Anti–Human Trafficking Interventions

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, a significant number of programs and policies have been developed and implemented to prevent and combat human trafficking. At the international, regional and national levels, government, and international, and nongovernment organizations have established plans of action, conducted training, developed policy tools, and conducted a variety of other activities to counter the phenomenon of trafficking in persons. However, only a small number of these antihuman trafficking interventions have been evaluated and an even fewer number have been evaluated rigorously. This article explores the approaches that have been used to evaluate anti-human trafficking interventions. Through a review of 49 evaluations, the study finds that action is required to increase quality evaluations of anti-human trafficking programs in order to ensure that programs are targeted, implemented, and delivered effectively, and the knowledge on the impact of programs is improved.

Combatting Human Trafficking since Palermo: What Do We Know about What Works?

“…Walk Free conducted one such review in 2015, called the promising practices database, identifying 179 evaluations of modern slavery programing and interventions to tackle related phenomena such as forced genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), child labor, and early marriage. The findings from this and similar reviews of anti-trafficking interventions so far show us that the quality of evaluations needs to improve before a clear understanding of what works can become a reality (Bryant & Joudo, 2018;Davy, 2015;2016;Hames, Dewar, & Napier-Moor, 2010;van der Laan, Smit, Busschers, & Aarten, 2011).…”

“…First, it is apparent that the number of evaluations of anti-trafficking interventions are on the rise, but that evaluation is still seen as optional. While signs point to a growing practice of conducting evaluations, there is a dearth of publicly available evaluations of anti-trafficking programs and interventionsoften they are kept internal or not conducted at all (Davy, 2016). Similar findings appear even when the end of project evaluations are included.…”

“…Given prior and existing activity, and as new actors such as the Freedom Fund and the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery enter into the anti-modern slavery policy area, the promising practices database aimed to draw out the lessons learned from the work conducted to date. Previous reviews of evaluations have identified a limited number of robust evaluations and impact assessments conducted in the anti-trafficking field (Davy, 2016;van der Laan et al, 2011). However, most projects and interventions to combat trafficking and related forms of exploitation are subject to log frame programmatic documents, donor reporting, mid-term reviews, and end of project evaluations.…”

“…The promising practices database and the current literature on monitoring and evaluation of antitrafficking interventions establish patterns in current practice from which we can learn important lessons. Several systematic reviews have been conducted in the past decade, throwing light on the practice of evaluation in the sector and offering insight into gaps in our knowledge (Bryant & Joudo, 2018;Davy, 2015;2016;Hames et al, 2010;van der Laan et al, 2011). These studies support many of the conclusions of this paper.…”

“…Often missing was an explicit theory of change underpinning program logic. This can lead to program objectives that are not clearly defined, are overly broad and impossible to evaluate or too narrow to reflect meaningful impact (Bryant & Joudo, 2018;Davy, 2016). Program objectives which are clear, meaningful, achievable, and measurable frame an entire project.…”