Skip to main content

The UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons: An Aspirational Tool with Great Potential

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking

Abstract

The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is an assessment of the patterns and flows of trafficking in persons, based on country-level data from about 130 countries across the world. This chapter will examine the Global Report’s methodology and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of analyzing trafficking crime by using likely cases of human trafficking and victims as the units of analysis. It will also look at the results presented in the past editions of the report, as well as how the quality and quantity of the data available has changed over time. The question of the global magnitude of the trafficking crime and possible ways of estimating the number of trafficking victims will also be examined.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 549.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 699.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Boyd, Doreen S.; Jackson, Bethany; Wardlaw, Jessica; Foody, Giles M.; Marsh, Stuart; Bales, Kevin, Slavery From Space: Demonstrating the Role for Satellite Remote Sensing to Inform Evidence-Based Action Related to UN SDG Number 8. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bravo, Karen E., (2011), Follow the Money? Does the International Fight Against Money Laundering Provide a Model for International Anti-Trafficking Efforts?, 6 University of St. Thomas Law Journal 138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuang, Janie, (2005) The United States as Global Sheriff: Using Unilateral Sanctions to Combat Human Trafficking, 27 Michigan Journal of International Law 437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative, (2017) Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative Data Codebook, https://www.ctdatacollaborative.org/sites/default/files/CTDC%20codebook%20v6_0.pdf. Accessed 10 July 2018.

  • Cruff, Maarten; Dijk Jan van; & van der Heijden, (2017) The Challenge of Counting Victims of Human Trafficking: Not on the Record: A Multiple Systems Estimation of the Numbers of Human Trafficking Victims in the Netherlands in 2010–2015 by Year, Age, Gender, and Type of Exploitation, 30 Chance Journal 41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, Nigel; Turner, S.W.; Pugh, R.; Taylor, C., (1993) Estimated Numbers of Homeless and Homeless Mentally Ill People in Westminster by Using Capture-Recapture Analysis, BMJ 1994; 308: 27, https://www.bmj.com/content/308/6920/27.short.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallager, Anne, Improving the Effectiveness of the International Law on Human Trafficking: A Vision for the Future of U.S. Trafficking in Persons Reports, 12 Hum. Rights Rev. 381 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, Anne, (Cambridge University Pres) (2010), International Law of Human Trafficking, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, G. & McKeganey, N., (1996) Estimating the Prevalence of Drug Misuse in Dundee, Scotland: An Application of Capture-Recapture Methods, 50 Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 469, https://jech.bmj.com/content/50/4/469.citation-tools.

  • Kelley, Judith G, (Cambridge University Press) (2017) Case Study Supplement: A Closer Look at Outcomes. A Companion to Scorecard Diplomacy: Grading States to Influence Their Reputation and Behavior, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, Lindsey, International Law and Human Trafficking, Topical Research Digest: Human Rights and Human Trafficking: 88–90 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ling, Paul, (2014) Reporting Bias: An Obstacle to Evaluating the Weaknesses of International Law, U.S. Naval Academy, http://web.isanet.org/Web/Conferences/ISSS%20Austin%202014/Archive/83274f90-8bdb-4a0c-8f91-ffab5f07c954.pdf. Accessed 7 July 2018.

  • Lum, Kristian; Price, Megan Emily; & Banks, David, (2012) Applications of Multiple Systems Estimation in Human Rights Research, 67 The American Statistician 191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, Christine, (1991), Strategic Responses to Institutional Processes, 16(1) The Academy of Management Review 145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oosterlee, Arie; Vink, Remy M.; Smit, Filip, (2009) Prevalence of Family Violence in Adults and Children: Estimates Using Capture-Recapture Method, 19(6) European Journal of Public Health 586, https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article-abstract/19/6/586/517514.

  • Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique; Hickle, Kristine E.; Ryon, Stephanie Bontrager; Hedberg, Eric, (2016) Invisible Offenders: A Study Estimating Online Sex Customers, 2:4 Journal of Human Trafficking, 272, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291347670_Invisible_Offenders_A_Study_Estimating_Online_Sex_Customers.

  • Rosenman, Robert; Tennekoon, Vidhura; Hill, Laura G., Measuring Bias in Self-Reported Data, 2 Int. J. Behav. Heathc. Res. 320 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiefenbrun, Susan W., (2007), Updating the Domestic and International Impact of the U.S. Victims of Trafficking Protection Act of 2000: Does Law Deter Crime? 38(2) Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 249.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, General Assembly A/RES/64/293 (12 August 2010), https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CCPCJ/Crime_Resolutions/2000-2009/2009/General_Assembly/A-RES-64-293.pdf. Accessed 8 July 2018.

Further Reading

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vanessa Bouché .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bouché, V., Bailey, M. (2020). The UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons: An Aspirational Tool with Great Potential. In: Winterdyk, J., Jones, J. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63058-8_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics