Combatting human trafficking in Nigeria: Exploring social workers’ intervention strategies

Abstract

The impact of human trafficking on the society has broadened adverse effect on human existence, in diverse ways. However, the places of social workers’ effort to combat human trafficking in the society is very vital. The influence of transnational organized crime on the economic development of Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. The paper examines the causes of human trafficking, challenges of human trafficking, implications of human trafficking and the international effect of human trafficking on Nigeria’s foreign image. The population of this study consists of selected undergraduates from universities in South-South Nigeria. A sample of 380 participants was selected for this study using a simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire is the instrument adopted for this study, it was content and face validated. To determine the reliability, the Cronbach alpha formula was utilized to ascertain the consistency reliability. The data collected were analyzed using the descriptive statistics measures. The findings showed that a large number of people have been trafficked from the country for financial reasons although the study debunked the belief that human trafficking and sexual exploitation helps to alleviate poverty. The study, therefore, recommended that social workers should cooperate with criminal justice to ensure that perpetrators of human trafficking are p unished severely to deter more people from engaging in such activities.