Measuring Human Trafficking Prevalence in Brazil’s Agricultural & Charcoal Sectors
As a core member of the U.S. State Department’s Prevalence Research and Innovation Forum, the Human Trafficking Data Lab conducted a large-scale, population-representative survey of agricultural workers in Brazil to learn about the true prevalence of trafficking and trafficking-related exploitative labor practices in the agricultural sector. We tested the effectiveness of two methodological approaches among more than 7,000 households, and found that labor trafficking is more prevalent in Brazilian agriculture than past estimates imply, and moreover, that the extent of worker exploitation is substantially understated by standard binary definitions of trafficking.
Please see our publication, The Prevalence and Characteristics of Labor Trafficking in Brazilian Agriculture, included in the Journal of Human Trafficking special issue titled "Validation of Prevalence Estimation Research Methods in Human Trafficking."
Location: States of Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins, and Bahia, Brazil
Funders
University of Georgia Center on Human Trafficking Research and Outreach, Stanford King Center on Global Development, U.S Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Partners
Brazilian Federal Labor Prosecution Office, SmartLab Initiative, Sociedade para o Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa Científica
Following this foundational worker survey work, with funding from the U.S. Department of State, the Human Trafficking Data Lab is conducting a second large-scale worker survey focusing on labor trafficking in Brazil’s industrial charcoal production sector. It will focus on four municipalities in the state of Maranhão, areas widely recognized as a high-risk sector for severe labor exploitation, with qualitative reports pointing to a high prevalence of labor trafficking conditions.
Our team will obtain sector-representative estimates among a traditionally hard-to-reach worker population to understand the extent to which workers in this sector are exploited through debt bondage, wage theft, deceptive recruiting, violence, degrading and inhumane living conditions, unsafe work conditions, and other exploitative practices.
Location: State of Maranhão, Brazil
Funder
U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Partners
Sociedade para o Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa Científica, University of Brasilia