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Operations research and analytics to combat human trafficking: A systematic review of academic literature

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  • Geri L Dimas
  • Renata A Konrad
  • Kayse Lee Maass
  • Andrew C Trapp

Abstract

Human trafficking is a widespread and compound social, economic, and human rights issue occurring in every region of the world. While there have been an increasing number of anti-human trafficking studies from the Operations Research and Analytics domains in recent years, no systematic review of this literature currently exists. We fill this gap by providing a systematic literature review that identifies and classifies the body of Operations Research and Analytics research related to the anti-human trafficking domain, thereby illustrating the collective impact of the field to date. We classify 142 studies to identify current trends in methodologies, theoretical approaches, data sources, trafficking contexts, target regions, victim-survivor demographics, and focus within the well-established 4Ps principles. Using these findings, we discuss the extent to which the current literature aligns with the global demographics of human trafficking and identify existing research gaps to propose an agenda for Operations Research and Analytics researchers.

Suggested Citation

  • Geri L Dimas & Renata A Konrad & Kayse Lee Maass & Andrew C Trapp, 2022. "Operations research and analytics to combat human trafficking: A systematic review of academic literature," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(8), pages 1-24, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0273708
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273708
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Konrad, Renata A., 2019. "Designing awareness campaigns to counter human trafficking: An analytic approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 86-93.
    7. Shanookha Ali & Sunil Mathew & John N. Mordeson & Hossein Rashmanlou, 2018. "Vertex Connectivity of Fuzzy Graphs with Applications to Human Trafficking," New Mathematics and Natural Computation (NMNC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(03), pages 457-485, November.
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