Globalization and the illicit market for human trafficking: an empirical analysis of supply and demand

Human trafficking: what forces affect the demand for trafficked victims?

By: Danailova-Trainor, G & Belser, T
Published by: International Labour Organization (ILO), 2006
Via: Eldis

Human trafficking has been identified as a form of modern slavery, as a threat to human security, and as one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time. But while there is an increasing body of literature on different aspects of human trafficking, so far there has not been any more rigorous empirical work on the forces affecting the market for trafficked victims (TV). This paper makes a contribution towards filling this gap by developing largely ad hoc models of demand and supply of TV.

The authors use data on trafficking collected from open sources by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and determine the explanatory variables by a study of the literature, data availability in countries of origin and destination and by experimentation. The focus is on cross-border trafficking as a manifestation of trans-national criminal activities and as a consequence of the deep social and economic differences that characterise countries.

Key findings include that prostitution incidence and openness - including the permeability of borders - in countries of destination affect the demand for TV in the destination countries. Female youth unemployment also plays a significant role in fueling the supply of TV. Policies that focus on addressing these underlying factors of human trafficking could have an important impact on the market, in addition to the protection and prevention of TV. However, the authors have not examined the link between legalisation of prostitution and prostitution incidence, and have not found any correlation between legalised prostitution and trafficking.

The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of future data collection and estimation of trafficking flows.

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