Disparities Between Human Trafficking Detection and Conviction: A Cross-National Examination of Structural Factors

• In Event: Comparative and Cross-National Comparisons of Trafficking and Missing Persons

Abstract

While human trafficking has garnered an increase in research and attention in the past decade, there are still major gaps to fill. Most notably, cross-national research that draws data from a large sample of countries has been especially rare. Thus, while some studies have made comparisons between two or three countries—in reference to rates of human trafficking detection or conviction and the risk factors for human trafficking—large-scale, cross-national analyses largely do not yet appear in the literature. This study addresses that gap with an analysis that seeks to explain variation among 133 countries in rates of human trafficking detection, conviction, and conviction-to-detection ratios. The independent variables in the analysis involve structural factors pertaining to such things as economic characteristics, repressive policies, such as the legalization of sex work and the following of Sharia law, and gender and ethnic composition. Initial findings suggest that different structural factors do have varying effects on detection rates, conviction rates, and the conviction-to-detection rate.

Author

• Ashton Cobb, Florida State University