Boys in the artisanal gravel quarries of Abeokuta. Photo by author. All Rights Reserved.
It is now commonly accepted that we possess generally poor quality data on the triumvirate of exploitation that is ‘human trafficking’, ‘forced labour’ and ‘modern(?) slavery’. The United Nations admits it, the US State Department admits it, and large swaths of the field’s scholars have publically decried the state of research in this area.
In this article, I will use my qualitative research with young migrant labourers identified as ‘victims of trafficking’ in West Africa to reflect on why this is the case. I will then detail some of the possible negative consequences of poor quality data, and then explain one potential, very simple means for reducing the data deficit.
