An Introduction to Human Trafficking - United Nations Office on ...

AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING: VULNERABILITY, IMPACT AND ACTION
describe general trafficking patterns, 51 while others focus on a specific country or a specific
trafficking route. Some present details obtained from repatriated victims in order <strong>to</strong>
draw conclusions about the characteristics of people who are being trafficked, 52 especially
when it seems that specific groups of people are being trafficked in disproportionately
high numbers.
While reports published in the late 1990s and in the years following 2000 focused primarily
on the abuse experienced by trafficked persons (possibly <strong>to</strong> provoke readers <strong>to</strong> conclude
that more needed <strong>to</strong> be done <strong>to</strong> combat trafficking), in the past few years there has
been a move <strong>to</strong>wards reports of a more technical nature, which focus on methods used
<strong>to</strong> address specific aspects of trafficking and examine their effectiveness.
B. Research about those already trafficked, identifying the
circumstances in which they were vulnerable <strong>to</strong> traffickers
IOM has been at the forefront of efforts <strong>to</strong> identify the salient characteristics of victims
of trafficking in order <strong>to</strong> learn what distinguishes them from others who have not been
trafficked. For example, in South-East Europe a disproportionate number of trafficked
women and girls have experienced domestic abuse or lived in residential care. A case
study in northern Thailand found that in families with three daughters it was more probable
that the second-born daughters would be recruited in<strong>to</strong> the sex industry than either
eldest or youngest daughters. 53 The report explained the social and cultural reasons for
its findings. On the basis of detailed research of this sort, it has been possible <strong>to</strong> target
prevention efforts on individuals or households with similar characteristics <strong>to</strong> those already
trafficked.
Studies of individuals who have been trafficked usually trace what happens <strong>to</strong> them during
the time they receive professional care, but rarely track their subsequent development.
While the right <strong>to</strong> privacy entitles people <strong>to</strong> refuse <strong>to</strong> inform researchers about their subsequent
experiences, in many cases it is only with the benefit of information about what
happens over several years that it is possible <strong>to</strong> conclude whether the assistance and protection
they received were appropriate or need improving.
C.—Research about traffickers and the techniques they use
Alongside law enforcement efforts <strong>to</strong> identify individual criminals, researchers have collated
the data available about both traffickers and others who collaborate with them. This
regularly demonstrates that the profile of traffickers presented in public information materials
is inaccurate. For example, in parts of South-East Europe where traffickers were routinely
presented as disreputable male criminals, evidence collected from trafficked persons
51
<strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong> <strong>Office</strong> on Drugs and Crime, <strong>Trafficking</strong> in Persons: Global Patterns (Vienna, <strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong>,
2006), a 128-page report summarizing patterns, based on data supplied by States.
52
For example, two annual reports on victims of trafficking in South-Eastern Europe issued by the Regional
Clearing Point of the International Organization for Migration, the first in 2003 and the second in 2005.
53
Taylor, “Dangerous trade-offs … ”.
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