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The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking pp 177–194Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Ethical Considerations for Studying Human Trafficking

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Abstract

This chapter outlines ethical considerations for doing research on human trafficking. It presents ethical challenges not only for interacting with and studying the experiences of trafficked persons and their communities but also for describing, explaining, and presenting trafficking as a social problem more generally. An ethical approach to trafficking research includes giving considerable thought to how a study is designed, ethically negotiating access to respondents, being honest about how the researcher’s social position and emotional reactions to respondents in the field will impact findings, and being diligent about recognizing ethical conundrums as they arise. The chapter begins with how researchers might consider the ethical implications of their research design, negotiate access, and address their positionality. It then turns to practical suggestions for trauma-informed and culturally sensitive data collection, in addition to guidelines for ethically representing and disseminating findings.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Tania E. DoCarmo

Authors
  1. Tania E. DoCarmo
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Correspondence to Tania E. DoCarmo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Justice and Policy Studies, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB, Canada

    John Winterdyk

  2. Former Professor of Feminist Legal Studies, Cardiff, UK

    Jackie Jones

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DoCarmo, T.E. (2020). Ethical Considerations for Studying Human Trafficking. 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_8

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