Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Research

RESEARCH

HOPE EDUCATION RESEARCH TEAM

Human Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Research

We are constantly seeking to increase our understanding of the issues related to human trafficking not only in Ghana but globally. Whilst there may be some universal push and pull factors, interventions should be informed by the local context. At HEP we are undertaking research in the communities in which we serve and with the survivors within our network from our sister campaign, Stop Trafficking Africa.

Our current research projects focus on evaluating the effectiveness of our school pilot program in Tamale and measuring the prevalence of child sex work in the Sakasaka district of Tamale. Additionally, we are investigating the differences in how Kenyan and Nigerian women trafficked to the UAE by Nigerian traffickers are treated, their interactions with authorities, and the survival strategies they employ.

HEP’s Projects manager, Marima Adam was born and raised in the North East of Ghana and has lived most of her life in Tamale in the communities we serve. When in Ghana our founder, Angus Thomas also lives in the community. Staying in a compound house in Gbolo Kpalsi gives him deep insights into the challenges of poverty, climate change, education and employment faced by his neighbours.

Maryam Rafieifar, PhD

Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, USA

Maryam Rafieifar, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work. Her research specialty is targeted at serving disenfranchised children and families with community-based participatory methods. Her translational objective is to mitigate the effects of immigration enforcement on trauma among children born to immigrant families through examining community-based initiatives. Her ongoing work explores the impact of immigration-related stress on parenting practices, investigating how this stress affects parent-child relationships and the potential link to child maltreatment risk. She has advanced training in quantitative and qualitative research methods and is presently conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Internationally and nationally, Dr. Rafieifar has collaborated with organizations like the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and local nonprofits in South Florida, leveraging her insights to support immigrant communities effectively.

Dr. Daniela Peterka-Benton

Director, Global Center on Human Trafficking at Montclair State University, USA

Daniela Peterka-Benton is an associate professor in the Department of Justice Studies and serves as the coordinator for the department’s International Justice concentration. She has a PhD in Sociology with a specialization in Criminology from the University of Vienna, Austria, a Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, and Master’s degree in Adult and Media Education from the University of Vienna.

Her research interests center around transnational crimes such as human trafficking, human smuggling, arms trafficking, and right-wing terrorism and extremism. Dr. Peterka-Benton and has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals including International Migration Review, The Journal of the Institute of Justice & International Studies, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and The Journal of Applied Security Research. In 2022, she published the co-authored book Introduction to International Justice.

More recently Dr. Peterka-Benton completed a grant project funded by the New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice with two of her Montclair State colleagues, analyzing human trafficking data reporting, law enforcement response, and improvements for data collection methodologies such as the use of a statewide database on human trafficking. Another area of interest to her is the role of misinformation and disinformation on various issues including human trafficking. Her research on how QAnon has hijacked the human trafficking discourse was published in the journal Anti-Trafficking Review.

Dr. Peterka-Benton teaches numerous courses including, Human Trafficking, Intro to International Justice, Crime and Globalization, and Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Prior to her focusing on a full-time academic career, Daniela Peterka-Benton worked for the U.S. State Department’s Office of Diplomatic Security at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria.