Interventions to prevent and reduce human trafficking, or support and rehabilitate victims of human trafficking
Mapping review
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Commision to identify and map all research related to human trafficking.
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Key message
The Social Research Unit at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services was commissioned by the Directorate for Norwegian National Police Directorate to identify and map all research related to human trafficking.
Methods
We conducted a systematic literature search in June 2014. We only included empirical studies and systematic reviews. did Two review authors independently assessed the identified references for inclusion/exclusion. The references were sorted according to study design, type of exposure or intervention that was being evaluated, population, type of publication and year of publication.
Results
- We identified 7113 unique references, and assessed 102 as being relevant according to the inclusion criteria.
- The included studies employed the following study designs: quantitative (13), qualitative (52), mixed-methods (15), systematic review (2), and unclear (20). There does not seem to be enough relevant research to conduct a systematic review of this topic.
- The first systematic review (search completed in 2009) examined the effect of preventive interventions. No controlled studies met the inclusion criteria so the authors could not conclude on the effect of such interventions. The second review (search completed in 2011) examined the degree to which victims of human trafficking experience violence and serious health problems. It showed that victims experience violence and serious health problems, but more research is needed on male victims and other types of trafficking than trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Many studies looked at the effect of or victims’ experiences with trafficking in general (73). The remainder of the studies examined preventive interventions (9), rehabilitative interventions (17) or interventions to identify victims (1).
- We need systematic reviews on the effect of rehabilitative interventions, and an update of the review on the effect of preventive interventions.
We have sorted and listed all possibly relevant references, but we have neither read the papers in full, critically appraised their methodological quality, nor synthesised their conclusions.