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Scottish researchers will be addressing how internet and online social networks are increasingly used in human trafficking, in a project funded by the prestigious Scottish Crucible scheme.
The £4,000 grant will be used to ask how online networks enable traffickers to reach larger audiences across the world: both recruiting people and selling services provided by trafficked men, women and children.
The project is an initiative from five young researchers at Dundee University, Glasgow Caledonian University/Central European University, Northumbria University and St Andrews University. The start-up funding will be used to build a strong research group to address these issues.
Dr Jonathan Mendel – a Geography Lecturer, School of the Environment at Dundee University and part of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research – said that “a 2011 Europol report highlights the real difficulty in identifying online criminals using traditional police techniques. Stop Traffic will provide an important platform for discussing these problems”.
Dr Sharapov from Glasgow Caledonian University is on the project team: “we know that online networks are used in human trafficking, but we need to know more about their extent and usage. This project will allow us to pool expertise in fields from Computing to Sociology to investigate these questions.”
The first project meeting will be a workshop at Dundee University in February 2013. International experts will discuss how researchers, activists and policymakers can generate innovative ways of understanding and addressing online human trafficking.
Dr Jonathan Mendel, University of Dundee (J.M.Mendel@dundee.ac.uk).
Dr Kiril Sharapov, Glasgow Caledonian University/Central European University (Budapest,Hungary) (kiril.sharapov@gcu.ac.uk)
Dr Wendy Moncur, University of Dundee (w.moncur@dundee.ac.uk)
Dr Tamsin Saxton, University of Northumbria (tamsin.saxton@northumbria.ac.uk)
Dr Adam Barker, University of St Andrews (adam.barker@st-andrews.ac.uk)
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