More usable data, more precise analysis to understand and report on trafficking in persons.

 

At the national level, many countries struggle to harmonize disparate data collected from different stakeholders, organizations involved in the counter-trafficking response. 

At the same time, contrary to past editions, the extraordinary effort of the UNODC invested in collecting data in the African continent resulted in an unprecedented coverage of the continent and the subsequent analysis assessing root causes, patterns, trends and institutional response.

Data is available when national and regional institutions are given the instruments to collect and report, and when durable partnerships with national, regional and international actors are built.

Data harmonization can also serve as a powerful tool for combatting trafficking in persons at the international level. When data can be harnessed in an effective, standardized way from a variety of sources, particularly those with more access to the communities affected and more experience and knowledge about the nature of the crime, there is great potential to expand the evidence base.

 To this end, IOM and UNODC are developing a new set of International Classification for Administrative data on trafficking in persons (IC-TIP) for approval and adoption at international levels. The IC-TIP aims to facilitate the production and dissemination of high-quality administrative data relating to various aspects of the crime of trafficking in persons.

 Over the last few years, the research community has registered great progress in the field of estimating the prevalence of trafficking in persons. At the same time, the variety of research approaches and statistical definitions adopted resulted in studies that are not comparable over time and geography. There is an evident need to define a universal standard for prevalence estimates on trafficking in persons. To fill this gap, the UNODC, ILO, IOM and the university of Georgia (UGA) have recently joined forces under the STATIP project (Standard Tools for Analysing Traffickingin Persons) to produce a universal statistical definition of trafficking in persons as well as comprehensive, ethical and robust methodologies to estimate the prevalence of trafficking inpersons for forced labour