Human trafficking: reflections on research and findings

¶ … human trafficking was to 'give voice to the voiceless.'

Human trafficking is a serious issue but because its primary victims are poor and often young and female, they receive little attention from the mass media.

This is a difficult and unpleasant issue that people would rather forget about than acknowledge exists in our present-day society.

The topic presented an interesting challenge to me as a qualitative researcher because it was essential that I provide information about this sensitive subject to the reader from the women's perspectives without impinging upon the women's privacy.

I felt it necessary to allow the women to speak for themselves yet there were logistical issues about translation and also about making cross-cultural generalizations.

Another challenge was that I wished my research to have a real, material effect upon how trafficking was viewed. Although I took a scholarly approach, it was essential that I was rigorous in my analysis. This is one reason that 'grounded theory' qualitative approaches can be useful, given that there is greater systematization in terms of how data is recorded and there is always an attempt to create a meaningful and workable theory to be used in future research, not simply present narratives.

My research ultimately was a blend of both narratives and data: I still needed to do substantial research on human trafficking and its primary victims and how it commonly takes place. I used quantitative data to inform my qualitative observations.

Reflections on my thinking process

My thinking process was a blend of both logic and emotion. Of course, it was difficult not to feel emotionally involved in the research and the stories of the women I read. I understood how easy it is for a qualitative researcher to become completely immersed in his or her role in the community.

However, I did not wish to become a pure 'participant observer.' I did not feel it was appropriate that the research should focus on my own reflections regarding gender and the role of trafficking in our modern society. Instead, I wanted the focus to be on the trafficked subjects, even though I was deploying a qualitative methodology.