Human trafficking for sex, labour and domestic servitude: how do key trafficking types compare and what are their predictors?

Ella Cockbain,Kate Bowers

doi:10.1007/s10611-019-09836-7

Abstract

Combatting trafficking in human beings is a well-established social policy and crime prevention priority for the twenty-first Century. Human trafficking, as defined in international law, can occur for diverse exploitative purposes. Yet, different forms of trafficking are routinely conflated in research, policy and interventions. Most of the attention to date has been on sex trafficking of women and girls, leaving male victims and other trafficking types comparatively overlooked. In this study, we disentangle differences between key trafficking types using rare individual-level data from the United Kingdom’s central system for identifying trafficking victims. For a sample of 2630 confirmed victims, we compare those trafficked for sex, domestic servitude and other labour across variables relating to victim demographics, the trafficking process and official responses. Having established significant and substantial differences at bivariate level, we use multinomial logistic regression to identify predictors of trafficking type. Overall, our results underline the complexity and diversity of human trafficking and warn against conflating different types. Within a holistic counter-trafficking framework, a more disaggregated and nuanced approach to analysis and intervention is vital in ensuring more finely-targeted responses. This original study has clear lessons for research, policy and practice.

Highlights

IntroductionHuman trafficking can take many forms: diverse people may be moved within or between countries by various means for different purposes, including sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, domestic servitude (work in private households) and exploitation in numerous other licit and illicit labour markets
A skewed focus, conflated problems and pronounced knowledge gapsHuman trafficking can take many forms: diverse people may be moved within or between countries by various means for different purposes, including sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, domestic servitude and exploitation in numerous other licit and illicit labour markets
While the overall median age was 25.2 years, victims of sex trafficking were on average younger than victims of domestic servitude and, especially, of labour trafficking

Summary

Introduction

Human trafficking can take many forms: diverse people may be moved within or between countries by various means for different purposes, including sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, domestic servitude (work in private households) and exploitation in numerous other licit and illicit labour markets. Despite this inherent diversity, Cockbain E., Bowers K. the focus of the trafficking field has long been skewed towards sexual exploitation – and that of women and girls. In the United States (US) (e.g. [4, 32]), numerous

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