Linkages among actors in anti-trafficking networks

This chapter discusses how anti-trafficking institutions work together to form anti-trafficking networks illustrating the connections and cooperation among the different institutions. A network analysis is used to examine implementation networks, focusing on how different actors in the human trafficking policy subsystem come together and the ties that bind them. The networks of anti-trafficking institutions in each country reveal a stark divide and disconnect between criminalization aspects of the policy with law enforcement and police and the social aspects with rehabilitation for victims mostly performed by NGOs and women’s advocacy networks. The analysis revealed the Russian network is the smallest and most fragmented but also the densest while the Latvian network is the most cohesive with the largest number of reciprocal ties facilitated by the working group. The network in Ukraine has the highest average of incoming and outgoing connections and the most efficient connection between actors in the network. There was also evidence of interest groups in Ukraine and Russia moving around impediments in the national government by creating their own networks and lobbying specific regional level entities who were more open to cooperation. The results show that the more effective the anti-trafficking institutions are in a country, the more cohesive the anti-trafficking network is at facilitating reciprocal relationships.