Abstract:

Studies show that Africa serves as a source, destination, and conduit for human trafficking of all kinds. According to the Global Slavery Index, 9.24 million individuals across the continent are involved in human trafficking, which is almost a quarter of the worldwide count of 40.3 million and makes Africa the region of the world with the highest prevalence for human trafficking. Catholic sisters often find themselves on the front lines, trying to prevent trafficking or help the victims. However, their training is usually inadequate and their actions inefficient or dangerous, for themselves and others. To address this situation, the Hilton Foundation has made it its mission to provide educational opportunities to this specific population. It has granted Saint Leo University funding to develop and offer a non-credit online certificate in Human Trafficking. The program consists of a course in Human Trafficking and a course in Project Management. It aims to provide Catholic Sisters working in Africa with practical skills to address the issue of human trafficking in the areas where they live and work. The proposed presentation will report preliminary results of the evaluation of the certificate for four cohorts of students.

Saint Leo University, as a Catholic university based in Florida with over twenty years of experience delivering online higher education programs, is ideally placed to administer the certificate. It counts among its faculty several professors with expertise in the study of human trafficking. A team of faculty from the department of Graduate Social Work and the department of Management developed the two courses with a focus on the acquisition of skills in project management, prevention of human trafficking, and intervention with the victims. The courses culminate in the completion of a training manual that the Sisters can use to start projects aimed at reducing the incidence of human trafficking in their communities.

As part of the grant, the certificate program is evaluated by the Maribeth Durst Applied Research Institute at Saint Leo University. The mixed method evaluation consists of a pre-post knowledge survey, a course satisfaction survey, a learning strategies survey (both administered at the end of each course), and a three-months follow-up survey asking the Sisters how they are using the knowledge and skills they have gained. A qualitative analysis of discussion posts in both courses also provides insights regarding the usefulness of the courses for the Sisters’ work. Current data analysis on three cohorts of learners (Fall 2018 and Spring 2019) shows knowledge gains in both courses, a high level of satisfaction with the content and design of the courses, and examples of how the sisters are using their new skills to plan and implement new projects, disseminate information, and increase their professional networks. Results will be updated for the paper with data on the Fall 2019cohort.

Keywords:

Human Trafficking, Program Evaluation, Social Work, Adult Learners, Skill Transfer.