Trafficking in persons (TIP) – the recruitment, transportation, harboring, and/or control of the movement of persons for the purpose of exploitation – is a problem throughout the world. But defining the exact size and scope of the issue, and how to address it, is extremely difficult. Due to their vulnerability, TIP survivors are difficult to identify, engage with, and track, which makes measuring efforts to counter and reduce TIP a tremendous challenge.
Today, July 30th, is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024. Khulisa has conducted a lot of research and evaluation work with survivors of trafficking (see examples here and here), and in recognition of this day, we’d like to share our experience developing evaluation strategies for – and with – this vulnerable population.
Below are several important considerations and lessons we’ve learned through our TIP research and evaluation work over the past several years.
- Ensuring the voices of beneficiaries and participants are heard
When working with vulnerable populations like TIP survivors, it’s important to remember the expression: “Nothing About Us, Without Us”. We must ensure the voices of the vulnerable people we work with are heard in a meaningful way – not just in terms of answering questions for the evaluation, but being involved across the design, implementation, evaluation, and reflection stages of the project.
- Protecting survivors and taking a multi-disciplinary approach
Due to the sensitive nature of TIP research and the vulnerability of survivors, the Khulisa team takes a multidisciplinary approach, working with a team that includes professionals like psychologists and social workers as well as evaluators.
- Ensuring evaluation tools uphold the principles of fairness and relevancy
When creating tools to evaluate TIP-related programs, we ask ourselves: Are these tools enabling the meaningful participation of vulnerable populations? For example, distributing a survey to which all respondents must respond in English, regardless of their home language, could discourage meaningful participation, as could distributing a written survey without considering the literacy levels of potential respondents. Research tools must be fit-for-purpose for both the end data users and the vulnerable populations providing the data.
- Meaningful engagement and informed consent
Conducting research with TIP survivors requires a particularly high level of engagement. Implementing a survey with TIP survivors is not as easy as simply distributing a link to survey questions and awaiting the responses, as one would when surveying a business or a customer service recipient.
Victims of TIP are often experiencing or recovering from acute trauma, and they may hesitate to provide personal information for fear of retaliation or other consequences. Researchers must honestly and authentically engage with the vulnerable populations with whom they’re working, ensuring everyone understands what the data is for and how it will be used.
Similarly, obtaining informed consent takes on a different form and meaning when working with TIP survivors, compared with obtaining informed consent from service providers or social workers, for example. Before providing their consent to participate in research or evaluation, TIP survivors may need a lot more discussion and engagement to feel comfortable enough to participate.
When working with TIP survivors, our team takes special care to communicate that participation is completely voluntary, and survivors should participate only because they truly wish to be part of the intervention.
- Data protocols
Data collected from vulnerable populations must be closely protected for the safety and security of the individuals participating. When the Khulisa team works with survivors, only the most essential staff members know the names of the survivors involved. Khulisa anonymizes survivors’ names in the finance system so the survivors can be paid without having their identities revealed. Also, our databases have multiple levels of security so that no one can access survivors’ information and personal stories, even by accident.
We share the data we collect with the survivors involved, so they can see how we’ve used the data and amend anything, give advice, or request changes before the (anonymous) findings are shared publicly.
- Measuring outcomes for vulnerable populations
When developing outcome tools to measure the vulnerability of a particular population in a particular place, academic research papers and international best practices may not provide the nuances and local context necessary to capture the actual lived experiences of that vulnerable population. To capture that local context, it’s important to include the voices of the survivors themselves in the design of the tools.
- Incorporating a close-out process for survivors
When creating and executing a TIP evaluation strategy, it’s important to include a close-out process for participating survivors and to keep survivors informed on that process from the start. At the start of a project, the survivors we work with receive terms of reference stating their participation in the study and specifying the month when the study will end. The official close-out preparations begin three months before a project is completed.
Consistent transparency and communication around the exact timelines and expectations creates a sense of trust and safety, which is essential for the participation of the TIP survivors.
Conclusion
While working with vulnerable groups like TIP survivors requires extra layers of focus, security, and sensitivity, the outcomes of a study like this are worth the effort. Survivors who have participated in our research and evaluation activities see themselves as advocates, seeking to support other survivors with knowledge gained from their participation and the continuation of their healing processes.
Read Khulisa’s 2020 and 2022 research on the nature and scope of TIP in South Africa.