Exploring Human Trafficking as a Public Health and ‘Glocal’ Issue

Future Considerations and a Plea for Finnish Society to take Action

Abstrakti

By exploring existing material on the human trafficking phenomenon, this article aims to build a rationale for future research and development on human trafficking issues. The scope of this study is placed within the context of public health and highlights child trafficking. The qualitative data analysis software ATLAS.ti 6.2 is utilized to sketch a conceptual network of human trafficking issues. A coding scheme was planned and administered where specific terms were chosen for analysis. The aim of this study is to explore the phenomenon of exploitation and human trafficking and learn the ways in which it is addressed in the context of public health. Examples of existing action against human trafficking are discussed especially in the light of child trafficking.

Global partnerships will also be discussed in terms of how they fit within the UN Millennium Goal of 2015. Considerations for future action for both local Finnish society as well as South Asian society will be addressed. The preliminary findings presented suggest that the human trafficking phenomenon is multi-faceted and should be understood as a ‘glocal’, intertwined public health issue.