Human Trafficking Tier Rankings: The Effects of Women in Government

Human trafficking is the fastest growing international criminal industry, which disproportionately affects women and children. To monitor the crime, the U.S. Department of State places each country into one of four tiers based on governmental anti-trafficking efforts. This study explores how women in government can influence these efforts. It is hypothesised that women serving in government have two effects—a direct and indirect effect—on a country’s tier ranking. The direct effect is defined as female politicians advocating for anti-trafficking policy. Female politicians are also linked to lower corruption, which indirectly serves to enhance anti-trafficking efforts. The analysis results indicate that the direct effect is identified when women in government are measured as female political power representation but is not found when women in government are measured as simply female political representation. The indirect effect is found in both cases.