Exploring determinants of different forms of human trafficking and migrant labour exploitation to inform prevention interventions. (specification by c
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Department Name: Public Health and Policy
Abstract
Aim: To apply a public health approach to understand factors that increase migrants' risk of or protect them from exploitation and promote safe migration initiatives. Draft objectives: (more specificity added when country and target population are confirmed).
Identify individual, household and community level risk factors for exploitation at the various stages of migration (contemplation, preparation, transit and arrival), including labour exploitation; Identify migration strategies and potential protective factors to inform safer labour migration interventions; Assess how migrants seek and value information at the various stages of migration; Assess the ways migrants use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the various stages of migration to seek information and/or mitigate risk; Consider theoretical approaches for adaptation and use to guide interventions to prevent exploitation; Describe strengths and weaknesses of research methodologies and data collection tools (potentially ICT) to assess risk and protective factors in the migration cycle. Potential geographical and thematic areas being identified during the current scoping phase (October-November 2017) highly relevant to Freedom Fund hotspot programming, are:
ESRC Studentships at LSHTM
Je-S Information Request
from the Scholarships Team in Registry
2
Myanmar: Forced migration and increased bride trafficking of the Rohingya population.
Lebanon: Child labour amongst Syrian and Palestinian refugees residing in Lebanon.
Thailand: Domestic and international labour migration to the Thai fishing industry, both successful migration journeys and the various exploitative outcomes to assess risk and protective factors.
Ethiopia: The information seeking behaviors of young women seeking employment in the Middle East and Gulf States as domestic help; how they identified employment, how they secured travel documents, transit logistics, etc.
India: Internal migration risks for women and youth migrating for textile industry work.
Proposed methodological approaches:
The first stages of my research will consist of expert consultations, Freedom Fund hotspot mapping and systematically reviewing the literature on migration and labour exploitation in the selected Freedom Fund hotspot (summarising any literature identifying risk factors, mapping slavery prevention and response interventions, identifying intervention evaluations, etc.) [currently taking place and scheduled to conclude by end of November 2017]. The empirical data collection component of this research will employ a mixed method approach. I will conduct qualitative in-depth interviews (and/or focus group discussions) with multiple target populations (prospective migrants, migrant workers, relevant industry workforces, families of migrants, etc.). I will also choose between two additional methodological approaches:
a) quantitative data collection among returnee migrant workers at a site or sites selected in collaboration with the Freedom Fund; or
b) multi-phased 'longitudinal' research to follow a cohort of migrants from pre-departure to destination and possible return.
Considerations as an ESRC scholarship awardee:
Undertaking an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Freedom Fund Cofunded doctoral study will directly shape my career as a social scientist, scholar and public health specialist in a field in which I have come to be deeply invested. The ESRC aims to promote and support high-quality research and related postgraduate training on social and economic issues. The global phenomena of migrant labour exploitation is both and will require an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach. I am confident that this training will equip me to conduct research that engages with a range of beneficiaries and produces
evidence that will feed into interventions and policies related to migration, safety and health.
Identify individual, household and community level risk factors for exploitation at the various stages of migration (contemplation, preparation, transit and arrival), including labour exploitation; Identify migration strategies and potential protective factors to inform safer labour migration interventions; Assess how migrants seek and value information at the various stages of migration; Assess the ways migrants use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the various stages of migration to seek information and/or mitigate risk; Consider theoretical approaches for adaptation and use to guide interventions to prevent exploitation; Describe strengths and weaknesses of research methodologies and data collection tools (potentially ICT) to assess risk and protective factors in the migration cycle. Potential geographical and thematic areas being identified during the current scoping phase (October-November 2017) highly relevant to Freedom Fund hotspot programming, are:
ESRC Studentships at LSHTM
Je-S Information Request
from the Scholarships Team in Registry
2
Myanmar: Forced migration and increased bride trafficking of the Rohingya population.
Lebanon: Child labour amongst Syrian and Palestinian refugees residing in Lebanon.
Thailand: Domestic and international labour migration to the Thai fishing industry, both successful migration journeys and the various exploitative outcomes to assess risk and protective factors.
Ethiopia: The information seeking behaviors of young women seeking employment in the Middle East and Gulf States as domestic help; how they identified employment, how they secured travel documents, transit logistics, etc.
India: Internal migration risks for women and youth migrating for textile industry work.
Proposed methodological approaches:
The first stages of my research will consist of expert consultations, Freedom Fund hotspot mapping and systematically reviewing the literature on migration and labour exploitation in the selected Freedom Fund hotspot (summarising any literature identifying risk factors, mapping slavery prevention and response interventions, identifying intervention evaluations, etc.) [currently taking place and scheduled to conclude by end of November 2017]. The empirical data collection component of this research will employ a mixed method approach. I will conduct qualitative in-depth interviews (and/or focus group discussions) with multiple target populations (prospective migrants, migrant workers, relevant industry workforces, families of migrants, etc.). I will also choose between two additional methodological approaches:
a) quantitative data collection among returnee migrant workers at a site or sites selected in collaboration with the Freedom Fund; or
b) multi-phased 'longitudinal' research to follow a cohort of migrants from pre-departure to destination and possible return.
Considerations as an ESRC scholarship awardee:
Undertaking an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Freedom Fund Cofunded doctoral study will directly shape my career as a social scientist, scholar and public health specialist in a field in which I have come to be deeply invested. The ESRC aims to promote and support high-quality research and related postgraduate training on social and economic issues. The global phenomena of migrant labour exploitation is both and will require an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach. I am confident that this training will equip me to conduct research that engages with a range of beneficiaries and produces
evidence that will feed into interventions and policies related to migration, safety and health.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000592/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 1922829 | Studentship | ES/P000592/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/06/2021 | Alys McAlpine |
| Title | Dynamic Participatory Egocentric Network survey tool (DPEN tool) |
| Description | This is an interactive participatory tablet-based survey tool that allows the collection of egocentric network data in a mixed-methods interview. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The code for this tool is publicly available on GitHub. My co-creators and I have co-authored a paper presenting the development and piloting of this tool. It has been accepted to a National University of Singapore hosted workshop on migration research methodologies scheduled for Nov 2020. After the workshop it is intended to be included in a special issue journal on new research methods with migrant populations (which is the population we piloted and used this tool with). |
| Description | Fieldwork and data collection partner |
| Organisation | Freedom Fund UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | I have been partnering with Freedom Fund on the design and implementation of my PhD research since the beginning of my scholarship. Freedom Fund is an anti-slavery fund that supports research and interventions aiming to eradicate modern day slavery. The research I am conducting is supporting their portfolio of intervention development and advocacy work. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Freedom Fund played an integral role in establishing my connections with their local field-based NGO partners for collaboration in the data collection phase of my research. Freedom Fund also contribute 5000 GBP toward my fieldwork activities and to offer financial support to the interviewees and partners making the fieldwork feasible. |
| Impact | There are not yet publicly available outputs from this collaboration. In the process of this work we have developed an egocentric network data collection application and collected data from 100+ Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. We have documented this data collection tool in a paper which has been accepted for presentation and special-issue journal publication at a National University of Singapore hosted Migration Research Methodologies workshop scheduled for Nov 2020. |
| Start Year | 2017 |