ESRC fellowship awarded for human trafficking research

Dr Ella Cockbain has recently been awarded a prestigious Economic and Social Research Council Future Research Leaders Fellowship looking at innovative approaches to prevention, prediction and protection in relation to human trafficking for labour exploitation.

The award is for a three-year study into trafficking for labour exploitation, under the mentorship of Professor Kate Bowers. The project is designed to improve understanding of and responses to labour trafficking, which is a recognised priority in the Home Office's counter-organised crime strategy and research agendum. 

Key foci include assessing the scope, nature and impacts of labour trafficking and developing predictive models of risk, using empirically-substantiated individual and area-level risk factors. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will support a nuanced, multi-faceted assessment of this complex issue. 

The study will include a three-month international placement at the Netherlands Centre for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. The project has the support of the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the National Crime Agency and the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings.

Research contact

If you have any enquiries about our work in this particular area of research, please contact:

Group lead: Dr Noémie Bouhana
Email: noemie.bouhana@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 3108 3022