Majority of anti-trafficking NGOs experience corruption, but only a minority of incidents are recorded and reported
Human Trafficking and Corruption are inextricably connected. Organized crime could not pursue human trafficking without the explicit cooperation of public officials and corruption enables traffickers’ often-successful efforts to evade justice. Unfortunately there is little data available to help explain what is happening, how, and by whom.
For this reason, we set out to gather data on the extent of corruption experienced by anti-trafficking organizations based on interaction with their clients and their own operating, and their mechanisms to record and report corrupt activity.
93 % of the organizations we surveyed, have directly observed corruption or worked with clients who experienced corruption during the trafficking process.
We also discovered a lack of recording mechanisms and reporting channels available to those who experience corruption: More than half of the organizations surveyed don’t record and/or share information on experienced corruption with third parties.
These results are troubling, as producing the detailed information on corruption necessary for effective policymaking and strategy suffers from under-reporting.