Data and Research on Human Trafficking: Bibliography of Research-Based Literature

• NCJ Number: 224392
• Author(s): Elzbieta M. Gozdziak Ph.D.; Micah N. Bump M.A.
• Date Published: October 2008
• Length: 59 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2007-VT-BX-K002
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Reference Material

Annotation

This report presents findings from a 12-month project undertaken by the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University.

Abstract

There is little systematic and reliable data on the scale of the phenomenon of human trafficking; limited understanding of the characteristics of victims, their life experiences, and their trafficking trajectories; poor understanding of the modus operandi of traffickers and their networks; and lack of evaluation research on the effectiveness of governmental antitrafficking policies and the efficacy of rescue and restore programs, among other gaps in the current state of knowledge about human trafficking. Such information is vital to helping decisionmakers craft effective policies, service providers develop culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate and efficacious programs, and law enforcement enhance their ability to identify and protect victims and prosecute traffickers. Further, those responsible for addressing trafficking in persons and related issues should be able to differentiate between the sensational publications intended to raise awareness about the issue and the more serious literature, based on systematic, methodologically rigorous, and peer-reviewed empirical research. This report provides a detailed description of the processes involved in identifying English language research-based literature on human trafficking; the database searched and the keywords used to identify pertinent references; discussion of the development of the taxonomy used to categorize identified research-based journal articles, reports, and books; and the results of the categorization of the research according to the taxonomy. The report ends with a discussion of existing research gaps. Tables, figures and references