The ‘slow-burn effect’ of human trafficking following disaster

Abstract

A disaster is frequently cited as a driver of human trafficking, with claims that earthquakes, tsunamis, or typhoons create a chaotic post-calamity environment ripe for traffickers to recruit their victims. Theory suggests that increased poverty, displacement, and a breakdown of law and order contribute to this situation. Yet, there is little discussion in the literature of how post-disaster trafficking unfolds, coupled with a dearth of empirical evidence. This paper challenges existing disaster–trafficking assumptions through interviews with trafficking survivors in the Philippines, a disaster-prone nation and an averred ‘trafficking hotspot’. Interviewees indicated that disaster-related disruption to their lives prompted a chain of events which resulted in trafficking many years later—in other words, a notable ‘slow-burn effect’. These are presented here as five disaster–trafficking narratives or themes, which paint a more nuanced picture than the oft-held assumption that traffickers exploit people directly in a disaster zone, in the immediate aftermath of the event.