NCJ Number
238446
Date Published
March 2012
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes the routes of human trafficking, the number of people trafficked, the characteristics of victims and traffickers, and the drivers, costs, and benefits of human trafficking.
Abstract
This paper presents the findings on the economic dimensions (in terms of costs and benefits) of human trafficking into the United Kingdom, the routes and methods of entry of victims of human trafficking and whether these routes the same for adults and child victims. Findings show that both adult and child victims travel through multiple transit countries en route to the United Kingdom. Poverty, limited opportunities at home, lack of education, unstable social and political conditions, economic imbalances, and war are seen as the key driving forces of the supply of trafficked people. While sexual exploitation, forced labor, and domestic servitude are considered the main purposes for which adults and children are trafficked globally, links may exist between international networks that conduct money laundering, trafficking of drugs, and trafficking of human beings. Evidence suggests traffickers operate according to rational economic principles. These factors underscore the importance of strategic interventions that take a proactive approach to dealing with these issues in both source and transit countries. Data were collected from literature and electronic searches which identified 180 studies as potentially relevant. Data analyze the routes of human trafficking, the number of people trafficked, the characteristics of victims and traffickers, and the drivers, costs and benefits of human trafficking. Appendixes and references