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This literature review aims to explore the evidence on the effects of social assistance on gender, familial, and household relations and power dynamics among refugees and (internally) displaced populations in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and... more
This literature review aims to explore the evidence on the effects of social assistance on gender, familial, and household relations and power dynamics among refugees and (internally) displaced populations in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. It examines the findings from an intersectional gender perspective allowing the authors to build on the knowledge of ‘what works’ in interventions in general and hopefully improve gender equality and social inclusion. Out of 1,564 papers initially identified and screened, 22 were included in the final stage. A question that emerged as the papers were analysed was whether the arduous work of targeting individuals was efficient or necessary, given that the available evidence suggests that beneficiaries generally tend to share their stipend with other family members for the collective good. Most studies tended to conflate gender with women and girls – making distinctions between widowed, married, unmarried and divorced women – but ignoring other d...
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agencies have dominated the discussion on modern slavery in recent years. However, while this work is important, it is just the tip of the iceberg. It misses the diversity of relationships and perpetrators colluding to make modern... more
agencies have dominated the discussion on modern slavery in recent years. However, while this work is important, it is just the tip of the iceberg. It misses the diversity of relationships and perpetrators colluding to make modern slavery, and particularly bonded labour, a public secret in the twenty-first century. Across the world bonded labour is taking place in formal and informal industries, such as brick kilns or quarries and in restaurants, tea shops, nail salons, or carpet-making. In areas of South Asia, some families marginalised by customs and traditions are living in poverty and turning to illegal moneylenders to cover emergency costs, such as a sudden illness. This leads some to become trapped in a cycle of bonded labour. Financially illiterate, they are forced to pay off the debt by working for the moneylenders directly or for third parties linked to the moneylenders, who may be local landlords or businesses in local activities such as brickmaking, farming, stone breakin...
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s from database searches were downloaded to the reference management software Zotero, where deduplication of abstracts was performed. These entries were screened for inclusion/exclusion, with records kept on numbers of studies excluded.... more
s from database searches were downloaded to the reference management software Zotero, where deduplication of abstracts was performed. These entries were screened for inclusion/exclusion, with records kept on numbers of studies excluded. We kept records in Excel for abstracts/report summaries obtained from grey literature sources (e.g. UN websites) and recorded the number of studies excluded at this stage. After all abstracts were screened and relevant abstracts identified, three reviewers retrieved the full text papers, which were then screened against the inclusion criteria again. Records on full texts included/excluded were noted. Included studies were input to a group “DFID Evidence Map” folder in Zotero.
Research Interests: Geography, Development Economics, Labor Economics, Operations Research, Children and Families, and 15 moreGovernance, Human Trafficking, Pakistan, Gender Equality, Nepal, Bangladesh, Migrant labour, India, Child Labour, International Development Cooperation, Modern Day Slavery, Bonded Labour, Child Brides, Politics and Power, and Domestic Servitude
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Research Interests: Business, Family Business, Waste Management, Social Norms, Work and Labour, and 11 moreInformal Economy, Children and Youth, Solid Waste Management, Supply Chain, Myanmar, Child Labour, Credit Risk Management, Labour Market Intermediaries, Informal sector business development, Family and child studies, and Children`s Rights
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This mixed methods participatory study explores equity and fairness in access to Vietnam’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, when the Covid-19 vaccine was scarce, with a focus on internal migrant workers. At the beginning of the pandemic... more
This mixed methods participatory study explores equity and fairness in access to Vietnam’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, when the Covid-19 vaccine was scarce, with a focus on internal migrant workers. At the beginning of the pandemic large numbers of Vietnamese migrants from rural areas lost their jobs. Migrants are vital to the Vietnamese economy. Many factories that produce goods for export employ internal migrants. Before the pandemic, these workers faced inequalities of access to available health services and nutritious food. Although the Vietnamese state aspires to universal access to health, internal migrant workers living outside their village do not have long-term household book registration, which is the key to access many public services including health care and prevention. We found that migrant workers, especially those working in the export zones where factories produce for export, did have access to vaccination. However, there are intersectional inequalities between ...
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यस अध्ययनमा सन् २०१५ पछि नेपालबाट अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मुलुकहरूमा हुने मानव बेचबिखनका मार्गहरूमा भएका परिवर्तनहरूका बारेमा बुझ्नका लागि नेपालबाट मानव बेचबिखनमा संलग्न भएका विभिन्न व्यक्तिहरूबारे समाचारहरुमा गरिएको चित्रणलाई विश्लेषण गरिएको छ।... more
यस अध्ययनमा सन् २०१५ पछि नेपालबाट अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मुलुकहरूमा हुने मानव बेचबिखनका मार्गहरूमा भएका परिवर्तनहरूका बारेमा बुझ्नका लागि नेपालबाट मानव बेचबिखनमा संलग्न भएका विभिन्न व्यक्तिहरूबारे समाचारहरुमा गरिएको चित्रणलाई विश्लेषण गरिएको छ। यस अध्ययनका निष्कर्षहरू सन् २०१६ देखि २०२० सम्मको पाँच वर्षको अवधिमा नेपालका छ वटा राष्ट्रिय समाचार पत्रमा प्रकाशित ४८० वटा समाचारहरुको विश्लेषणका साथसाथै यस विषयमा प्रकाशित विद्यमान दस्तावेजहरू र समाचारपत्रका संवाददाता र सम्पादकहरूसँगको अन्तर्वार्तामा आधारित छन्। समाचारमा रिपोर्ट गरिएका आरोपीत अपराधीहरूमा धेरैजसो पुरुषहरू थिए भने पीडितहरूमा महिलाहरूको सङ्ख्या धेरै थियो। रिपोर्ट गरिएका यौन बेचबिखनका पीडितहरूमा महिलाहरूको ठूलो सङ्ख्या देखिएको थियो भने रिपोर्ट गरिएका श्रम बेचबिखनका पीडितहरूमा पुरुष र महिलाको सङ्ख्या बराबर थियो। यो नेपालबाट विदेशमा काम गर्न जाने पुरुष र महिला आप्रवासीहरूको वास्तविक अनुपात भन्दा फरक छ, जहाँ वैदेशिक रोजगारका लागि श्रम स्वीकृति लिने महिला कामदारहरू भन्दा पुरुष कामदारहरू ८० प्रतिशतले बढी छन्। समाचार लेखहरूको विश्लेषणमा भार...
There are burgeoning hospitality, entertainment, and wellness industries in Nepal. The label ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’, used in anti-trafficking efforts, has resulted in stigmatisation of the owners and, mainly female, workers of some... more
There are burgeoning hospitality, entertainment, and wellness industries in Nepal. The label ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’, used in anti-trafficking efforts, has resulted in stigmatisation of the owners and, mainly female, workers of some businesses in these industries. Labour intermediaries, who help businesses get employees and workers find jobs, are a critical and often misrepresented part of these informal industries. Women are stuck with few options for safe employment in Nepal or foreign labour migration. Supporting the easy registration and monitoring of these businesses and social protection will improve Nepal’s economy and enhance working conditions.
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This IDS Working Paper explores the labour trajectories and aspirations, and the labour intermediaries of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ (‘AES’) workers. Our research objective was to understand these experiences to develop more... more
This IDS Working Paper explores the labour trajectories and aspirations, and the labour intermediaries of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ (‘AES’) workers. Our research objective was to understand these experiences to develop more effective policies and interventions to prevent human trafficking as well as labour and sex exploitation. Research included a literature review, interviews with ‘AES’ workers, and observations in areas with reported elevated levels of human trafficking to visualise the economic activities. This Working Paper has a companion paper – Getting Work: The Role of Labour Intermediaries for Workers in Nepal and the International ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ – which focuses on the role of labour intermediaries, their aspirations, and their perceptions about the benefits and costs of facilitating work in the ‘AES’ and other employment.
Research Interests: Maltese, Human Rights, Migration, Human Trafficking, Gender Equality, and 15 moreNepali, Nepal, Labour Economics, Informal Economy, Hospitality, Entertainment, Exploitation, Alcohol, Labour markets, International Labour Migration, Psychological Intervention, Intermediary, Creative and Cultural Industries, Music Business and the Entertainment Industries, and Labour Market Dynamics
In Lao PDR (Lao People’s Democratic Republic), out-migration, often to neighbouring Thailand, is an important livelihood pathway for workers. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, had a significant impact on these international migrant workers.... more
In Lao PDR (Lao People’s Democratic Republic), out-migration, often to neighbouring Thailand, is an important livelihood pathway for workers. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, had a significant impact on these international migrant workers. As the pandemic evolved, and lockdowns and travel restrictions were implemented, thousands of the estimated 1.3 million Lao nationals living abroad, mostly in Thailand, found themselves unemployed and started returning to Lao PDR. Many of these returning migrants were infected or had been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, raising concerns of the potential for community transmission, especially with migrants returning to rural areas where health facilities are not always easily accessible and access to vaccines severely constrained. This research examined the access Lao international migrants returning to Lao PDR had to Covid-19 vaccination and the practical and ideological barriers returnee migrants faced in obtaining the vaccination.
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This paper was commissioned by the section of Health and Education at UNESCO as a background paper for “Switched on: Sexuality education in the digital space”, a symposium held in Istanbul, Turkey, held on 19 – 21 February 2020. It has... more
This paper was commissioned by the section of Health and Education at UNESCO as a background paper for “Switched on: Sexuality education in the digital space”, a symposium held in Istanbul, Turkey, held on 19 – 21 February 2020. It has not been edited by the team. The ideas and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to UNESCO.This desk review examines the available evidence on the extent to which digital content can influence knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescents and young people (aged 10–24 years), and looks at the potential for digital spaces to be used to add value to the delivery of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). Technologies are constantly changing, so this report should be seen as a snapshot of the evidence at a specific point in time. The report is in two parts. Part 1 explores which young people engage with digital spaces and how; social media influencers; the intersections between pornography and sexual...
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Little is known about the role of ‘brokers’ or labour intermediaries in trafficking and exploitation of Nepalese women and girls in restaurants, dance bars, folk-music bars, massage parlours, guesthouses, and hotels. We interviewed 33... more
Little is known about the role of ‘brokers’ or labour intermediaries in trafficking and exploitation of Nepalese women and girls in restaurants, dance bars, folk-music bars, massage parlours, guesthouses, and hotels.
We interviewed 33 adults who identified themselves or were identified by others as labour intermediaries. Half of the LIs that we interviewed were female. Many are workers. Some own venues. They articulate idealistic expectations and images of the LI as a generous benefactor with a wide network.
They are men and women who came to entertainment and hospitality at a young age, developing practical skills, building a network of trusted people, and learning to be savvy about who to trust and who to avoid.
Although the informality of these industries may give criminal networks opportunities, it is important to distinguish informality from criminality to improve the reputations and working conditions of these sectors.
The perspectives of the workers are published in a companion paper.
Labour Trajectories and Aspirations of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ Workers
We interviewed 33 adults who identified themselves or were identified by others as labour intermediaries. Half of the LIs that we interviewed were female. Many are workers. Some own venues. They articulate idealistic expectations and images of the LI as a generous benefactor with a wide network.
They are men and women who came to entertainment and hospitality at a young age, developing practical skills, building a network of trusted people, and learning to be savvy about who to trust and who to avoid.
Although the informality of these industries may give criminal networks opportunities, it is important to distinguish informality from criminality to improve the reputations and working conditions of these sectors.
The perspectives of the workers are published in a companion paper.
Labour Trajectories and Aspirations of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ Workers
Research Interests: Music, Migration, Gender and Sexuality, Talent management, Human Trafficking, and 15 moreAlcohol Studies, Gender Equality, International Migration, Labour Studies, Traditional Music, Nepal, Transnational Labour Migration, Entertainment, Sexual Harassment, Labour markets, Anthropology of Music and Dance, Creative and Cultural Industries, research in area of human resource Management, Media and Entertainment Management, and Culture and Management Practices
This IDS Working Paper explores the labour trajectories and aspirations, and the labour intermediaries of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ (‘AES’) workers. Our research objective was to understand these experiences to develop more... more
This IDS Working Paper explores the labour trajectories and aspirations, and the labour intermediaries of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ (‘AES’) workers. Our research objective was to understand these experiences to develop more effective policies and interventions to prevent human trafficking as well as labour and sex exploitation. Research included a literature review, interviews with ‘AES’ workers, and observations in areas with reported elevated levels of human trafficking to visualise the economic activities.
This Working Paper has a companion paper – Getting Work: The Role of Labour Intermediaries for Workers in Nepal and the International ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ – which focuses on the role of labour intermediaries, their aspirations, and their perceptions about the benefits and costs of facilitating work in the ‘AES’ and other employment.
This Working Paper has a companion paper – Getting Work: The Role of Labour Intermediaries for Workers in Nepal and the International ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ – which focuses on the role of labour intermediaries, their aspirations, and their perceptions about the benefits and costs of facilitating work in the ‘AES’ and other employment.
Research Interests: Human Rights, Migration, Human Trafficking, Gender Equality, Nepal, and 13 moreInformal Economy, Transnational Labour Migration, Hospitality, Entertainment, Exploitation, Tourism, Sexual Harassment, Alcohol, Labour markets, International Labour Migration, Creative and Cultural Industries, Music Business and the Entertainment Industries, and Labour Market Dynamics
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Research Interests: Engineering, Gender, Tamil, Health, Work and Labour, and 6 moreTamil Nadu, India, Cotton Industry, Modern Day Slavery, Debt, and Dowry
This CDI Practice Paper by Pauline Oosterhoff, Sowmyaa Bharadwaj, Danny Burns, Aruna Mohan Raj, Rituu B. Nanda and Pradeep Narayanan reflects on the use of participatory statistics to assess the impact of interventions to eradicate... more
This CDI Practice Paper by Pauline Oosterhoff, Sowmyaa Bharadwaj, Danny Burns, Aruna Mohan Raj, Rituu B. Nanda and Pradeep Narayanan reflects on the use of participatory statistics to assess the impact of interventions to eradicate slavery and bonded labour. It deals with: (1) the challenges of estimating changes in the magnitude of various forms of slavery; (2) the potential of combining participatory approaches with statistical principles to generate robust data for assessing impact of slavery eradication; and (3) the practical and ethical questions in relation to working with people living within a context of modern slavery. The paper draws lessons from the realities of using participatory statistics to support the evaluation of a slavery eradication programme in North India. Background Participatory statistics is a form of participatory research that is increasingly used in development research. Participatory research methods have long challenged top‐down approaches to both deve...
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Labour abuse in the garment industry has been widely reported. This qualitative research explores the lived experiences in communities with bonded labour in Tamil Nadu, India. We conducted a qualitative expert-led analysis of 301 life... more
Labour abuse in the garment industry has been widely reported. This qualitative research explores the lived experiences in communities with bonded labour in Tamil Nadu, India. We conducted a qualitative expert-led analysis of 301 life stories of mostly women and girls. We also explore the differences and similarities between qualitative expert-led and participatory narrative analyses of life stories of people living near to and working in the spinning mills. Our findings show that the young female workforce, many of whom entered the workforce as children, are seen and treated as belonging – body, mind and soul – to others. Their stories confirm the need for a feminist approach to gender, race, caste and work that recognises the complexity of power. Oppression and domination have material, psychological and emotional forms that go far beyond the mill. Almost all the girls reported physical and psychological exhaustion from gendered unpaid domestic work, underpaid hazardous labour, li...
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Supply Chain Management, Research Methodology, Human Rights, Narrative, and 15 moreGender, Qualitative Research, Tamil, Children and Youth, India, Cotton Industry, Intervention, Caste, Employee Empowerment, Oppression, Bonded Labour, Adolescent Girls, Garment Industry, Migration and Human Trafficking, and IGDS Institute for Gender and Development Studies
This study examined the media portrayal of different actors involved in human trafficking from Nepal to understand the reported changes in international routes of human trafficking from Nepal after 2015. The findings of the study are... more
This study examined the media portrayal of different actors involved in human trafficking from Nepal to understand the reported changes in international routes of human trafficking from Nepal after 2015. The findings of the study are based on content analysis of 480 news articles published in six national newspapers in Nepal in a five-year period from 2016 to 2020, along with existing literature and interviews with newspaper reporters and editors.
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This Emerging Evidence Report describes the availability of evidence on modern slavery interventions in Myanmar presented in the programme's interactive Evidence Map. This report on Myanmar uses the same methodology and complements... more
This Emerging Evidence Report describes the availability of evidence on modern slavery interventions in Myanmar presented in the programme's interactive Evidence Map. This report on Myanmar uses the same methodology and complements the evidence map on interventions to tackle trafficking, child and forced labour in South Asia for Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The Evidence Map provides an outline of where evidence is concentrated and where it is missing by mapping out existing and ongoing impact evaluations and observational studies exploring different types of modern slavery interventions and outcomes for specific target populations (survivors, employers, landlords, service providers, criminal justice officials) and at different levels (individual, community, state). It also identifies key ‘gaps’ in evidence. Both the Evidence Map and this report foremost target the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and its partners in the CLARISSA research programme ...
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This paper investigates how domestic violence relates to violence against children, including severe corporal punishment. The literature suggests a link between intimate partner violence in the household and child abuse and maltreatment.... more
This paper investigates how domestic violence relates to violence against children, including severe corporal punishment. The literature suggests a link between intimate partner violence in the household and child abuse and maltreatment. Studies are, however, limited by the use of narrowly defined measures of violence against children, data availability, and a lack of characterization of domestic violence. In this paper we use original data on domestic violence and child disciplining methods from a nationally representative household survey collected in Ghana in 2015. We conduct analyses at the individual (are people exposed to domestic violence more likely to report perpetrating violence against children?) and the household level (are children in households characterized by domestic violence more likely to be violently disciplined?). At the individual level, the data allows us to distinguish between notions of control and economic, psychological, sexual and physical domestic violen...
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This paper was commissioned by the section of Health and Education at UNESCO as a background paper for “Switched on: Sexuality education in the digital space”, a symposium held in Istanbul, Turkey, held on 19 – 21 February 2020. It has... more
This paper was commissioned by the section of Health and Education at UNESCO as a background paper for “Switched on: Sexuality education in the digital space”, a symposium held in Istanbul, Turkey, held on 19 – 21 February 2020. It has not been edited by the team. The ideas and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to UNESCO.
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have a disability and that a higher prevalence of disability occurs among people in lower-income countries. Persons with disabilities can have widely varying needs and experiences, depending on factors such as whether they have... more
have a disability and that a higher prevalence of disability occurs among people in lower-income countries. Persons with disabilities can have widely varying needs and experiences, depending on factors such as whether they have experienced their disability from birth or later in life, or if they live independently or not. However, all have sexual and reproductive health needs and rights, yet it is an area that can be neglected in health and development policy, and the barriers preventing access to these rights can be widespread. It is therefore crucial to recognise and challenge these barriers in order to provide essential sexual and reproductive education that not only includes disease prevention, but also relationships, fertility desires, and pleasure.
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Research Interests: Business, Criminal Law, Anthropology, Development Studies, Human Rights, and 12 moreUrban Planning, South Asia, Labour Law, Labor Migration, Political Economy of Development, Nepal, Labour Economics, Entertainment, Child Labour, Sex Trafficking, Intermediary, and IGDS Institute for Gender and Development Studies
This paper describes the implementation of a large-scale systemic participatory action research program which was designed to encourage community-based solutions to bonded labor in India. The program focuses on workers in brick kilns and... more
This paper describes the implementation of a large-scale systemic participatory action research program which was designed to encourage community-based solutions to bonded labor in India. The program focuses on workers in brick kilns and stone quarries and, to some extent, on sex workers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and on cotton-mill workers in Tamil Nadu. It runs in parallel to programmatic interventions by local NGOs. The paper looks at the methodological challenges of fully engaging a mostly illiterate, extremely marginalized population on a highly political and complex issue in order to generate community-led solutions, and the process of taking that to scale. The program resulted in extensive methodological innovation and substantive changes to the lives of villagers.
Research Interests: Business, Political Economy, Participatory Research, Participatory Action Research, Mixed Methods, and 15 moreChildren and Families, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Migration, Governance, Citizen Journalism, Family, Gender, Empowerment, Innovation and Knowledge Management, Intersectionality, India, Qualitative, Modern Day Slavery, and Freedom of movement
The open-ended nature of anthropological research processes and methods such as participatory observation can be at odds with the demands of ethical review boards, which often require a fully worked-out proposal. However, clearance by an... more
The open-ended nature of anthropological research processes and methods such as participatory observation can be at odds with the demands of ethical review boards, which often require a fully worked-out proposal. However, clearance by an ethical review board is increasingly a requirement for all social scientists. Proponents argue that clearance is a logical necessity for compliance with international human rights standards and increased requests from national authorities. Critics argue that these boards are preventing original research because they require fully worked-out studies, which may lead to duplication in the field or run the risk of rigidly following a pre-defined protocol in the field. This article examines the Royal Tropical Institute’s (KIT), Amsterdam, experiences of establishing and using a Research Ethics Committee. A review of KIT’s Research Ethics Committee showed that almost half of the 21 studies presented needed to be adjusted based on the committee’s review. T...
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Exploring sex and sexual relationships is an important part of adolescence, and therefore sex education should have a central role in adolescent emotional development as well as dealing with crucial public-health issues. Good sex... more
Exploring sex and sexual relationships is an important part of adolescence, and therefore sex education should have a central role in adolescent emotional development as well as dealing with crucial public-health issues. Good sex education reduces maternal and child mortality by helping to prevent unwanted, early and risky pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, yet in many parts of the world unmarried teenagers are excluded from receiving information and sexual health services because – according to unrealistic and conservative religious and socio-cultural norms – they are not supposed to be sexually active.Much of the research on sexuality in the digital era is moralistic and slanted, so for those working on sexual/reproductive health and youth/digital development issues, learning more about the subject is a major challenge. There has never been a collection of scholarly work on this topic for a mixed audience of researchers, policymakers and practitioners until this issue ...