Ethics in modern slavery research: Review of the current landscape and evaluation of research ethics appropriateness

There are increasing calls for researchers, research organisations and funders active in the field of modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) research to reflect on their own practices of engagement and co-production. Momentum has built on this point as lived experience experts have become more directly involved in the production of research. As a result, a greater range of stakeholders involved in MSHT research now regard such practices of inclusion as both a normative good and a means of delivering more robust and relevant research that can inform policy and practice of greater efficacy. In this context, attention must be given to ensuring that research underpinning anti-trafficking policy and practice is ethically-robust, attentive to the prevention and mitigation of harms and attuned to the needs, goals and aspirations of those with lived experience (IASC, 2024; Paphitis and Jannesari, 2023; Brotherton et al., 2020).