New Directions in Research on Human Trafficking

• Author: Ronald Weitzer
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716214521562
• Published date: 01 May 2014
• Date: 01 May 2014

6 ANNALS, AAPSS, 653, May 2014

DOI: 10.1177/0002716214521562

I

New Directions

in Research on

Human

Trafficking

By

RONALD WEITZER

521562ANN The Annals of the American AcademyIntroduction

research-article2014

This article evaluates four popular claims regarding

human trafficking’s international magnitude, trends,

and seriousness relative to other illicit global activities.

I find that the claims are neither evidence-based nor

verifiable. Second, an argument is made for carefully

conducted microlevel research on trafficking. Several

such studies are described, including the contributions

to this volume of The ANNALS. I argue for microlevel

research, which has advantages over grand, macrolevel

claims—advantages that are both quantitative (i.e.,

identifying the magnitude of trafficking within a meas-

urable context) and qualitative (i.e., documenting com-

plexities in lived experiences)—and is better suited

to formulating contextually appropriate policy and

enforcement responses.

Keywords: sex trafficking; labor trafficking; micro-

level research; evidence-based policy

Over the past 20 years, human trafficking

has generated a tremendous amount of

public attention throughout the world. The

problem has received growing coverage in the

media; antitrafficking activism has skyrocketed;

and most countries have created new policies,

laws, and enforcement mechanisms to tackle

the problem.1 Yet much of the discourse, poli-

cymaking, and enforcement has lacked an evi-

dence basis, because so little high-quality

research has been done on the topic (Weitzer

2011; Zhang 2012).

Much of the popular writing on human traf-

ficking has been anecdotal or sensationalistic,

and most scholarly publications are either gen-

eral overviews of the problem or critiques of

the literature. A review of one hundred aca-

demic articles found that few contained origi-

nal data and most treated as “sources” or

Ronald Weitzer is a professor of sociology at George

Washington University. He has published extensively

on human trafficking, sex work, and legal prostitution

systems.

INTRODUCTION 7

“evidence” the assertions of government agencies and international organiza-

tions, even though these bodies had consistently failed to reveal their sources

(Zhang 2009). While many claims about trafficking have been made in popular

and academic writings, rarely have these claims been subjected to rigorous scien-

tific scrutiny (Gozdziak and Collett 2005; Zhang 2012).

Another problem is that most writing, policymaking, and law enforcement has

focused on the problem of sexual exploitation (Chuang 2010; UNODC 2006,

2012), and much of this takes the form of formulaic, sensationalized morality

tales of sexual abuse—highlighting lurid or disturbing cases and presenting them

as typical (Andrijasevic 2007; Snajdr 2013). Such representations are useful for

NGOs that have a vested interest in attracting media attention, funding, govern-

ment support, and public involvement, and they are also standard currency

among celebrities who have taken up the cause, as Dina Francesca Haynes

describes in her contribution to this volume. She shows how celebrities with little

or no expertise rise to become “experts” on sex trafficking, how their pronounce-

ments or activism help to enhance their reputations and careers, and how NGOs

and government officials leverage these celebrities for their own interests.

What gets sidelined in the focus on sex trafficking is labor trafficking—in agri-

culture, manufacturing, fishing, mining, and domestic service. Labor under

fraudulent or coercive circumstances can be quite harsh and manifests itself in

unfair deductions from wages, lack of pay altogether, confiscation of passports,

inhuman working and living conditions, deprivation of liberty (e.g., preventing

workers from leaving the workplace or making phone calls), beatings, and sexual

assault. Several of the articles in this volume address labor trafficking—those by

Danièle Bélanger, Denise Brennan, Neil Howard, Munim Joarder, Paul Miller,

Georgi Petrunov, and Sheldon Zhang—but much more research is needed in this

domain.

Definitional problems plague both scholarly and policy discussions of human

trafficking. Critiques of the literature often point to the lack of consensus on a

definition of trafficking—with some analysts insisting that virtually any illegal

migration for the purpose of obtaining work, and especially migration leading to

prostitution, is trafficking—irrespective of whether the individual consented or

was aware of the type and conditions of work at the destination (e.g., Kara 2009;

Yen 2008). Some governments engage in this conflation as well, mixing human

smuggling and trafficking into their official figures or legal code (United Nations

Office of Drugs and Crime [UNODC] 2006, 44; Zhang 2012) or equating traf-

ficking and slavery in official discourse if not in law (Chuang 2013; Weitzer 2007).

Georgi Petrunov points out in his article in this volume that, according to

Bulgarian law, anyone who “recruits, transports, conceals, or admits” a person for

sexual activities, forced labor, or removal of bodily organs is defined as a trafficker

“regardless of their consent.” In other words, simple recruitment of a consenting

adult for any of these activities is a trafficking offense. In Brazil, sex trafficking is

defined by law as “promoting, intermediating, or facilitating the entry of women

who practice prostitution into national territory or the exit of women who will

practice prostitution abroad”—whether or not force, deception, or exploitation is

involved.2 Research on cases prosecuted under this law reveals that they involved