Een transitieprogramma voor slachtoffers van mensenhandel in Antwerpen: een evaluatiestudie van de werkzame mechanismen

Organizations providing shelter and protection to victims of trafficking often have the underlying objective of long-term integration. Given the complex and extensive needs of this target group, however, such a task is not straightforward. It requires an intensive and long-term commitment from the organizations, which do not always have the resources to do so. This master's thesis examines a European funded pilot project for victims of human trafficking in Antwerp, aimed at facilitating the transition from shelter to independent living through increased support measures. It evaluates to what extent the transition program contributes to long-term integration by working on the independence of the victim.

Based on project document analysis and in-depth interviews with the transition program designers, social workers, and trafficking victims, this thesis develops a program theory about the transition program building on Blom & Morén's (2009) CAIMeR theory. This program theory provides both insight into the context, actors, interventions and outcomes of the transition program, but more importantly, also into the underlying mechanisms that may explain how and why the transition program works.

The research highlights two critical preconditions for long-term integration of victims of human trafficking: having a safe place to live and a trusting relationship with their social worker. Additionally, the results show how four interrelated mechanisms, namely (1) empowering work, (2) generalist work, (3) tailored work and (4) proximity through outreach can contribute to a sustainable and long-term integration, through the development of skills needed for independence and self-reliance.