Leaving the past behind? When victims of trafficking decline assistance

This research explores why some trafficking victims decline assistance and under which circumstances. At the same time, it is also about the very diverse circumstances trafficked women and girls face when they come into contact with assistance systems both at home and abroad. The reasons victims of trafficking decline assistance reveals a great deal about the constraints and challenges faced by those who choose to accept. Therefore, this report is intended to contribute to the knowledge about the conditions and needs of victims of trafficking in general. We have observed that while many victims are never offered assistance, some trafficked persons who are offered assistance choose to forego the help available to them. Based on this, the main questions for our research were the following:

• What are the reasons behind these decisions to decline assistance?
• What happens as a result of declining assistance?
• Are there reasons for declining that can be addressed so that more victims, and perhaps other groups of victims, will also benefit from assistance?

The research is a cooperation between Fafo and NEXUS Institute, in Washington.