perceived worth of Cambodian survivors of sex trafficking, Cambodian parents, and the Cambodian people. The films' rhetorical treatment of sex trafficking in Cambodia amount to unintentional rhetorical and cultural violence that diminishes the perceived value of Cambodian people, potentially impacting their ability to access rights, opportunities, and social standing that are "equal to those accessed by everyone else" (Fukuyama 2018, 32).
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