Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

On Sunday March 4, The Georgetown University Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted a lecture on trafficked children. As part of the CIRS Monthly Dialogue Series, Elzbieta M. Goździak from the Georgetown University Institute for the Study on International Migration discussed the challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities in studying trafficked children.

The lecture was based on a recently completed research project conducted by the Georgetown Institute for the Study on International Migration with the support of the National Institute of Justice in the United States.

In her introduction, Goździak stressed the importance of empirical research to guide child trafficking prevention efforts and design programs to integrate trafficked children into society. "We have a lot of writings about human trafficking but very little evidence-based literature", she said. Praising the efforts of the United States in combating human trafficking and the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 (TVPA), she is concerned about the lack of empirical foundations to guide decision makers. According to Goździak policymaking and services planning would be more effective and relevant to trafficked children if it was based on a clearer understanding of the magnitude of the problem, better definitions of different constructs like human trafficking, childhood, and victim, and self-definition of the trafficked children.

Georgetown was the first to do some research on trafficked children. In a 12-months study of 146 children that had been trafficked into the United States, Goździak and her research team sought to examine the experiences of children trafficked into the United States for sexual and labor exploitation. The study also attempted to analyze the trafficked children's prospects for integration into the mainstream society. The ultimate goal of the study was to provide policy and programmatic recommendations for the purpose of prevention of child trafficking, protection of the trafficked children, and prosecution of their traffickers. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The research process lends itself to many valuable lessons. It reflected how challenging it is to reach the target population, and to reach generalizable conclusions. The challenges included gaining access to the children and agreeing on definitions. Goździak explained, "It is very difficult to study trafficked victims when they are still trafficked. We can only imagine where they might be and what industries they may be in. But how can we gain access to them?" She stated that is easier to get access to them once they are rescued. Even when physical access to the trafficked children is possible, a number of legal procedures and protective measures have delayed the study.

When it came to analysis, every case was very different. Not only was generalizablity from such a small sample very difficult, but also the findings varied significantly. In terms of perceptions, Goździak commented "everybody thought of these children in a very different way. They themselves thought about themselves in very different ways. The traffickers treated them very differently." According to Goździak self-identification is important for the development of rehabilitation and integration services. Whether the trafficked child considers him or herself a child or an adult, a victim or a resilient survivor determines the kind of support services they need and their receptivity to such support.

Goździak is the Director of Research at the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University and Editor of International Migration, a peer reviewed, scholarly journal devoted to research and policy analysis of contemporary issues affecting international migration. She is the author of many studies including "Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America." The CIRS and ISIM have previously collaborated on a study on Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. Goździak is visiting SFS-Qatar to explore further possibilities for joint research.