IOM X applies Communication for Development (C4D) approaches to inform content and messaging to support positive behaviour change for the prevention of human trafficking and exploitation. IOM X follows a framework1 with inter-dependent steps to develop its evidence-based activities

  1. Analysis
  2. Strategic Design
  3. Development and Testing
  4. Implementation
  5. Monitoring and Evaluation

This report gives an overview of the below steps and the research activities and methodologies used to inform and assess Prisana.

1. Analysis

3. Development and Testing

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

To see details for steps 1 through 5, please refer to IOM X’s C4D page.

Step 1: Analysis (Duration: 1 month)

Why content on the fishing industry?

Asia Pacific is the world’s largest producer of fish2, accounting for more than 50 per cent all fish caught worldwide, In an industry employing millions of people, many of whom are boys and young men, human trafficking and forced labour are not uncommon. It is estimated that in Asia Pacific there are about 1 million people working in conditions of forced labour in the agricultural sector, which includes fishing.3 Moreover, awareness among young people in Asia Pacific about human trafficking in the fishing industry is low.

What did IOM X do?

IOM X produced a 10-minute video, Prisana: An IOM X Drama,  – which featured Thai celebrities – to raise awareness on the issue and encourage young people to care about the issue.

Target audiences:

The primary target audience is people who consume products of the fishing industry, aged 15-30 and based in ASEAN.

Objectives:

  • After viewing Prisana, viewers will have increased knowledge that human trafficking happens in the fishing industry, and viewers will care enough about this issue to want to learn more via the IOM X website.
  • For every activity that is assessed using KAP surveys (more details below), IOM X has the following cross-cutting objectives: at least 15% increase in knowledge of targeted audiences; at least 5% increase in positive attitudes; and at least 20% increase in positive intended practice.4

What research was conducted to inform Analysis (Step 1)?

To help inform the content of Prisana, formative research was carried out to better understand consumers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards human trafficking in the fishing industry

Research Objectives Respondents
Consultation with experts $ Identify possible behaviour change objectives and messaging 5 regional experts in migration, human trafficking and forced labour issues
Focus group discussion (x1) $ Understand media consumption, views on migrant workers and knowledge and attitudes on human trafficking, and practices of seafood consumption 5 Thai youth (aged 20-24)

The information gained from the formative research was used to inform Step 2 – the strategic design (development of a creative brief and draft communication materials)

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Record interviews (make sure to get their consent!) so that you can pay attention to what interviewees are saying and listen again if you forgot what they said.
 
Record with mobile phones, dictation machines or software like Call Recorder.

Interview via Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime or Viber to save time and cost. It’s also a great way of getting input from those who are not in the same city.

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STEP 3: Development and Testing (Duration: 1month)

Once the rough cut of the video was completed, it was pre-tested in focus group discussions with the target audience to evaluate how effective it was. A rough cut of Prisana was screened to a sample target audience.

Research Objectives Respondents
Focus Group Discussion (x2) $
  • Evaluate message comprehension
  • Test if video is relatable
  • Assess what is attractive and identify anything offensive
  • Collect feedback on likes, dislikes, and suggestions for improvement
 10 Thai youth (5 male, 5 female) age 18-25

The results from the testing were used to improve the programme, which allowed for Step 4 of the process, Implementation.

 

STEP 5: Monitoring and Evaluation (Duration: 2 months)

Monitoring and evaluating during and after implementation is important to be able to to assess effectiveness, learn what worked well and what could be improved for future interventions.

Monitoring

Good practice involves routine data collection to measure the progress of an activity. Monitoring captures day-to-day activities to gain insights in whether the target audience are engaging in the activity (such as # of views) and what is happening to the target audience (such as text/content analysis of video comments). For a digital activity such as Prisana, most of the monitoring involved online tracking

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TIP

Behaviour change takes time and usually happens over a long period. However, as with any SMART objective, it is important to set a timeframe for data collection. This is necessary for budgeting reasons and to be able to deliver results to donors. For Prisana, IOM X released a post-event report four weeks after the launch, which included the following monitoring data.

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What is being
monitored?		 What does this tell us? 4 weeks following launch Statistics as of
April 2017
Video views Are people watching the video? 1,080,523 1,975,400

 

Evaluation

To evaluate a programme’s impact, best practice is to conduct baseline research (before an intervention) and an impact assessment (after an intervention has been implemented). Useful evaluation tools include Knowledge, Attitude and intended Practice (KAP) pre- and post-surveys, which measures shifts in knowledge, attitude and intended-practice before and after an intervention. IOM X hired a research agency to conduct a (KAP) pre- and post-survey to inform the baseline and assess the impact of Prisana.

KAP surveys are a standard methodology but it’s important that they are conducted in a way that is appropriate for the target audience of the intervention. As the targeted audience of this intervention have high access to the Internet, all surveys were completed online. Conducting surveys online also saves costs and are used when it is relevant for the target audience.

 

Location #of respondents and methodology Demographics
Thailand
$$$$		 Pre-survey: 232 (May/June 2016)
Post-survey: 116 (May/June 2016)		 50% male, 50% female
Ages: 15-50 (50% 15-30);
Mainly living in urban areas

 

KAP surveys can measure how successful an intervention was in accomplishing its objectives. The Prisana KAP surveys measured levels of knowledge, attitudes and intended practices towards human trafficking in the fishing industry based on responses to the statements below:

 

KAP Statement
Knowledge
  • Human trafficking means people are forced to do a job in which they are exploited
  • Human trafficking is linked to sex work, domestic work and labour
  • Human trafficking takes place in the Thai fishing industry
  • Men, women and children are at risk of human trafficking
  • Most trafficked persons are tricked by people they know and trust
Attitudes
  • Human trafficking is not really a big problem in Thailand
  • Assisting people who have been trafficked will attract unwanted migration
  • If human trafficking victims were poor to start with, at least now they have a job
  • People don’t really care if domestic workers are mistreated (apathy)
  • People I know don’t really care if migrant workers are mistreated
  • People who end up being trafficked have only themselves to blame
Practices (intentions to do the following)
  • Report suspicious employers who exploit people
  • Avoid buying products if it is suspected that they are produced by exploited workers
  • Talk to friends about human trafficking issues
  • Advise friends not to buy brands that come from companies that exploit workers
  • Encourage friends to support companies that follow fair trading practices

The impact assessment showed that overall Prisana succeeded in meeting most of its objectives:

1. Knowledge increased by an average 27% (target 15%)
2. Positive attitudes increased by an average of 3% (target 5%)
3. Intended practice increased by an average of 30% (target 20%

All targets were met except for the five per cent increase in positive attitudes. Among male respondents, positive attitudes increased by around 10 per cent but as there was little impact among female respondents, the overall score was three per cent.

Learnings

The qualitative research that was conducted to inform Prisana allowed IOM X to move beyond awareness raising (increasing knowledge) and ensure that audiences are relating to the content and engaging with it on an emotional level, and are motivated to adopt positive behaviours
(in this case this resulted in an increase of 30% of respondents in intended positive behaviours).

However, even though Prisana was well received by viewers, positive attitudes towards migrants remained relatively low even after watching the video. In general, shifting pervasive negative attitudes is difficult and multiple interventions are needed. Thus, to inform future activities, IOM X is conducting a qualitative study to examine effective methods for how to shift negative attitudes and increase positive attitudes towards migrants. Results will be made available in 2018.

 

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TIPS

  • Some useful questions to keep in mind when monitoring and evaluating are:
    • Is the programme reaching its intended audience?
    • Is the target audience comprehending/relating to the content?
    • What early signs of progress can we detect?

  • Websites such as Facebook and YouTube have their own analytics services for tracking engagement. For other social media you can use free or paid accounts on Sprout Social to monitor engagement.

  • Large-scale KAP surveys like can be expensive. However, it is crucial to set aside budget for M&E activities to know if the intervention accomplished the desired impact.

  • Even if the budget is tight, it is still possible to assess impact. To create a baseline, existing data such as the following can be used.

    • Official statistics

    • Existing survey results

    • Research reports

    • Journal and newspaper articles

    • Your own survey created using Survey Monkey

With information gathered from such sources, it is then possible to create a study to assess the impact of a programme.

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Conclusion

The entire research process took about four months but spanned over two and a half years from November 2014 to June 2016, due to delays in the process. On average, IOM X assigns 12% of the total production budget to research and learning to ensure that the activity is providing IOM X with meaningful returns on impact and reach.

As Prisana succeeded in fulfilling its objectives of increasing knowledge of human trafficking in the fishing industry and encouraging people to learn more via the IOM X website about the issue, IOM X continues to disseminate the video on social media platforms.

To learn more, watch Prisana, read the impact assessment of the programme.