Economic Shocks and Human Trafficking Risks: Evidence from IOM’s Victims of Human Trafficking Database

The World Bank and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) place importance on advancing an understanding of the drivers of human trafficking . To begin addressing some knowledge gaps, this joint report analyzes a unique micro-level trafficked victims’ database compiled and updated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to answer two key analytical questions. First, do economic shocks increase the number of detected human trafficking cases from and within countries of origin? Second, can good institutions—ones that can enable adherence to the rule of law and the provision of access to justice or anti-trafficking policies in particular—and social assistance moderate the possible negative effects of economic shocks on trafficking cases in origin countries?
Through its support to victims of trafficking, IOM has developed the largest database of human trafficking cases in the world. In line with the growing recognition that trafficking is a domestic problem as well as a transnational crime, roughly 20 percent of trafficking cases in the Victims of Human Trafficking database for which the destination information is available took place within a country’s borders.1 IOM’s database does not represent the entire universe of human trafficking victims. It only covers countries with an IOM presence on the ground
(which varies across space and over time) and only captures trafficking victims who are being assisted by IOM (including those initially identified by IOM partners who are later referred to IOM).