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It’s Your Business: The Role of the Private Sector in Human Trafficking

  • Ieke de VriesEmail author
  • Megan Amy Jose
  • Amy Farrell
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Abstract

Human trafficking concerns the private sector. Both sex and labor trafficking have been identified in legitimate businesses, and research has begun to show how a range of other businesses are wittingly or unwittingly facilitating the crime. Research can be further sparked by a clear theoretical framework that systematically addresses how and why the private sector is involved in human trafficking. This chapter examines the merits of three existing theoretical frameworks in guiding empirical research on the role of the private sector in human trafficking. These frameworks include theoretical notions on organized crime, corporate crime, and social and economic networks involved in crime. Each theoretical framework provides different explanations for private-sector involvement in human trafficking and has varying implications for research and anti-trafficking efforts.

Keywords

Human trafficking Legitimate businesses Theoretical development Private-sector responses 
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Violence and Justice Research Laboratory, School of Criminology and Criminal JusticeNortheastern UniversityBostonUSA

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