**2.2 Objectives**


#### **2.3 Study methodology**

#### *2.3.1 Search methodology and article selection*

This study adopted a scoping and narrative analysis of existing literature on human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and enslavement. The purpose was to unravel and make sense of the complex literature and to identify the varied forms of these menaces and their perpetrators.

A search of the Google Scholar articles was undertaken using the search terms "twenty-first century slavery", " human trafficking", "migrant smuggling," and "enslavement" in various permutations and combinations. A wide range of citations were retrieved using this method from peer-reviewed and edited conference proceedings, workshop proceedings, and published articles in local and international journals to obtain an in-depth appreciation of the problem being investigated.

#### *2.3.2 Methodological and thematic analysis of selected articles*

A total of 84 articles (published between 1995 and 2023) were included in this review. The study adopted a narrative review, giving priority to the few observational studies available, and briefly summarizing the salient themes from the other publication types. The broad themes identified across these publications were used to organize this review on the psychosocial exploration of human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and slavery in the twenty-first century.

## **3. Results**

#### **3.1 RQ1: What is the nature of modern-day slavery?**

In modern times, more than 50 million people are trapped in slavery and enslaved globally [19, 20]. The index [20] specifically reported that about 40.3 million people are enslaved worldwide. Rafferty [21] and Langier, Johnson [22] claimed that the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse among minors and vulnerable migrants are great. While Quirk and Broome [11] and Weitzer [12] and Fouts [23] reported that the majority of them, who are working as cloth designers, cooks, farm laborers, factory workers, domestic servants, cleaners, or nannies, are hidden from plain sight, human

*Twenty-First Century Slavery: A Psychosocial Exploration of Human Trafficking, Migrant… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113170*

trafficking, migrant smuggling, and enslavement are prevalent in under-regulated industries that depend on cheap, low-skilled, or unskilled labor.
