IOM: Monitoring the Reintegration of Trafficking Survivors - Study & Toolkit
June 2023
In 2016, the International Labour Organization estimated that approximately 40.3 million people worldwide were engaged in forms of “modern slavery”, with approximately 15.4 million people in forced marriages and 24.9 million people in forced labour.
Efforts to combat Trafficking in Persons (TiP) have increased, but survivor-centric approaches and comprehensive data on reintegration remain limited. Lack of data hinders the understanding of sustainable reintegration factors and challenges.
Samuel Hall in collaboration with IOM - UN Migration – presents findings from a study undertaken with 100 trafficking survivors and 40 individuals across Bangladesh, Nigeria, Republic of Moldova and Tunisia with ties to or expertise in reintegration programming. Through this study, we introduce a toolkit to monitor, and not evaluate, trafficking survivors’ reintegration experiences.
The findings from the study highlight that trafficking survivors face challenges in reintegrating due to financial instability, social stigma, domestic violence, psychological trauma and more. However, a stronger understanding of factors affecting reintegration will allow for more supportive reintegration environments to mitigate and address these.
We suggest evaluating living conditions in the community in return to assess if housing meets basic standards and assess the financial capacity of hosting family members to provide care. And secondly, empowering family and community members to be key actors of reintegration. It is important to Identify and propose adapted, affordable options for long-term psychological support and counselling, to address both pre- and post-trafficking trauma and psychological issues, that can provide care once project life cycles end. The report also suggests Improving access to subsidised judicial support and protection for survivors.
This monitoring report and toolkit aim to identify factors impacting the reintegration of trafficking victims. The report provides best practices for effective support provision, capturing individual understandings and reintegration priorities. The toolkit equips organisations with tools to strengthen the evidence base on successful reintegration, addressing a critical gap in supporting VoTs.