Expanding Our Understanding of Traffickers and Their Operations: A Review of the Literature and Path Forward

Author:

Barrick Kelle1ORCID,Sharkey Thomas C.2,Maass Kayse Lee3,Song Yongjia2,Martin Lauren4

Affiliation:

1. Center for Public Safety and Resilience, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

2. Department of Industrial Engineering, Clemson University, SC, USA

3. Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

4. School of Nursing, Population Health and Systems Cooperative Unit, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

Abstract

Human trafficking is a serious crime and violation of human rights that results in numerous harms. Although the phenomenon is not new, scholarship on the issue has grown substantially since the first legal framework was passed in 2000. However, the existing literature has been criticized for its skewed focus on victims, among other things. The dearth of information on traffickers and their operations limits our ability to reduce or prevent perpetration. The current study presents a comprehensive and critical review of the existing literature focused on traffickers to synthesize what is already known and highlight the key gaps. Twenty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria of (1) focusing on traffickers and their operations and (2) relying on data either directly from traffickers or sources that contained detailed information about criminal cases against traffickers. We used an iterative process to identify relevant studies, which included collecting articles of which we were already familiar or were identified in existing reviews, searching their reference lists, and conducting cited-by searches until saturation was reached. Topics found in the extant literature included: characteristics of traffickers, relationships between traffickers and victims, organizational characteristics and networks, operations, connections with other crimes, motivations, perceptions of behavior, and risks associated with trafficking. It concludes with recommendations for future research and a discussion of how bridging gaps in the literature could support more rigorous mathematical modeling that is needed to identify and assess promising perpetration prevention and intervention strategies.

Funder

Directorate for Engineering

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Applied Psychology,Health (social science)

Reference67 articles.

1. Techniques of Neutralizing the Trafficking of Women: A Case Study of an Active Trafficker in Greece

2. Interdicting layered physical and information flow networks

3. Sympathy for the Devil: Pimps, Agents, and Third Parties Involved in the Sale of Sex in Rio de Janeiro

4. Bouché V. (2017). An empirical analysis of the intersection of organized crime and human trafficking in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250955.pdf

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