In the ever-evolving landscape of trafficking, community-based organizations are playing the long game, focusing their primary efforts on prevention to keep children and young people safe.

No matter who they are, where they come from, how old they are, or what their background is, every child wants to be safe.

Whether it is returning to a place they can call home each day, playing outdoors with other kids in their community, or walking to school and back, every child deserves to feel secure.

Increasingly, human trafficking threatens the safety of children and adolescents, especially in parts of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa, where the majority of cross-border trafficking takes place. It is one of the fastest-growing crimes, affecting as many as 50 million people globally. Children and their families – particularly those affected by poverty, conflict, natural disaster, or climate change – are easier targets for traffickers, as they are more likely to trust in false promises of better lives in a new country or exciting jobs that bring in more income.

While traffickers intimidate and threaten people of all genders, ages, and backgrounds, the majority are women and girls, who are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation and undergo physical violence and abuse. It is important to know that traffickers are not always associated with organized criminal groups; they can also be a victim’s family member – a parent, an intimate partner, an aunt or uncle.

As the world evolves, so has trafficking. Internet-based scams in the guise of romantic relationships or work opportunities are the latest tactics employed by traffickers, especially to ensnare young people.

This is why the work of the anti-trafficking organizations that Global Fund for Children (GFC) has supported over the past 30 years remains critically important.

We provide our partner organizations with flexible funding (funding that is not tied to a predetermined set of actions), mentoring, and other assistance to address evolving needs on the ground and respond quickly to challenges. We know that our partners have the best understanding of their communities, the ins and outs of trafficking in the area, and the most effective ways to thwart traffickers and keep children safe. We are proud to support them in this crucial fight.

The Freedom Story / Thailand

Operating across rural Thailand since 2008, The Freedom Story is just one of the many GFC partners devoted to fighting the trafficking of children and young people. The organization places a strong emphasis on prevention – thwarting traffickers by reducing the vulnerability of children and young people by providing them access to a quality education but also by going deep into the grassroots and working with children and their families to build awareness and introduce alternate sources of income.

“Research shows that for every year of education that a woman (a future mother) receives, her children are likely to receive a year and a half more than she does,”  The Freedom Story CEO Lucy McCray explained. “Even if our students finish only high school, their children are likely to go to college or get a degree. Given that we see a lot of intergenerational cycles of trafficking, to know that our students are not going to be trafficked and that their children are going to be even more resilient, even more empowered, and in an even better place, is very exciting.”

The Freedom Story provides fully funded scholarships for the most at-risk children in northern Thailand, enabling them to stay in school and not be forced into labor or sold for money. Additionally, the students are provided with mentoring and training, where they learn about their sexual integrity and rights. Since traffickers – and even non-trafficking family members – often propose that struggling low-income families send their children away to work in places such as massage parlors, which puts them at a high risk of being exploited, The Freedom Story runs sustainability programs in rural communities, helping families find alternative means of viable income.

The story of Seitan* exemplifies the transformational effect that these interventions have on children’s safety and life trajectory. When Seitan – who is from an ethnic-minority group in Thailand that already faces discrimination – was just 10 years old, her father went to prison for drug trafficking. With no other source of income in the family, she was forced to drop out of school. It seemed likely that Seitan would be sent away by her family to work, and the risk of her being trafficked was very high. One of her schoolteachers sought the help of The Freedom Story, who then visited Seitan and her family.

The Freedom Story offered Seitan a scholarship, paired her with a mentor, introduced various career opportunities, taught her about her rights, and helped her develop leadership skills and resilience. Instead of facing years of exploitation and struggle, Seitan graduated from high school and is now enrolled in college. She is also a youth leader for The Freedom Story, helping other young people to stay safe and fight back against trafficking.

Rural Aid / India

In India, more than 80% of tea workers are women from tribal communities. Although they live with their families inside the tea gardens, where the tea is cultivated, this in no way guarantees a stable income. In fact, due to frequent closures of the tea gardens, families are often left without an income and are then compelled to migrate to other states or find work as day laborers.

This increases the risk of children being trafficked or sold, since families are desperate for money to survive on. Girls are forced to drop out of school and are sold off as child brides or trafficked to neighboring states as child laborers.

For more than 12 years, GFC partner Rural Aid has been helping children and communities living in tea gardens in West Bengal, India, to harness their power in fighting human trafficking. The organization operates Learning Centers, helping children with their schoolwork, teaching them about their rights, and preparing them to be peer educators and community leaders with knowledge on trafficking, forced labor, and domestic violence.

Rural Aid has also set up child and youth groups to empower these young people as active participants in their own development, in their recovery from abuse and exploitation, and in protecting themselves from hazardous situations.

Children in the tea gardens now know how to escalate issues, take measures to protect themselves, and identify those among them who are at risk and then get help from their communities and schools. This recent story from Rural Aid is a testament to the success of this approach.

“The children found out that one of their own – a 16-year-old girl – was to be sold into a child marriage. The peer leaders informed Rural Aid about this and even went to the police themselves. The police intervened and were able to put a stop to this plan. The children had understood the danger and circumstances and were able to act collectively,” said Dhiraj Lepcha, a Rural Aid staff member.  

Global Fund for Children is proud to work with such partners that champion anti-trafficking and to shed more light on this very serious issue. We ask you to read more about the courageous work of our partners within communities across the world and invite you to support our work.

Make a donation to support the fight against human trafficking and exploitation.

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.