Dear Colleagues,

Human trafficking infringes on the fundamental economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights of those affected by it. Individuals who are forced into labour, exploited commercially for sex, made to commit crimes against their will, and compelled into a range of exploitative situations are also denied the right to freedom from torture, freedom of movement, the right to privacy, and the right to seek asylum and freedom from persecution.

The international community has long recognised human trafficking as a human rights issue, yet the complex and multi-faceted nature of exploitation and the multi-level regime of governance to address it means that there remains significant scope for fresh analyses on the intersections between human trafficking and human rights.

The future of human trafficking and human rights will be impacted by new and continuing conflict, climate change, technological advancements, political shifts, refugee crises, and increased global economic inequalities, particularly in the post-COVID-19 period.

For this Special Issue, we welcome submissions that assess and address the future of human trafficking and human rights. This includes analyses of the impact of the evolving nature of human trafficking through a human rights lens; research findings and evidence-supported practices pertaining to specific manifestations of human trafficking and different human rights-based approaches are of particular interest. Potential subtopics for submissions to this Special Issue on human trafficking and human rights include but are not limited to:

• Analyses of contemporary trafficking manifestations as human rights abuses.
• Efforts to address trafficking using human rights-based approaches.
• Meeting the rights of persons who have been trafficked.
• The future of anti-trafficking as part of the international human rights system.
• Horizon scanning of developments related to the future of human trafficking and human rights.

This Special Issue aims to publish articles that will be of interest to researchers; activists, leaders, and funders; policymakers; and anti-trafficking professionals across relevant sectors and disciplines (including law, political science, sociology, economics, and others). Contributions must address the topic of the Special Issue and fit in one of the three genres of papers published in this journal, i.e., research articles, literature reviews, or conceptual papers.

Dr. Ben Brewster
Prof. Dr. Todd Landman
Dr. Lauren Eglen
Dr. Ergul Celiksoy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• human trafficking
• human rights