Treasures is a nonprofit organization and ministry that helps give survivors of sex trafficking and consensual adult industry workers resources and support for achieving their goals, promoting inner healing and getting out of harmful situations. In this rhetorical analysis we will talk about the purpose of this group and what they are trying to accomplish within their web page.
Let's start with space and place. The website for Treasures is sleek and elegant with a muted color palette, a dash of shine and all the feels of what the embodiment of treasure may look like to some. There are multiple models differing in race and look that give a feel of inclusivity for survivors, industry workers and allies alike. This design appeals to both logos and pathos in its organization and layout of multimodal elements. In a way it gives you the feeling that this is something anyone can be a part of, and you want in too. The place is a platform that is meant to be enriching to whatever path of life you are walking, from statistics about the industry and trafficking for those who are civilians to offering resources and free gifts to women who are in the industry or have made their way out of it. Interestingly enough, one of the things that sticks out the most to me is the lack of male inclusion. This instantly lets me know that this organization is specifically focused on impacted females as opposed to everyone. This very realization sheds light on the narrower picture that has much less to do with inclusion and more to do with working specifically with females. Men account for about 25% of all trafficking victims and every one in three children trafficked are boys. These are staggering numbers of victims who go without any help or resources from an organization that is best known for the work it is doing in the fight to end sex trafficking. Not to mention every one in five adult industry workers are men which account for about 20% of the industry. I did find however that one of the only area's of the website with resources that are being directed at men is a section dealing with sex and porn addiction. Invoked audience is now very specifically women who have been exploited in the sex industry, women who are consensually a part of the sex industry, women who have successfully gotten out of the sex industry and men who struggle with an addiction to porn and sex. The next major audience is allies and donors.
Donors, without donors and volunteers (or allies as this organization refers to them as) nonprofits would not be able to do the work that they are trying to do. On the homepage of the website there is a menu bar that includes a link to donate which is pretty straight forward, and a link to the freedom home which is a separate donation hub specifically for buying a space that could be used as a resource center for the organization. On the freedom home page they tell a story that appeals to pathos by using linguistic strategies. They write about needing to buy a home that they could turn into a work space for the nonprofit because more than once they have rented from a building that required renovations in lieu of getting cheaper rent and once completing their own renovations on it, they were informed that their lease would only be renewed for double (or more) of that current rent. This can make anyone upset because it makes the landlords sound as though they are taking advantage of a nonprofit that makes them in turn be taking advantage of vulnerable women. This page nicely includes a $750,000 home budget goal for the project. As you scroll down the page there is a get involved button which leads to another donation link and at the bottom of the page there is even a give now button in case you were interested but happened to miss all of the other donation cues. This is actually a very strong appeal to logos because by using different placement and verbiage, they are able to make the donations the center of the website without explicitly writing give us your money now. And of course, why wouldn't you trust them? After all, with the plethora of knowledge and resources they are providing to those impacted and those allied why wouldn't want to support them to the fullest, financially that is.
I'm going to take a moment to discuss the resources and statistic heavily scattered about the website that I had mentioned above in the space and place section. To you I pose a question, who would you rather trust? Someone who says that they have experience in the area of work that they are doing or someone who is able to show you the statistics and data behind what they are doing and why they are doing it? The stats on the homepage are all feature in black and white which add a dark undertone to what felt until then like a light and flowing space. Putting the facts in black and white give a literal visualization of something that is clear cut as data is supposed to be. It also immediately gives an edge to ethos because it organically builds trust between the organization and the reader. The audience feels informed and as though this organization must have a good understanding as to what they are fighting because of the amount of knowledge they offer to anyone who is interested. But as we know, anyone is not everyone and again, the key audience that is meant to be invoked is specifically civilian allies that want to donate to the cause. Because lets face it, victims of trafficking and workers in the adult industry don't need to read about the high rate of traumatic events in order to get an idea or visualization of what is happening behind the glitz and glamour. But as someone who feels emotionally compelled to learn more about what is happening behind closed doors and put an end to abuse, the statistics are staggering and will most likely leave you checking your bank account to see what you can offer as support of all the work Treasures is doing. One section of the audience that seems pretty left out would be the women who are still currently in the adult industry through consensual means.
On a personal note, I know women who have contacted Treasures in hopes of resources for themselves and their families and when they disclosed that they are industry workers who are not interested in leaving they were turned away. Although the mission statement states that they are working towards empowering current industry girls, they don't really show any offerings for women who are looking for support and resources who are comfortable as a sex worker. They do offer prayer and maybe our religious readers think this is enough, but prayer doesn't put a roof over your head without pay stubs or food in your kids mouths when work has been slow. This is a darker side of Treasures that they attempt to bury under the blanket of the work that they are doing. If you go to the section about sex and porn addiction or the resource tool kit, not only do they blame the men who pay or support sex workers, but they also blame the sex workers themselves and call for demanding equal treatment of people who facilitate sex trafficking and consensual adult industry workers who choose to do the work that they do. Contrary to what Treasures says, studies have shown that by decriminalizing consensual sex work, there is a larger platform for being able to spot, identify and help stop trafficking cases. By attempting to further punish sex workers and their clientele, they are forcing an already underground lifestyle to be fearful of speaking up when they see or know something. Ultimately, we have now found that Treasures audience invoked got even smaller. Now including women survivors of sex trafficking, women who are ex industry workers, allies and civilian donors.
The main purpose of the website is to recruit donors and volunteers who want to end both sex trafficking and the adult industry. Although it offers services and outreach for victims and sex workers, the majority of the website is set up as a collection fund. It even has a restitution fund where you can allocate the money that you would typically spend on porn or consensual sex work in order to stop them both in attempt to "stop sex trafficking". The organization is successful in its attempts of drawing in funds and allies because it is responsible for helping thousands of women every year as long as they fit the criteria.
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