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Why is it important to have better estimates of numbers of trafficking victims?
Even after nearly ten years of attention
to human trafficking, estimates of the number of human
trafficking victims are very limited and generally lack
empirical merit. Trafficking is a complex issue and it is
reasonably argued that accurately estimating the extent of
such underground criminal activity is a difficult task.
Therefore, the counter-trafficking community has yet to come
up with reliable methodologies for getting those
numbers.
Without reliable numbers
it is difficult to know if counter-trafficking policies and
interventions are making a difference. In addition, limited
resources are being allocated with little understanding of the
scale and scope of the issue. This lack of understanding has
significant impact on the efficiency and progress of
counter-trafficking interventions.
The UNIAP Trafficking Estimates Initiative.
In 2007, UNIAP
launched a competition in which NGOs, academics, and
government and non-government research institutions were
invited to submit proposals for innovative, rigorous
methodologies to estimate the numbers of trafficking victims
in a given geographic area and/or industry. The purpose of
this initiative was two-fold: |
| The competition received
many impressive entries, and after two rounds of review, a
shortlist of six was selected to present and defend their
methodologies before an audience of peers and judges in
Bangkok. The judges reviewing the proposals were Dr. David
Feingold (UNESCO), Dr. Lisa Rende Taylor (UNIAP), and
Professor Zhang Jie (Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences).
The methodological
approaches of the proposals, as hoped, were diverse and
innovative, and - most importantly - locally specific,
practical, and feasible. As part of UNIAP’s Trafficking
Estimates Initiative, in 2008 UNIAP will provide direct
funding and technical support to the top three selected
methodologies, and support will also be sought for the three
honorable mentions, recognizing the high standard of these as
well. Publication and results sharing is also a high priority,
hopefully leading to eventual replication of methodologies in
other regions for piloting, modification, and - eventually, it
is hoped - reliable systems for quantifying human trafficking
over time, in many regions of the world.
SIREN Report GMS-03 outlines
the process and the judging criteria of the UNIAP Trafficking
Estimates Initiative, presenting the top three methodologies
in order of merit, with the three honorable mentions following
in alphabetical order. This documentation may be helpful for
counter-trafficking communities in the world seeking methods
to derive more accurate and feasible methods of scoping
trafficking magnitude in their region.
The research of the top
three finalists is in the process of getting funded by UNIAP
now. Check back here for updates on their research over the
course of 2008!
Team 1: University of Miami, School
of Communication
Team 2: Labour Rights
Promotion Network, Thailand (LPN)
& Johns Hopkins School of
Public Health
Team 3: An Giang Dong
Thap Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking (ADAPT),
Vietnam |
