<p>Human Trafficking is the fastest--growing organized criminal activity, second only to drug trafficking. Modeling has given us some sense of the scale of the exploitation, but we do not truly understand the depth and breadth of the behaviors within the system. This research presents chaos theory--driven risk analysis of human trafficking, with the expectation not to predict individual behaviors but to understand the boundaries and patterns of the dynamic system that is human trafficking. Subject matter experts within Six Sigma and risk analysis were consulted to evaluate the application of the traditional Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) on dynamic systems. This research identified valuable modifications to the traditional FMEA process to better apply to complex, dynamic processes. A dynamic FMEA decouples the generation of failure modes from the RPN score to accommodate the multiple POVs and SME expertise. Application of a dynamic FMEA occurs in two distinct phases: (1) failure modes ranked by their risk to the system and (2) the prioritization of solutions. This allows for broad SME knowledge to identify failure modes in the system but does not require those same SMEs to identify solutions. A discussion is needed regarding the prioritization of solutions. Subject matter experts within anti--trafficking efforts included those working in law, academia, finance, victims’ advocacy, data analysis, and law enforcement, as well as a survivor of sex trafficking. Interviews and thematic analysis identified and ranked high--level human trafficking process steps that include finance, network, transportation, location, product conversion, and law enforcement. Within these steps, major elements of behaviors were identified and included actors, activities, society, structures, government, and media. A vulnerability ranking of these steps of human trafficking gave insight into points of instability that can be used to dismantle the act of human trafficking proactively. The focus when analyzing the risk of human trafficking, therefore, should be on the systems and structures that allow for exploitation to occur in the first place. If those risks and vulnerabilities can be elucidated, true barriers and change can be implemented to destabilize the dynamic system of human trafficking.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/23748843 |
| Date | 25 July 2024 |
| Creators | Gianna Sophia Lint (16648410) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Complex_Holistic_Assessment_of_Systems_A_Risk_Analysis_of_Human_Trafficking/23748843 |
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