Human trafficking, complex systems and (dis)organised crime: A comparative social network analysis of trafficking for labour exploitation

• In Event: Complex systems, spatial and social networks underpinning human trafficking, people smuggling and labour migration

Abstract

Offender-focused research into human trafficking remains remarkably rare. Existing such research, however, often challenges stereotypical conceptions of traffickers as hyper-organised criminal masterminds. Social network analysis (SNA) is an increasingly popular method for understanding structural relations underpinning criminal activity and informing more nuanced responses. Yet, its application to human trafficking specifically remains underdeveloped and comparative case studies are also uncommon more generally. We draw here on an unusual and novel dataset derived from 170 in-depth case files for people officially identified in the UK as victims of labour trafficking (all were EU nationals and files were accessed with the National Crime Agency’s support). From them, we identified 350 confirmed or suspected trafficking offenders, extracting individual and relational data. These 350 offenders split into 100 distinct components, ranging size from one to 19 offenders. Using cluster analysis based on key network metrics, we then identified four distinct categories of labour trafficking offender structures. In this paper, we examine how these four ‘types’ compare, also considering variation within each cluster. We also show how adding connections to victims can change our understanding of the structural characteristics of trafficking networks in important ways. Overall, our results add weight to conceptualisations of trafficking as a complex system: varied, dynamic and full of dependencies and interactions. We found considerable evidence of offending structures that challenge conceptions of trafficking as organised crime: for example, roughly a third of cases were comprised of a lone offender and nearly a quarter involved only a pair of offenders. Our results emphasise the limits to the dominant organised crime frame of anti-trafficking and show the need for more nuance and disaggregation in analysis and responses. We also consider the limitations of our study and the implications for future research. This project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Authors

• Ella Cockbain, UCL

• Donia Khanegi, UCL

• Kate Bowers, Professor, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London

• Matt Ashby, UCL

• Aili Malm, California State University Long Beach