SSRP Abstract

Board 18: Dismantling Human Trafficking: An Updated Comparative Study on Anti-trafficking Policies and Transnational Advocacy in Southeast Asia

Student Scientist: Brianna DeMuth ’23
Research Mentor: John M. Herbert (Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The Ohio State University)

Human trafficking is a complicated global issue and one that is very hard to get data on. It is particularly challenging in Southeast Asia where incoming and outgoing trafficking rates are high and reporting is low. We want to know why some countries are better at addressing human trafficking than others when they do not necessarily have better human rights practices. Government corruption has a lot to do with successful human trafficking policy outcomes.

How much advocacy power does a country have when it comes to human trafficking? We give an in-depth analysis of human trafficking, and how current advocates can increase social demands and opportunities for transnational human rights regimes. We assess how much advocacy power states possess by first updating a famous dataset called the 3P Anti-trafficking Policy Index and then apply this to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations via textual analysis of the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Reports and the UNODC’s Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. This dataset focuses on the major aspects of global anti-trafficking policies: prevention, protection, and prosecution, but has not been updated publicly in seven years. The data was supplemented with a case study on Thailand. We coded using Stata for data science software, and after analysis gave suggestions on what variables advocates should focus on and the social factors that help or hinder these variables. We find that overall, since the ratification of the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, human trafficking data and policy implementation have increased significantly. However, improvement and high scores do not necessarily correlate to better human rights practices or better victim protection. Government corruption is a large factor in the success or failure of policy outcomes and their effectiveness to suppress and prevent trafficking.