A popular supposition is that natural disasters generate immediate criminal activity by human traffickers. There is little evidence to support this idea. It is clear that natural disasters can dramatically increase vulnerability, which then increases the probability that a person may be lured or forced into slavery. This research looks closely at individual disasters, as well as global statistical data, to explore the link between natural disasters and human trafficking and slavery. There is a clear sequence of changes that occurs when slavery crime alters in the wake of a disaster, which has not previously been clearly described.

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