CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CHILD TRAFFICKING IN ARABIC NGO REPORTS

Abstract

The child trafficking phenomenon has emerged as an umbrella term for slavery-like practices such as; children forced labour and forced sexual exploitation of children. In this regard, this study intends to investigate Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) reports on forced child labour through child trafficking (CT). This study aims to explore the functional descriptions of the reports' language on CT and to uncover the ideology of social power inequality causes. To achieve the aims, an eclectic modal is adopted Fairclough's (1992, 1995, 2001) three-dimensional framework for the analysis of the linguistic devices to examine social power ideology in NGOs reports on CT. The study is conducted through the qualitative method approach.in reports representing CT in Arab region presented by the Yemeni Organization for Combating Human Trafficking (YOCHT) and Iraqi Observatory for Victims of Human Trafficking )IOVHT). By integrating Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) tools—including transitivity, modality, thematic structure, conjunctions, and reference chains

The study comes up with these conclusions:

(i) The analysis illustrates how language foregrounds structural power imbalances by constructing children as vulnerable victims while positioning traffickers as dominant agents.

 (ii) The discourse reveals the systemic exploitation of children in forced labor, thereby reinforcing social and cultural ideologies.