%0 Journal Article
%@ 1752-4512
%A Cockbain, EP
%A Brayley-Morris, H
%D 2018
%F discovery:1551699
%I Oxford University Press
%J Policing: A Journal Of Policy And Practice
%N 2
%P 129-149
%T Human trafficking and labour exploitation in the casual construction industry: An analysis of three major investigations in the United Kingdom involving Irish Traveller offending groups
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1551699/
%V 12
%X Human trafficking and modern slavery are routinely framed as key threats facing society. Despite increased media, policy, and practitioner attention the evidence base remains underdeveloped. The numerous knowledge gaps include a lack of empirical studies and research into labour trafficking. Since labour trafficking is a complex and varied phenomenon, we chose to explore one subset of it in a systematic, detailed, and empirical fashion. Our focus was exploitation in the casual construction industry in the UK perpetrated by Irish Traveller offending groups. We used hard-to-reach data from three major police investigations, namely operational case files and interviews with senior investigating officers. Taking a qualitative approach, we disentangled behaviours and dynamics across three major stages in the trafficking process: recruitment, control, and exploitation. We identified key challenges associated with investigating this crime. In discussing our study’s implications for research, policy, and practice, we also include officers’ recommendations for future cases.
%Z The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.  This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),  which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided  the original work is properly cited.