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Human Trafficking: Life after trafficking

Human trafficking

For children who have been trafficked, the shocking loss of childhood needs special counselling, to restore a sense of hope for the future.

With substantial and sensitive assistance from World Vision, those who have been trafficked slowly learn to take control of their lives once more.

Going home

Going back to family or community is not always the best option for people who have been trafficked.

Some ask not to return home because they believe that their family and community will disown them, or because they are still angry that somebody within their community was involved in their trafficking.  Others go home on condition that their past remains secret. 

Some visit only briefly, knowing that their families received money for their placement which can’t be paid back.  Until the traffickers are brought to justice, they will continue to claim ownership of the trafficked “property”.

Whether returning to a former community or arriving in a new one, trafficked people, especially children, need self-esteem, a safe network of friends or contacts, and the means to survive without risk of coercion back into trafficking.

To make this possible, World Vision mediates with communities and families, offers safe transport, regular visits, and assistance with alternative forms of income. 

Justice

One of the worst injustices for victims of cross-border trafficking is to be convicted as illegal migrants.  This puts them at risk of enforced deportation, or even jail sentences.

World Vision and other leading aid agencies often provide individual case workers to give legal advice and support.  While they cannot change the law, they can mediate to ensure that any deportation decisions take into account the ongoing needs of the individual.

As more and more cases are taken up by agencies, legal definitions of trafficking are broadening and fewer people are forced to suffer through this final travesty of their rights.

Justice against the traffickers, however, is a slow process.  Sadly, it is difficult for victims of trafficking to lay charges against their captors.

Sophisticated networks within the trafficking industry have been known to threaten potential witnesses or their families.  As well, giving evidence could expose and stigmatise victims within their communiies, or even leave them open to prosecution themselves.

In Cambodia, a World Vision assisted hotline system for reporting offenders makes it possible to investigate and arrest suspects without causing further disruption to their victims. 

Health

For those trafficked into the sex industry, infection with HIV/AIDS is very difficult to avoid.  Working in unregulated, illegal brothels, with multiple clients each day, they are not allowed to demand protection.

Tragically, there is also no recourse to testing – most illegal brothel owners have little interest in the health of either worker or client.  For many sex workers, diagnosis only comes once AIDS-related diseases have taken hold. 

Both children and adults who have been infected with HIV/AIDS need additional support, to prolong their lives and assist with reintegration into their community, where HIV/AIDS may not be understood.

Protecting and respecting

World Vision adheres to strict guidelines of privacy when dealing with or reporting back on former trafficked persons.  We do not allow any identifying features in our reports, which could now or in the future cause trauma to the victims. 

For this reason, we do not provide names, locations or faces of trafficked people, unless they have specifically requested to become spokespeople for the issue.

We request that all who work with the issue of trafficking respect the same guidelines.

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