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... In addition, some studies investigated examples of recruitment of women and girls into the sex industry and revealed that those debt-trapped victims are forcibly sexually exploited (Bello & Olutola, 2020;Msuya, 2017;UNICEF, 2005). Thus, although a few studies examined the trafficking of men (Allais, 2013;Gutmann, 1997;Surtees, 2008), most studies focus on the trafficking of women and girls. Based on feminist approaches, studies on human trafficking have focused on research areas including human rights (D'Cunha, 2002;Heyzer, 2006), policies against human trafficking (Cho, 2015;Potrafke, 2016), migration (Truong, 2008), prostitution (O'Neill, 2001, sexist stereotypes (Lobasz, 2009), and sex trafficking (Jeffreys, 2002;Samarasinghe, 2012). ...
Human trafficking is an imminent problem not limited to certain regions of the globe. Although the problem of human trafficking is severe over the world, Sub-Saharan African countries are some of the most vulnerable to human trafficking. Despite the severity of human trafficking in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 23 countries, less than half of Sub-Saharan African countries, have introduced domestic statutory laws addressing human trafficking. Why do some African countries adopt laws for combating human trafficking, while others do not? Focusing on the role of gender-related factors in the introduction of laws addressing human trafficking, this article aims to fill this academic lacuna by conducting time-series cross-national analysis on 49 African countries from 1960 to 2016. The empirical results from this study demonstrate that increases in the percentage of women in legislative branches and in women’s participation in civil society organizations lead countries to introduce anti-human trafficking laws.
... Personal hygiene is often an issue, as fishers may be required to wash in salt water and vessels may lack toilet facilities (Devlin 2009, Issara Institute & IJM 2017, Stringer et al. 2011. Fresh water for drinking is typically scarce, especially when vessels have been at sea for prolonged periods of time (Stringer et al. 2011, Surtees 2008. Unsurprisingly, diseases associated with vitamin deficiency arising out of poor-quality and insufficient food are commonly suffered by fishers on board these vessels (Devlin 2009, Stringer et al. 2011. ...
... Migrant workers can also be more easily controlled through confiscation of their ID documents, which physically prevents them from leaving vessels (Issara Institute & IJM 2017, Robertson 2011. Further, the recruitment process in which migrant labourers are sourced by agencies in one jurisdiction and employed by fishing operators in another, means that fishers can easily be deceived when embarking the fishing vessel and can be coerced into accepting employment contracts or agreements on lesser terms than initially discussed (EJF 2018a, Stringer et al. 2011, Surtees 2008. Exploitation arises because migrants are dependent on their recruiter for knowledge, identity and work permit documents, and for employment contracts. ...
... The presence of sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis among trafficked victims place the general population at risk [80,81]. The findings of the current study regarding the under-representation of labor trafficking relative to sex trafficking were in agreement several previously published studies [18,82]. Promotion and advancement of research on health aspects of HT require intensive involvement of public health experts in the global debate about HT. ...
Background
Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. It is also a serious threat to global health and security. Globalization has made human trafficking an easier task for the criminal organizations. No data are available on the volume, research trends, and key players in this field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the research activity and research trends on human trafficking.
Methods
A bibliometric method was adopted. Literature published in academic journals indexed in Scopus database was retrieved. The study period was set from 2000 to 2017.
Results
Two thousand forty-four documents were retrieved. The average number of authors per document was 1.9. Over one third (n = 771; 37.7%) of the retrieved documents were about sex trafficking, 616 (30.1%) were about labor trafficking/forced labor, 199 (9.7%) were about child trafficking, and 138 (6.8%) were about organ trafficking. One third (n = 707; 34.6%) of the documents were in health-related fields while 1526 (74.7%) were in social sciences and humanities. The USA ranked first (n = 735; 36.0%) regarding the number of published documents. Geographic distribution of the retrieved document showed that world regions with a high prevalence of human trafficking had the least research contribution. International research collaboration has a limited contribution to the retrieved literature. The Harvard University (USA) was the most active institution (n = 39; 1.9%). International Migration (n = 35; 1.7%) was the most active journal in publishing documents on HT. Documents published in Transplantation journal received the highest number of citations per document (25.5) and two of the most cited documents were about organ trafficking.
Conclusion
There was an under-representation of health-related literature on human trafficking. Literature on sex trafficking dominated the field of human trafficking. Research networks and research collaboration between the source and destination countries is important. Future research plans need to focus on health issues and on exploited/trafficked laborers.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1186/s12992-018-0427-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
... There have also been allegations of human trafficking and debt bondage of African and Asian crew on domestic vessels in British and Irish fisheries [34][35][36] and trafficking and confinement among South East Asian fishers employed in US fisheries in Hawaii 37 . The US State Department lists 40 countries as source, destination or transit countries for human trafficking in fisheries 38 , and vessels exploiting fishing crew have been encountered in the waters of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Russia and South Africa, as well as New Zealand 25,[39][40][41] . Labour rights abuses in fisheries appear widespread and serious, in many cases meeting the definition of modern slavery. ...
... location) on the first two PCA dimensions divided them into three distinct groups (Fig. 2). The first cluster comprised seven countries (red in Fig. 2), most of which have been reported for or suspected in serious labour abuses on fishing vessels 15,32,39,40,51,52 . Countries with documented incidents of serious labour abuses in fisheries are therefore characterised by high levels of unreported catch ('% Unreported'), a high proportion of catch taken outside their own EEZs ('% Catch outside EEZ') at a greater distance from home waters ('Distance') and higher than average levels of harmful subsidies ('% Subsidy'). ...
Marine fisheries are in crisis, requiring twice the fishing effort of the 1950s to catch the same quantity of fish, and with many fleets operating beyond economic or ecological sustainability. A possible consequence of diminishing returns in this race to fish is serious labour abuses, including modern slavery, which exploit vulnerable workers to reduce costs. Here, we use the Global Slavery Index (GSI), a national-level indicator, as a proxy for modern slavery and labour abuses in fisheries. GSI estimates and fisheries governance are correlated at the national level among the major fishing countries. Furthermore, countries having documented labour abuses at sea share key features, including higher levels of subsidised distant-water fishing and poor catch reporting. Further research into modern slavery in the fisheries sector is needed to better understand how the issue relates to overfishing and fisheries policy, as well as measures to reduce risk in these labour markets.
... The seafood companies gathered evidence to comply with legal and customs requirements and had limited access to worker data, human rights findings, and avenues to effect change. The data available suggest that the working conditions that allow for forced labor are nuanced, and risk identification requires firsthand worker perspectives (21)(22)(23). Any interpretation of forced labor conditions is influenced by language and trust, and any preconceived notions about what a victim of forced labor looks like and how a victim behaves can aggravate consequences for human beings (24,25). ...
Seafood supply chain is often long and fragmented, and slavery is a tenacious problem. The vast majority of workers are engaged in the early stages of production and often employed through subcontracts or brokers. We hypothesized that food companies could identify risks and implement improvements by adding a labor safety dimension to their tracking and traceability systems. We designed a five-point framework—the Labor Safe Screen—and tested it for 118 products. The framework combines the use of technology in existing platforms with the collection of industry data and authoritative human rights data. Eighteen food companies used three or more components of the framework and systematically documented their supply chains, engaged suppliers, and crosschecked results. The companies were able to identify areas where working conditions met minimum principles, were unknown, or were inadequate. Three companies also incorporated direct worker feedback to focus resources and improve working conditions. We conclude that food companies can effectively and efficiently assess and reduce risks of forced labor in seafood supply chains—not to claim “no slavery” but to greatly improve their awareness of the labor conditions in the making of the products they trade and to identify feasible targets for further diligence and remedies.
... comm., District level official, Department of Social Evils Prevention, Vietnam, 1 October 2009) This picture can be contrasted with Ukraine, where there is increasing recognition by both my informants, as well as in existing databases, of the traffic of men. In Belarus and Ukraine, male victims accounted for 28.3% and 17.6% of the IOM caseload, respectively, between 2004 and 2006 (Surtees 2008). Among my informants, several pressed upon me the extent to which the profile of Ukrainian victims falls outside the scope of the presumed demographic. ...
During the last 15 years, we have witnessed a significant and increasing focus on human trafficking in the work and research of international organisations, local and international non-governmental organisations, governments, researchers and academics from a range of disciplines. However, the focus remains on presumed structural causes of trafficking, including assumptions regarding victims' levels of education and sex. Other socio-cultural factors are frequently ignored in trafficking discourse. Based on fieldwork carried out in Vietnam, Ghana and Ukraine from July 2009 to November 2010, including 50 interviews with key informants, this article directs attention to some of these oft-ignored factors that continue to act as a barrier to ending human trafficking. Attention is paid to three socio-cultural factors that act as road-blocks to efforts to counter trafficking in all three countries: first, the stigmatisation of both sex work and trafficking; second, a narrow understanding of who constitutes a victim of trafficking and third, lack of attention by researchers and activists to the role of images of successful migration abroad as an influential pull factor. These research findings indicate the importance of understanding the intersections between race, culture, gender, sexuality and class to relation to women's and men's involvement in unsafe and/or exploitative migration abroad.
... Abuse in the seafood industry is not unique to the GMS. Examples of coercive and deceptive labor practices in capture fisheries have been recorded in source countries such as Ukraine, Indonesia, and West Africa, and destination markets such as New Zealand, South Korea, Turkey, Russia, Ireland, and Scotland (Stringer et al. 2011;Surtees 2008Surtees , 2012ILO 2013;). The U.S. Department of Labor identifies fish from Thailand, Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines, and Uganda, as well as shrimp from Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Thailand, as being produced or processed with the use of forced labor, child labor, or both (DOL 2012). ...
... This is likely due not only to the difficulty in monitoring and enforcing labor standards in a global fishing fleet of roughly 4.32 million vessels (FAO 2012), but also because individuals often do not see themselves as 'victims' of trafficking or abuse (ILO 2013). Rather, many migrant workers-the ones most likely to experience trafficking or conditions of forced labor in seafood production and processing-view serious human rights violations in the workplace as simply circumstances of "bad luck" (Surtees 2008;see 'Challenges'). This is a common phenomenon when people in positions of power abuse those who are legally and economically vulnerable (UNODC 2013b). ...
... Construction work, into which one-fifth of our participants were trafficked, poses risks such as musculoskeletal problems, acute and chronic respiratory disease, and accidents and injuries [25][26][27][28][29]. These types of occupational risks may be heightened in trafficking situations, [30,31] in which people are likely to be doing hazardous work over long hours with few breaks, receive little to no equipment or safety training, little to no personal protective equipment, and may be subjected to violence and abuse and are likely to be residing in deprived, overcrowded living conditions [32][33][34][35][36]. Further research is now needed to identify the similarities and differences between the health risks and problems experienced by trafficked and non-trafficked workers in specific labor settings. ...
Research on the health of trafficked men and on the health problems associated with trafficking for labor exploitation are extremely limited. This study analysed data from a case series of anonymised case records of a consecutive sample of 35 men and women who had been trafficked for labor exploitation in the UK and who were receiving support from a non-governmental service between June 2009 and July 2010. Over three-quarters of our sample was male (77 %) and two-thirds aged between 18 and 35 years (mean 32.9 years, SD 10.2). Forty percent reported experiencing physical violence while they were trafficked. Eighty-one percent (25/31) reported one or more physical health symptoms. Fifty-seven percent (17/30) reported one or more post-traumatic stress symptoms. A substantial proportion of men and women who are trafficked for labor exploitation may experience violence and abuse, and have physical and mental health symptoms. People who have been trafficked for forced labor need access to medical assessment and treatment.
... • Trafficking in men, a trend less considered. The case of Ukraine and Belarus (Surtees 2008c) focuses on the trafficking of (primarily adult) males from Belarus and Ukraine between 2004 and 2007. This included 33 men trafficked into the fishing industry in 2005 and 2006. ...
... During the crab catching period, they would sleep only five hours in three days. They would sleep right in the corridor while the ship went 38 This is consistent with findings from other studies where fi shers are often expected to work very long hours, sometimes with no days off and in some instances days on end (de Coning 2011: 27;Pearson 2006;Robertson 2011;Surtees 2008c;UNIAP 2009). One study noted that employment contracts obtained by the ITF stipulate working hours of more than 18 hours a day (Whitlow 2004). ...
... I think that if there were statistics [on this] people would be shocked by the number of sailors who commit suicide or who find themselves in a difficult psychological situation or even in a psychiatric hospital. 72 Please see: Nygard et al., 2003: 46-7;Surtees & Somach 2008: 41;Surtees 2008cSurtees , 2007 This may particularly be an issue in countries in the former Soviet Union (FSU) where communist party officials sometimes used psychiatric care as an excuse to control or confine opponents, leading to a societywide mistrust in the past. One psychiatrist highlighted this issue in the context of a study on assistance to trafficked persons in the FSU: "People had a high level of fear that the Communist Party Council would do something to this person who has [psychological] problems. ...
Trafficking for forced labor, including trafficking for labor in the merchant shipping and fishing industries, has been increasingly recognized as a major form of human trafficking. Reported cases signal that there are aspects of the commercial fishing and seafaring sectors which may lend themselves particularly to trafficking abuses. This paper explores and discusses the experiences of trafficked Ukrainian seafarers and fishers in order that anti-trafficking policies and programs can take into account their experiences and needs. While the stories of these trafficked Ukrainian seafarers and fishers highlight some unique experiences, many of the issues raised i have wider application to incidences of trafficking at sea around the world.
... interview, 13 August 2009). While reports documenting the traffic of men (see Surtees, 2008) are rare, men also face social pressures to migrate. As Tatiana Ivanyuk, counter-trafficking specialist with the IOM Mission in Ukraine noted: ...
Human trafficking is a multi-causal and multi-dimensional issue. The case of Ukraine evidences this complexity, with relevant factors spanning Ukraine's political history, its relations with the EU and the current state of socio-economic development. This paper focuses on the role of barriers to full and equal participation in the labour market for Ukrainian women as a driver of human trafficking. The purpose is to use qualitative data and secondary sources to assess the extent to which a causal relationship can be identified between labour market barriers and vulnerability to trafficking and trafficking-like conditions that result from the search for economic betterment abroad by irregular or undocumented means. Attention is also paid to the pull factor of images of migrant success abroad, an element which is often neglected in trafficking discussions. Consequently, labour market barriers are intimately connected to the lure of migration success in destination countries, whether true, exaggerated or entirely false.
