Know Human Trafficking, Know Your Response: M&E Indicators for Trafficking in Persons and Health
July 30 is World Day against Trafficking in Persons and MEASURE Evaluation is stressing the health consequences that attend those who are survivors of this criminal activity.
Global attention is more frequently focused on trafficking as an issue with consequences for criminal justice, immigration, human rights, and economics. But, individuals who have been trafficked also experience a wide range of negative health effects, including increased risk of gender-based violence, mental health problems, and poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including HIV[1]. Women and girls are more often victims, but men and boys are also vulnerable to a variety of types of trafficking.
The MEASURE Evaluation project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has published Trafficking in Persons and Health: A Compendium of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators. The compendium provides guidance on measurement where trafficking, gender and health intersect, and can assist health program managers and decision-makers to plan, monitor, and evaluate their response to trafficking and health.
The nexus of gender, health, and trafficking is crucial to understanding and addressing the health needs of trafficked persons. Stakeholders involved in counter-trafficking efforts, from emergency health personnel and program managers to national policymakers, must consider all three together to adequately address and combat this complex human rights issue. The compendium includes a menu of indicator options that allows users to select indicators that are most applicable to their programs or facilities.
“Trafficking is a human rights issue as well as a health issue,” says Abby Cannon, lead author of Trafficking in Persons and Health at MEASURE Evaluation. “We developed the compendium as a tool for programs and countries to track the health dimensions of the problem, and to use that information to prioritize and address the health of individuals who have been trafficked.”
MEASURE Evaluation developed the compendium of indicators in consultation with technical experts in the field of trafficking, gender and health. Experts included those from USAID, the U.S. Department of State, the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, UNICEF, the International Organization of Migration, the International Labor Organization, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, and civil society.
To access a copy of the new publication, visit http://www.measureevaluation.org/publications/ms-14-97.
[1] Zimmerman C, Hossain M, Yun K, et al. The health of trafficked women: a survey of women entering posttrafficking services in Europe. Am J Public Health. 2008;98(1):55-59.
