Working to combat human trafficking and labour exploitation

The Australian Government’s overseas aid program is guided by the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the internationally agreed target for poverty reduction, and by the aid program’s objective to assist developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development in line with Australia’s national interest.

By focusing on these key development priorities, Australia is helping to address the underlying causes of human trafficking and other exploitative labour practices. This is essential for a sustainable, long-term approach to combating trafficking and labour exploitation—one that aims to prevent people from becoming victims in the first place.

AusAID also supports specific and targeted programs of work on human trafficking and these are outlined below.

Risk factors

There are a range of factors that can lead to people becoming victims of human trafficking. Poverty, lack of employment opportunities, inadequate or unenforced labour laws and regulations, lack of education, gender inequality and other cultural factors combine to increase the vulnerability of people and communities to traffickers and to exploitative employers.

In our region, there is a strong demand for cheap or easily exploited labour in many sectors, a vast supply of people seeking an income to meet their most basic needs, and others seeking opportunities to improve their lives or living standards. These conditions create great potential for trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Global financial downturns and economic recessions further increase the vulnerability of people to exploitation.

An effective response to human trafficking and labour exploitation requires changing the conditions that allow these practices to flourish, including the creation of non-exploitative livelihood options.

Anti-trafficking activities

In addition to addressing the MDGs, Australia has supported a number of targeted anti-trafficking activities to help governments and communities in the region to combat human trafficking, including the implementation of two consecutive projects:

Through specialised training and creation of regional cooperation bodies, these projects aim to strengthen the capacity of criminal justice systems of governments in South East Asia to identify and prosecute traffickers, and to improve the treatment of victims, following the development of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime [external site].

Working with partner governments, the projects have resulted in:

the establishment of specialist anti-trafficking law enforcement units and regular meetings of Heads of Specialist Units
training for judges, prosecutors and police officers
assistance in drafting anti-trafficking legislation
cooperation between the criminal justice systems and victim support agencies
strengthened regional cooperation on trafficking
improved policy, legal, research and outreach capacities in partner countries
a close working relationship with ASEAN [external site] to develop a package of generic training materials that will be available to all ASEAN member countries.

The adoption of common standards and approaches across the region through ASEAN should be highly beneficial for cross-border cooperation on trafficking.

A new phase of anti-trafficking work is being developed to build on and extend the achievements of the ARTIP Project, which completes in August 2011.

Prevention

Australia increased its focus on preventive measures through the development of a new initiative with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) [external site], to reduce and prevent the exploitation and trafficking of migrant workers.

The ILO approach promotes decent work for vulnerable and marginalised workers and their families. Through this new initiative in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, Australia will:

directly target assistance to migrant workers
increase awareness among employers and the general public of migrant worker rights and their value
assist in developing sustainable and appropriate policies and mechanisms for migration and labour protection.

These projects are complemented by Australia’s long-term support for activities to combat child sex tourism in the region, a crime with links to trafficking and labour exploitation. Project Childhood is a new multi-year program to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Mekong sub-region. Partnering with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Interpol, and assisted by the Australian Federal Police, Project Childhood will train local law enforcement agencies and increase regional and international cooperation to combat this crime. Project Childhood also targets prevention, working with NGO World Vision Australia to increase awareness in vulnerable communities, government and tourism companies through public campaigns, training and telephone hotlines.

AusAID also partnered with USAID in 2010 to support MTV EXIT [external site] awareness-raising concerts and media events in Vietnam and Indonesia, reaching an estimated 2 million people. Further funds have been committed to support MTV EXIT Phase III awareness-raising activities in Asia over 3 years, from 2011.

AusAID also launched its Child Protection Policy in March 2008. This policy provides a clear framework for managing and reducing the risks of child abuse by persons engaged in delivering Australian aid program activities. It applies to all AusAID staff, including those based overseas, and to all contractors and non-government organisations funded by AusAID.

NGO partnership initiatives

An important part of the Australian aid program’s anti-trafficking effort is the ongoing support to non-government and other organisations including UNICEF [external site], that work directly on child protection, support for victims of human trafficking, and related issues.

Useful websites

External websites:

Last reviewed: 18 February, 2011