Call for Papers: Anti-Trafficking Review Issue 3, to be published 2014

Special Issue: ‘Following the Money: Spending on Anti-Trafficking’

Deadline for Submission: 15 December 2013

Anti-trafficking funding and work has mushroomed since the 1990s. Lacking is analysis of those anti-trafficking funds - where they come from, who they go to, what they are meant to do, what they actually achieve, and indeed whether they are needed.

Donors, organisations and trafficked persons’ priorities are not always aligned when it comes to how to spend money. In a first indication of a global mismatch between donors and organisations, AWID’s ‘Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights?’ survey of over 1000 women’s rights organisations shows that donors prioritise anti-trafficking (placing it in their top 10 list of priority issues to fund) more than women’s organisations (who do not see anti-trafficking among top 10 priority issues). Trafficked persons may or may not benefit from money flows aimed in their direction, or indeed may suffer as a result of anti-trafficking spending. Many organisations specifically dedicated to anti-trafficking think donors do not prioritise this issue enough. Others feel anti-trafficking funds, especially for more surface-level awareness campaigns, divert attention and money away from substantial human rights work on issues concerning workers, migrants, woman and children.

Of course, politics behind anti-trafficking money abound, and recipient organisations wonder whether they should take ‘tied’ funds, funds with restrictions or ‘dirty’ money that, for instance, may have originated from the profits of a company that employs workers in exploitative conditions. HIV/AIDS organisations struggle to decide whether to take up funds from a donor that mandates they stop handing out condoms. In recent years governments have rushed to spend money on a range of poorly designed initiatives in the hope of moving out of a low ranking in the US government's yearly Trafficking in Persons Report.

The Anti-Trafficking Review calls for papers for a Special Issue ‘Following the Money: Spending on Anti-Trafficking’. This issue will present well-researched articles that analyze the funding landscape. The journal is interested in what kinds of organisations and work have been raised up by anti-trafficking funding and what work has been sidelined or excluded as a result. The journal is interested in studies of money trails that reveal how anti-trafficking money has changed the world for the better or for worse. Papers may address:

• Total amounts allocated by government and private donors since the beginning of 2001, including any identifiable shifts in the geographical areas to which money has been allocated or the purpose of funding;

• Investments made by donors during the first decade since the Trafficking Protocol which have (or have not) had a noticeable impact—and lessons that donors may have learnt about what sort of spending actually prevents human trafficking;

• Motives behind anti-trafficking funding, such as, for instance, self-promotion in awareness raising campaigns, versus ‘genuine’ anti-trafficking goals;

• Tied aid, restrictions on spending, and foreign policy agendas such as democratisation behind aid;

• How spending on anti-trafficking compares to related sectors, now or historically, and whether increases in allocations to anti-trafficking can be seen to have reduced allocations to specific other sectors (and with what results);

• How funding for anti-trafficking is divided between prevention, protection and prosecution or other core anti-trafficking activities and whether this split is justified;

• How money is accounted for, and what return donors seek for their funding;

• How organisations have benefited in particular from the inflow of money for anti-trafficking initiatives, and with what wider ramifications;

• How independent funding sources are, and impacts on programming when a proportion of funds is linked to State funding mechanisms.

This issue features a ‘Debate Section’. We welcome articles addressing the question: Is there too much or too little money for anti-trafficking?

The Review promotes a human rights based approach to anti-trafficking, and it aims to explore the issue in its broader context including gender analyses and intersections with labour and migrant rights. The journal offers a space for dialogue for those seeking to communicate new ideas and findings. Academics, practitioners and advocates, working for, with and including trafficked persons and migrants are invited to submit articles. The Review presents rigorously considered, peer reviewed material in clear English. The journal is an open source, annual publication with a readership in 78 countries.

Deadline for submission: 15 December 2013.

Word limit: 6,000, including footnotes and abstract

If possible, let us know in advance (at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) what particular aspect/s of this topic you propose to write about by telling us the title and scope of your proposed article. Before submission, please take note of our Contributor Guidelines and Style Guide. Contact the editorial team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Special Issue Guest Editor: Mike Dottridge

Editor: Rebecca Napier-Moore