A Diaspora Approach to Understanding Human Trafficking for Labor Exploitation

Bibliographic Data

ID2186182
AuthorsAntonela Arhin (University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume2
Issue1
Pages78-98
Publication date2016-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Human Trafficking (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2332-2705 • E-ISSN: 2332-2713
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23322705.2016.1136538
OpenAlexW2306082539
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited29

This article offers new conceptual tools to understand the dynamics and relationships between trafficking in persons and diaspora networks. A diaspora approach provides a more nuanced and in-depth mode of analyzing human-trafficking cases, and takes into account the intersections between traffickers, victims and diaspora communities within the human-trafficking process. Data come from 72 court files handled as cases of trafficking of adults and children for labor exploitation by various courts between 2004 and 2014. The results confirm that traffickers, to a certain extent, rely on diaspora networks in the recruitment, transportation, and exploitation of the victims. In particular, there is a strong correlation between the nationalities of traffickers and victims, as well as between traffickers and their intermediaries and collaborators. These findings hold in both transnational and domestic trafficking cases. Most traffickers prefer to recruit co-ethnics, but once the recruitment phase is over, traffickers are ready to move across the globe in search of the most advantageous sites of exploitation guided by a commitment to minimizing costs and maximizing profits

Business · Computer security · Criminology · Diaspora · Globe · Human trafficking · Intermediary · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Marketing

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