Trafficking in human beings (THB) has been described as modern slavery. It is a serious criminal activity that has significant ramifications for the human rights of the victims. It poses major challenges to the state, society and individual victims. THB is not a static given but a constantly changing concept depending on societal changes and opinions, economic situations and legal developments. THB occurs both transnationally and within countries. The complexity of THB is such that it requires a wide range of expertise fully to address the phenomenon.
Edited by a team of leading international academics, the Routledge Handbook of Human Trafficking will provide an interdisciplinary introduction to THB. It is aimed at academics, students, research universities and non-governmental organisations, as well as policy makers. It will review THB through the lens of law, anthropology, social and political science and will address statistical, data protection issues and showcase the most effective research methods, analyse the various actors and stakeholders and the different types of exploitation of trafficked persons. It will critically highlight and analyse the most pressing current challenges posed by THB.
Ryszard Piotrowicz is Professor of Law at Aberystwyth University. He was a member of the European Commission's Group of Experts (2008-15) and has been a member of GRETA, the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, since 2013. He has published extensively in the field of migration law, especially with regard to refugees and trafficking in human beings. Prof. Piotrowicz is the Book Reviews Editor of the International Journal of Refugee Law. He has lectured and spoken at conferences on human trafficking across the world. Most recently he has worked on the issue of non-punishment of victims of trafficking (for OSCE) and on trafficking for forced begging.
Conny Rijken is Professor of Human Trafficking and Globalisation at INTERVICT, Tilburg Law School, Tilburg University. Prof. Rijken has done extensive research on various aspects of trafficking in human beings including the European perspective, migration, labour exploitation and human rights. She has been leading several (EU funded) international and interdisciplinary research projects, e.g. 'Combating THB for Labour Exploitation', 'Corporate Social Responsibility to Prevent Human Trafficking' and one on Joint Investigation Teams. Central in her research is the focus on human rights and engagement with the position of the individual.
Baerbel Heide Uhl is a political scientist and has been working on anti-trafficking politics both in academia and in operational missions in Europe for more than two decades. She is a co-founder of the European NGO network 'La Strada' and a founder of the NGO initiative datACT, data protection in anti-trafficking action. Dr.Uhl held positions of anti-trafficking expert for the OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). In addition, she advised EU candidate countries and new Member States, including Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, on European anti-trafficking policies within the framework of EU enlargement procedures. Dr.Uhl was a member of the European Commission's Experts Group to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings from 2003-2007 and served as the Chairperson to the second Group from 2008-2011. She is a Member of the Advisory Board of La Strada International. She earned her PhD and her Diploma in Political Science at the Free University of Berlin.
