Researcher

This project will provide context specific interventions to ensure anti-trafficking measures are fully integrated into the Levant regional crisis response. Recognizing that trafficking in persons has been an overlooked protection concern in times of crisis, to reconcile this gap, the project will specifically work to improve the protection space for trafficked and at-risk populations impacted by these ongoing regional crises.

A key objective of the project is to ensure evidence-based interventions and guard against impunity through ongoing data collection and documentation of trafficking crimes. A sound evidence-base is considered to be needed in order to adequately respond to human trafficking. Through this objective, IOM will work to make available new research and data to inform policy and programmatic interventions.

To this end, IOM will engage a researcher to undertake the analysis of data collected under this report, as well as the writing of country-specific trend analysis reports as well as a regional report. This exercise aims to produce new, reliable evidence on crisis and vulnerability to human trafficking, through the lenses of:

• Characteristics of crisis-affected populations at risk of human trafficking
• Patterns of exploitation and means of control
• The relationship between coping strategies employed by crisis-affected populations, and potential recruitment and entry into trafficking
• Assistance needs and challenges for individuals trafficked or at risk of trafficking

Reporting directly to the Regional Program Officer and under the direct supervision of the IOM Representative in Lebanon, the selected researcher will refer to the research protocol as a main tool to conduct this activity and will have the following specific assignment:

• Provide direction to data collectors on key issues that will impact the analysis, if there is an identified need for this
• Transcription of interviews/discussions from the qualitative research into English
• Carry out quantitative and qualitative analysis on IOM’s human trafficking data indicators and other socio-economic data; this includes datasets from surveys conducted by IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM)[1], IOM and partners’ data on victims of human trafficking (case data), and data collected through the focus groups and key stakeholder interviews.
• Write five country-specific trend analysis reports as well as one updated regional report;