IBSS-Ex: Exploratory Research Regarding the Return Home of Trafficking Survivors

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This interdisciplinary research project will examine the return and reintegration of victims of human trafficking by combining exploration of the utility of the Global Human Trafficking Database developed by the International Organization for Migration together with the conduct of interviews with returnees and with community stakeholders. The project will help assess what types of data are needed to better understand the dynamics and processes of return and reintegration of persons who have been the victims of human trafficking. Through analysis of existing data and empirical research eliciting new qualitative and available quantitative data, the investigators will help identify future research needs to understand decision making related to return, ongoing service needs, and the availability of programs to meet these needs as well as community attitudes towards returned survivors. The project will facilitate a transition to a focus on empirical evidence as a means of addressing the needs and rights of returned victims, thus laying groundwork for evidence-based evaluation of existing programs. This project should help set the stage for future work that will more accurate information about the effects of return, including both the survivors' ability to re-integrate into the communities of origin and the risks for re-trafficking. Project findings will help assess the ongoing employment, education, and health needs of trafficked survivors after they return as well as the returnees' access to effective services fostering sustainable socioeconomic reintegration. The investigators will use a mixed-methods approach to gain insights from three different data sources. They will conduct statistical analyses of a database on 138,092 trafficking victims from around the world that was developed by the International Organization for Migration. This database includes nearly 200 items about demographics, pre- and post-trafficking experiences, and the individual and non-governmental organization-provided resources for return and reintegration. The investigators will engage in field work with service providers in Moldova and Nepal to gain an understanding of the challenges of reintegrating survivors, and they will conduct interviews with selected survivors who returned as adults to obtain an insiders' perspective about the challenges and prospects for long-term socioeconomic reintegration. This project is supported through the NSF Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (IBSS) competition.