Research Proposal, Part II

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: Human Trafficking

Introduction

Human trafficking is the abduction of a human by a fellow human and transported for selling to other areas far away from where they were captured for them to be slaves, sex tools and objects of making money. This is the third largest international crime industry just after drug and firearms trafficking respectively. This area is important to study because human trafficking needs to be stopped due to the fact that it is inhuman and it shows no respect to fellow humans. Human trafficking is an act of cruelty and it reduces human dignity. Even animals have more dignity than those who are in the human trafficking business.

The leading research question we have chosen is “Can human trafficking be compacted by defining the characteristics of both victims and traffickers and using law enforcement?”

Our working hypothesis is that human trafficking can be compacted effectively by defining the characteristics of both victims and traffickers and using law enforcement.

Human trafficking is one of the major problems that are facing many governments. Every year, illegal immigrants are arrested without legal identification documents. On the other hand, other people are caught transporting illegal immigrants to other countries. If the characteristics of both the traffickers and victims were known to the law enforcement authorities, human trafficking would be a solved problem.

The aim of the research is to eradicate the problem of human trafficking by trying to investigate the characteristics of both the victims and traffickers and evaluating how it would be beneficial to law enforcement agencies.

Human trafficking has been a problem facing many countries for many years. Many governments have tried to eradicate this problem by using their law enforcement agencies with minimal success. As a result, those countries lose millions of revenue per year in the fight against human trafficking. The purpose of this research is to cut out the costs used in the fight against human trafficking by finding out about the characteristics of both the victims and traffickers and how it would help law enforcement agencies.

Some of the questions relevant to complete this research are: What do I need for the research? Why do trafficking? Does it benefit? Does is show respect to human life? What is the fate of the victims? What is the state doing to eradicate this problem? What is the penalty for those found guilty of trafficking? What are the effects of trafficking?

The research problem is crucial as it would help solve the problem of human trafficking cutting down on the costs spent by law enforcement agencies on investigations.

The cost of this research might be high as it would involve traveling to human trafficking hotspots. Apart from that, language barriers are likely to be encountered as people speak different languages. Despite that, the traffickers and victims may fail to provide crucial information for fear of their plans being discovered by the authorities.

Rationale

The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act defines human trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. Human Trafficking has become a global problem. Nearly 800,000 people become victimized as sex slaves. They are trafficked within the borders of their own country as well as international borders. The data shows that 80 percent of the victims are female and half of them are minors.

Background and Literature Review

Critical study 1

53 respondents representing agencies involved in counter- trafficking took surveys for a study. Many of the various capacities serve individuals victimized by trafficking. 5 focus groups sections had 18 representatives each. 44 percent of respondents came into contact with one or more cases of human trafficking. Aboriginal persons were among the individuals victimized. This was a key theme mentioned in the focus groups. 14.8 percent of survey respondent did not know if their group or agency came into contact with trafficked persons.

Critical Study 2

Does legalized prostitution increase human- trafficking? Some authors believe trafficking is caused by prostitution and combating prostitution with the force of the law would reduce trafficking. Other author's argue that the legalization of prostitution will improve working and safety conditions for sex workers, allowing sex businesses to recruit among domestic women who choose prostitution as their choice. Research conducted proved that countries with legalized prostitution have a significantly larger reported incident of human trafficking inflows.

Critical Study 3

Do the UN, EU, and ASEAN approach human trafficking in the same manner? An investigation was conducted to see how UN understood and responded to human trafficking. UN, EU, ASEAN understand and respond to human trafficking in an equal but not in same exact manner. The three organizations generally have the same objectives and way to approach human trafficking. The biggest differences between UN, EU, and ASEAN is how they express and embody their objectives. EU focuses more on human security perspective. However, the multidisciplinary approach is not enough and more actions towards reducing human trafficking is needed because it continues to increase.

Insufficient Critical Study 1

One question left unresolved is whether or not the majority of trafficked persons are female or male. Another question is how one group of survey respondents did not know if their agency came into contact with trafficked persons. Further investigation should be required to prove these surveys are accurate.

Insufficient Critical Study 2

The question still remains if legalized prostitution increases human trafficking. I would like to study all locations that legalized prostitution in order to answer the question. The research conducted was based off opinions and certain locations.

Insufficient Critical Study 3

The multidisciplinary approach is not enough and more actions towards reducing human trafficking needs to be done. Human trafficking still continues to increase regardless of what the UN, EU, and ASEAN are doing. The focus of this study remained on how the UN, EU, and ASEAN approached human trafficking in similar or different matters. A question left unresolved, how can these three organizations come together and decrease human trafficking.

References

Barry, K.,(1979). Female Sexual Slavery. New York: University Press. Pp. 50.

Bertram, J., & Anderson, S. (2013,March). . Do the UN, EU and ASEAN approach Human Trafficking in the same manner?.

Cho, S. Y. (2013, January). . Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking?, 40, PP 67-82.

Davidson, C.,(1998). Prostitution, Power, and Freedom. Michigan:University of Michigan Press. Pp. 62

Davis, K.,(1937). The Sociology of Prostitution. American Psychiatric Association. New York: University Press. Pp. 20-30

Farley, M., & Howard, B.,(1998). Prostitution, Violence Against Women and Post traumatic stress disorder. Haworth press Inc.

Jac-Kucharski, A. (2012). The Determinants of Human Trafficking: A US Case Study. International Migration, 50(6), 150-165. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00777.x

Knepper, P. (2013). History Matters: Canada's Contribution to the First Worldwide Study of Human Trafficking1. Canadian Journal Of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 55(1), 33-54.