“This Pandemic Has Opened Another Box of War”: COVID-19, Safeguarding, and Research on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in Kenya and Uganda

Author: Barasa Asekenye, Catherine; Balch, Alex; Okumu, Willis; Omony, Geoffrey; Renton, Linnea & Sandhar, Jassi

Abstract: There is growing evidence of the significant impacts of COVID-19 and government responses for those who experience human trafficking and modern slavery (HTMS). There is less known about experiences of service-providers, effects on international partnerships, and the implications of funder responses. This article uses the prism of safeguarding to explore the challenges faced during the pandemic for service-providers in Kenya and Uganda, paying attention to the power dynamics embedded within international development and knowledge production. The research included interviews conducted with a diverse set of organizations in 2020 and 2021. Our findings contribute to human rights approaches to HTMS, laying bare the effects of the pandemic on shared meanings around protection and harm prevention. The analysis identifies fresh challenges and additional risks that research on the effects of COVID-19 on HTMS places on local fieldworkers and research participants. The discussion emphasizes the dangers of opportunistic research, and the importance of addressing local needs as a focus and priority. The article concludes by arguing that the centering of safeguarding should be the basis for future strategy to address SDG8.7, with potential to provide a pathway for genuinely collaborative research that foregrounds equity in both partnership-building and knowledge production.

Keywords: human trafficking, modern slavery, safeguarding, Kenya, Uganda