Research Proposal: Human Trafficking in England and Wales (not the UK? Why not? Explain)

The research statement (A statement is different from a research question. What is your research question?)

Trafficking in persons is a serious crime that violates human rights, and research indicates every year, thousands of children, women, and men fall victim to human traffickers in England and Wales. (Reference?)

Research Questions

  1. What are the key factors that contribute to human trafficking in England and Wales?
  2. What forces people to engage in human trafficking, and what are their experiences?
  3. What are the most significant challenges associated with the identification of human trafficking victims? (There is only one research question. I suggest that these are objectives, albeit they require refining)

The aim and objectives

Research aim

This study aims to identify the key factors that contribute to human trafficking in England and Wales and what forces people to get into human trafficking and their experiences. It also aims to explore challenges that affect the identification of human trafficking victims in England and Wales. The proposal will offer more human trafficking data (what does this means), as numerous NGOs (in full on the first occasion it is used.) are involved in curbing this crime (Munro, 2020).

Research objectives (These need to be melded into the research questions you have above. You require four objectives which become four themes and represent the four chapters at the core of your thesis.Is there enough literature for you to review on the four objectives you select.

  1. To determine factors that perpetuate high incidences of human trafficking in England and Wales.
  2. To investigate the specific cultural practices(what do you mean by this) that increase the trafficking vulnerability.
  3. To identify challenges associated with the identification of human trafficking victims in England and Wales.
  4. Aims to bridge the research gap will enable better policies, programs, and services to prevent human trafficking.(this needs refining and redrafting)

Research methodology

Methodological Rationale

The literature review incorporates existing studies to gather data and information regarding the research questions and provide justification for the research topic.(reference) In this case, this study’s chosen methodology is a literature review that will provide the researcher with a comprehensive summary of data and information on previous studies on the research topic. The literature review will provide a theoretical base for this research. It will help the researcher enumerate, describe, summarize, and objectively evaluate and clarify previous investigations concerning the current study. Therefore, this paper will utilize secondary sources from past research, government, and NGO data linked to this topic.

The study will employ an integrative literature review. An integrative literature review incorporates a distinctive form of research that generates new knowledge and understanding of the topic under consideration (Scholte et al., 2017). The approach reviews synthesises and critique the literature on the subject in an integrated manner to answer the research questions and meet the study’s aims. This method will allow the researcher to carry out a thorough critique and synthesis (Duplication) of information and results of chosen literature related to research/study. It generates new frameworks and aspects on the topic (how?) while applying maximum thoroughness and rigor to identify and understand the crucial factors that lead to human trafficking in England and Wales as well as the experiences of the victims as they suffer from several forms of trauma such as mental trauma (Scholte et al., 2017). By doing so, the researcher will identify the gap in the pieces of literature. This methodological approach is also vital in ensuring that the researcher advances this topic since it is a dynamic topic that keeps changing with the move in time and the ever-changing socio-cultural practices.

Literature search strategy

The researcher will use academic search engines such as Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, and DMU library search engine to search for the relevant literature. The research proposal methodology involves gathering different insights from past studies, government and NGO data. These academic search engines will help collect and combine the relevant literature as they give access to most of the current published peer-reviewed articles from 2008 to 2020. To access this literature, the researcher will use several search terms that will be keyed in the search tab to locate these relevant articles. The search terms that will be used to find the articles for the literature review will include (1) Human trafficking in England and Wales, (2) Modern slavery in England and Wales, (3) Child trafficking in England and Wales, and (4) Sex trafficking in England and Wales.

Search results are diverse, and many studies have been carried concerning the research topic. Others relate to child trafficking, others on countering human trafficking, and others are about modern slavery in the form of sex trafficking. However, the sources’ diversity is that others relate to human trafficking in various countries, for instance, the United States. But in this case, the researcher will choose pieces of literature based on specific places of study that are England and Wales. The Inclusion and exclusion criteria will be followed to ensure that the right sources are chosen for the study. The inclusion criteria are that sources that fall under the mentioned years will be included in the study, but those which fall outside the stated years will be excluded. Additionally, the sources will be streamlined to human trafficking sources to choose specific literature in line with human trafficking in England and Wales.  (The inclusion of this is excellent but the section needs re-drafting.)

Results of the literature search

The literature search will yield results that will include governmental and non-governmental data on human trafficking in England and Wales. The data ( What type of data – quantitative and/or qualitative?) will consist of that which is collected and stored by agencies such as the forty-three police forces of England and Wales, British Transport Police, Border Force, National Crime Agency, Home Office UK Visas and Immigration Directorate, as well as other relevant local authorities and law enforcement agencies since this crime is monitored by a multi-agency team (Van Dyke, 2017). The literature will include the roles and responsibilities of the various government agencies in curbing this vice. The literature will also include the factors that lead to increased vulnerabilities to human traffickings, such as age, sex, gender, unemployment, and how it protects trafficking victims (Fashanu et al., 2019). The literature search will also include academic articles done (grammar)  in previous studies documenting the extent of human trafficking, factors that contribute to human trafficking, and the plight of the victims of human trafficking in England and Wales. (You need to describe how the inclusionary and exclusionary criteria reduce the volume of literature. For example you started with 10k articles but inclusionary reduced it by 3k articles and exclusionary reduced it by a further 5k…..the figures are imaginary!!)

Proposed means of analysis

The proposed study is qualitative, and it entails using secondary sources from other studies related to the topic of study. Qualitative research incorporates collecting and analyzing non-numerical data and information from the text and existing literature to understand concepts, experiences, or opinions. (Reference) It uses existing sources or secondary data analysis to explain concepts and issues related to the research topic. It will include only secondary data, and hence the thematic analysis will be applied. The thematic analysis involves a method used to identify and analyze repeated patterns or themes within a text or data, after which codes are classified (Do you intend to code material? This is a difficult task and, if you do, you must explain the codes and their rationale in the research design.)to the chosen themes in line with the research questions and aims of the study(reference). This analytical method emphasizes the researcher’s capacity to pinpoint, examine and record all the patterns in the obtained data that will be relevant in meeting the study’s objectives (Braun et al., 2019). The analysis method will also make it possible for the researcher to examine and identify research gaps in the previous studies and then fill these gaps.

The researcher will first familiarize with the collected data, analyze and assess based on the study’s research questions and objectives. The first theme will be in line with the key factors/root(not in academic script) causes of human trafficking, and the second theme will relate to forces that make people engage/or join human trafficking. The last themes will relate to challenges associated with the identification of human trafficking victims. These themes will be analyzed in line with the research objectives (repetition).The researcher will then assign preliminary codes (as my previous comment) to the data categories to enhance an accessible description of the content. The researcher will then search for the primary themes in the codes and reviews them, which will eventually lead to developing the final report that addresses the research aim and objectives.

Validity and triangulation

The researcher will use the triangulation method to establish the validity of the literature obtained for this proposed study. This method comprises gathering data from various sources using varied means but still maintaining its relevance (Abdalla et al., 2018). The researcher will apply a data triangulation method to develop a comprehensive understanding of the topic related to data. Triangulation uses diverse data sources to reduce biases that result from a single form. Accuracy is confirmed in the study because the triangulation method facilitates the validity test with the help of the convergence of information from different sources (Hill, 2015).  Credibility is observed alongside replicability and representativeness in the study because research results will be robust and rich, comprehensive, and well-developed(How can you guarantee that? What is the benchmark or criteria for assessing these important factors?? This sentence is also linked to the integrity of the material you review and should be incorporated into the ethics section. After all, it is built from diverse sources of literature.

Research Ethics

Research ethics incorporates respect for anonymity and confidentiality and respect (duplication) for privacy. In this case, the researcher will observe all grounds of ethics in the study by ensuring that data collected are meant for the purpose it was collected for but not contrary to the intention (Connelly, 2016). In this case, the data and information collected will be meant to study only to build and provide back up (material to inform)to the research topic. Therefore, confidentiality and privacy will be highly observed to protect data and information for the study’s purpose only. For example, the data collected will not be provided to any third party without the researchers (Hill, 2015) (Not required but comment that all the material referred to in the study is open-sourced. The integrity issue is that the material/research you access has not divulged confidentiality and anonymity.)Besides, human trafficking victims’ names will be concealed even when talking about some of the victim’s experiences for purposes of confidentiality and privacy (Munhall, 2018) (See my previous comment – this should have been accomplished in the initial research and/or literature.)The researcher will observe anonymity where there will be no personal identification of information or sources chosen for the study, but inclusion and exclusion criteria will be followed.  (Explain how this is connected to ethics)

The sample literature review

Context of the research

Taking action against human trafficking in England and Wales has been at the center of the UK government due to these crime rates’ escalation(evidence,reference). Modern Slavery Act of 2015 was passed through parliament, and it is designed to combat modern slavery in the United Kingdom(reference). It incorporates several offences related to trafficking and slavery to curb this societal menace that causes pain to victims and violates their human rights of free movement and freedom to speech (Kaye and Winterdyk, 2017). The primary causes of human trafficking that increase the victim’s vulnerability include poverty, lack of primary education, family breakages, lack of job opportunities, low immigration policies, and environmental conditions (Matczak, Hatzidimitriadou, and Lindsay, 2018). Despite all these known challenges, Aronowitz, 2019, determined that a primary cause of vulnerability that towers above all these other causes in England and Wales is the traffickers’ decision to capitalize on all these other vulnerabilities by compelling their victims mostly to work as prostitutes (United Nations 2008). According to Goodey, 2018, sex trafficking is the most effective (what is meant by that word) form of human trafficking in England and Wales, followed by child trafficking. Women are forced into this vice due to increased poverty and lack of good job opportunities (Munro, 2017). According to the Office of National Statistics (2020), modern slavery offences recorded by the police in 2019 were 5,144 in England and Wales. Based on these statistics, there was an increase in human trafficking by 51% compared to that of 2018 (Office of National Statistics 2020).

Sociocultural practices include social groups, norms, and beliefs that make people remain members of given social groups in the community (reference)Several cultural practices in England and Wales increase the victim’s vulnerability to trafficking. For example, the culture of ethnic discrimination (by whom) of the minority ethnic groups such as racism and ethnic bias increases the risk of human trafficking within England and Wales (why? Elaborate) Culture (which culture) supports people’s oppression, and engaging them in human trafficking does not bother the perpetrators (Oram et al., 2016). These ethnic minorities often have low socio-economic statuses, high poverty rates, and are highly likely to be marginalized (Scoular and Carline, 2014). A combination of these factors, coupled with the inability to access justice in the court system because of a lack of support and representation, increases human trafficking (Owen, 2019). According to Spapens (2017), the previous European supremacy attitudes engraved in their culture during the colonial times with sexual exploitation and abuse of their colonies have morphed into a modern myth that entails ethnicity and sexuality even today. The misconceptions of treating women and girls for sex and retrogressive cultural practices have increased the vulnerability of the minority ethnic groups and growing the illegal sex trafficking industry today (Munro, 2017). Apart from these misconceptions, different cultural myths that run among white men concerning East Asian women’s docility have led to the increased practices of “mail order brides,” which have been characterized by the UN as a form of human trafficking. In this case, people were incorporated (Is this the correct word you wish to use. If so, you may wish to put it inverted commas.)into human trafficking; then, they are sold to people who marry them (Segrave and Milivojevic, 2015). Therefore, human trafficking is used to “mail” people women to their potential spouses.

Retrogressive cultural practices and female fetishisation within England and Wales have led to establishing several stringent laws aimed at curbing the human trafficking vice (examples and reference). Female fetishisation incorporates sexual fascination with things that not inherently sexual and, in this case, results in stereotypes associated with women(reference). For example, black women are assumed to be sexual prowess (redraft term, it doesn’t read well), while Asian women are submissive.

In 2015, the Modern Slavery Act was enacted to merge human trafficking offences with modern slavery to provide focus and clarity while pursuing modern slavery (Sanders, 2018). The maximum sentence of any offender was increased to life imprisonment, equivalent to long-term imprisonment, while human trafficking offences were classified as capital criminal lifestyle offences (Goodey, 2017). This classification ensured that any culprit who is found guilty would undergo the most challenging asset recovery as a way of discouraging would-be criminals from engaging in this illegal but lucrative business (Lipscombe, and Beard, 2014). The modern slavery strategy was launched in 2014 and consists of ‘4ps’ among them, pursue, protect, prepare, and prevent (upper case to start)(Cree, 2018). This strategy aims to foster the mechanism that curbs human trafficking by setting up a clear vision to eliminate this vice (Sergi, 2016). Besides, England and Wales have set up a multi-agency team (name, reference)that includes human rights activist groups(example,reference) to deal with this criminal act and enhance cross-border cooperation (Milivojevic, and Segrave, 2016). The cross-border collaboration ensures that criminals can be easily pursued and apprehended in any part of Europe (is this actually the case….in theory perhaps but in reality? This needs revisiting)and across the other continents as a way of curbing this global menace (FitzGerald, 2016). This cooperation ensures that criminals who pursue human trafficking crimes in England and Wales can be quickly arrested even after seeking refuge in other European countries (Padfield, 2017).

The rationale of the research (this is for the introduction of your thesis)

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery in England and Wales as well as other parts of the world. This has prompted the researcher to examine the various factors that lead to an increase in human trafficking and look into the victims’ plight to establish workable solutions that will see the end of this vice. The study will review the retrogressive cultural practices in England and Wales and how they increase the vulnerability to human trafficking. This project will primarily cover human trafficking within England and Wales as the focus of this study(why) However, the researcher will also review some global human trafficking statistics where applicable. There is a need to carry out this study. It will aid the formulation of policies and regulations that can reduce human trafficking in sex trafficking, child trafficking, modern slavery, and trafficking for labor. Davies, Croall, and Tyrer, 2015(this is not the primary reason. The rationale for undertaking the research is directly related to the research question and objectives. Prioritise the purpose of conducting a literature review into this important topic). The study is vital as it will review the criminal justice as it is currently and give implementable recommendations that will aid in curbing this menace within England and Wales.

 

 

 

 

References

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Aronowitz, A.A., 2019. The human trafficking–organized crime nexus. In Routledge Handbook of Transnational Organized Crime (pp. 235-251). Routledge.

Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N. and Terry, G., 2019. Thematic analysis. Handbook of research methods in health social sciences, pp.843-860.

Connelly, L.M., 2016. Ethical considerations in research studies. Medsurg Nursing, 23(1), pp.54-56.

Cree, V.E., 2018. Confronting sex trafficking: Lessons from history. International Social Work, 51(6), pp.763-776.

Davies, M., Croall, H., and Tyrer, J., 2015. Criminal justice: An introduction to the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Pearson education.

Fashanu, G., Lauderdale, L., McCauley, C., Puszcz, A., and Vakoula, A., 2019. To What Extent Do Laws throughout England and Wales Protect Women against Sex Trafficking?. The Student Journal of Professional Practice and Academic Research, 1(1), pp.112-119.

FitzGerald, S.A., 2016. Vulnerable bodies, vulnerable borders: Extraterritoriality and human trafficking. Feminist Legal Studies, 20(3), pp.227-244.

Goodey, J., 2017. Data on human trafficking: Challenges and policy context. Human Trafficking (pp. 52-69). CRC Press.

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Hill, M., 2015. Ethical considerations in researching children’s experiences. Researching children’s experience, pp.61-86.

Kaye, J., and Winterdyk, J., 2017. Explaining human trafficking. Human Trafficking (pp. 70-91). CRC Press.

Lipscombe, S., and Beard, J., 2014. Human trafficking: UK responses. House of Commons Home Affairs.

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Oram, S., Abas, M., Bick, D., Boyle, A., French, R., Jakobowitz, S., Khondoker, M., Stanley, N., Trevillion, K., Howard, L. and Zimmerman, C., 2016. Human trafficking and health: a survey of male and female survivors in England. American journal of public health, 106(6), pp.1073-1078.

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