Sex trafficking is a relatively recent problem in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, having escalated in this region following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Existing research addresses various aspects of this complex regional and global problem. There is a dearth of studies, however, focusing on how sex trafficking is defined in political discourse in source countries, especially from a critical and multidimensional perspective. Policy scholars assert that the way in which a problem is defined at the government level impacts the way in which it is addressed. Studying political discourse is thus one way to explore the context and the factors shaping the condition of anti-trafficking policies and the condition of sex trafficking victims in Moldova.

To address the gap in existing research, I used critical discourse analysis and the framework of intersectional theory to examine how the problem of sex trafficking is defined in formal and expressive public political discourse in Moldova. I found that both types of discourse define the problem and the victims very similarly and that these definitions are largely in line with international standards: sex trafficking is a serious problem and a high government priority and the trafficked women are vulnerable persons entitled to protection and assistance. Importantly, the findings also indicate that both types of public political discourse “over-include” sex trafficking victims collectively within larger, less discrete societal groups and that neither discourse defines the victims and their conditions in relation to intersecting structural inequalities. It is essential that policymakers and human trafficking researchers adopt the framework of intentional intersectionality and avoid over-inclusion and a descriptive-only understanding of the problem, in order to assure the long-term effectiveness of anti-trafficking policies.