David Okech ─ Migration and Human Trafficking in Africa: Does Movement Increase Vulnerability?

Migration provides job opportunities for people in low-income countries. Bilateral Labor Agreements are meant to provide safeguards for safe migration and the protections of the rights of labor migrants. However, labor migrants continue to face exploitation including human trafficking. The presentation discusses ways of enhancing the protection of labor migrants from human trafficking.David Okech’s (https://afrstu.uga.edu/directory/people/david-okech) current interdisciplinary and international research aims to create evidence-informed policies and programs for survivors of human trafficking in several West African countries. As a director of the Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach (CenHTRO) (https://apries.uga.edu/), he is committed to using prevalence and baseline data that are survivor-informed to design policies and programs that can prevent human trafficking and provide assistance to survivors. He collaborates with government, NGOs, CBOs, INGOs, survivors, as well as interdisciplinary and international researchers.