Use of Randomized Controlled Trials in Evaluation of Anti-Trafficking Interventions

• In Event: Human Trafficking: Victim Compensation, Forced Criminality, and Responsible Interventions

Abstract

A whole social service industry has emerged in various corners of the world claiming to fight against various forms of human trafficking, forced labor, or modern slavery. Billions of dollars have been poured into various social services and intervention programs to counter human trafficking around the world. But we know little about the efficacy of any type of intervention in what duration or configurations. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have become the most dominant evaluation strategy in development economics, a closely related field. But RCTs are the exceptions in anti-trafficking program evaluation. This paper makes an argument for using RCTs not only as an ideal evaluation strategy but a moral imperative to establish treatment efficacy before widely applying any interventions to trafficking survivors.

Author

• Sheldon X Zhang, University of Massachusetts Lowell