The “Disaster Business”: Natural Disasters and Human Trafficking

This article explores the relationship between natural disasters and an enduring security issue: human trafficking. Natural disasters and human trafficking deserve attention from scholars and practitioners as both human security issues and potential threats to traditional conceptions of state and international security. We argue that “disaster business” dynamics—the financial and political incentives of reconstruction—create conditions for human trafficking by increasing demand for trafficking, increasing perceived economic opportunity for trafficked individuals, and easing the ability of traffickers to operate. Analysis of data from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database and Human Trafficking Indicators Dataset supports this argument. Natural disaster increases the likelihood of a state being a trafficking destination, especially after more damaging disasters, where the government has political incentives to rebuild, and where anti-trafficking capacity is weak. Research and practice already demonstrate that natural disasters can make individuals more vulnerable to trafficking, increasing the likelihood of a state being a source of trafficking to other locations. This article demonstrates that disasters can also serve as a magnet for trafficking and points to policy options to disrupt this relationship.