Blog Entry #1: Hanni Stoklosa, Bangkok, Thailand, Post-Natural Disaster Human Trafficking Prevention in Thailand
The United Nations de?nes traf?cking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, or deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or bene?ts to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. ?
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| Here I am training our Thai research assistants |
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The International Labor Organization and the U.S. Department of State have long recognized Thailand as a hub of traf?cking in southeast Asia. Economic disparity in the region helps to drive signi?cant migration into Thailand from its neighbors, presenting traf?ckers opportunities to exploit those desperate for jobs. Traf?cking is a serious risk that is heightened when people are displaced, families separated, children orphaned, and livelihoods destroyed. Specifically, natural and man-made disasters may increase the risk of human trafficking by increasing their vulnerability by these means.
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| Map of Thai flood water progression from disaster response organization |
I am here in Thailand to explore the relationship between the devastating 2011 Thai flood and human trafficking, thereby informing prevention and protection efforts against trafficking in future disaster scenarios.
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| Canal community affected by Thai flood |
Through a partnership with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok , and the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) at Mahidol University in Thailand I am leading a team of researchers in a qualitative research study on Post-Natural Disaster Human Trafficking Prevention in Thailand Thailand
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| One of our partner organizations, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center |
