HRC Starts New Research Project with Winrock International on Systemic Vulnerability to Human Trafficking

Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC) is starting a new project on researching the structural factors that shape vulnerabilities to trafficking in the following selected countries: Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Kyrgyzstan. The research is funded and in partnership with the Winrock International.

This project seeks to build an understanding of how policies and system-level practices lead to the increase or reduction of vulnerability conditions to trafficking, which involves two phases of research. First, to explore existing policies aiming to mitigate human trafficking; and second, to investigate the ways policies beyond those traditionally associated with trafficking in persons (e.g. policies addressing climate change) serve to exacerbate or ameliorate trafficking vulnerabilities.

The former includes a) understanding the preventative measures in place that ensure labour rights; b) the policies that enable accessible routes for legal and regular migration for all migrants; and c) the legal system for identifying and punishing illicit practices of the brokers. The latter phase includes the evaluation of the role of economic policies, climate change polices, and private sector policies that foster an environment that allows or discourages trafficking in the target countries. With a particular interest in examining the global supply chains, the team will also be looking at how low cost production of the private sectors increase vulnerability.

With the ease of COVID restriction, the team expects to conduct fieldwork in the three target countries in the upcoming months. We believe that witnessing the realities on the ground and speaking with the relevant stakeholders in person would definitely add irreplaceable value to our project.

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