GLC Global Overview Call 2025
March 2025 GLC Monthly Learning Call Brief
Our March calls brought us both fresh and updated insights into global trends pertaining to human trafficking, from members and friends of the community from different parts of the globe.
Eastern Call:
Luong Le (Blue Dragon Children's Foundation): Human trafficking patterns in Asia-Pacific.
Charles Mukabi (CANA Family, Kenya): Child domestic labour in Kenya.
Mallika Karunan (Freedom Collaborative): Trafficking for forced criminality, particularly cyber scams in Southeast Asia.
Rebecca Hacker (UK-based Lawyer): Trends in trafficking within the UK, especially immigration-related issues.
Western Call:
Kamal Raj (Cross Global Asia Foundation in Chennai, India): Bonded labour in India
Chris Ash (Collective Threads Initiative and a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking): Trafficking vulnerabilities at the U.S. southern border
Sarah Scott Webb ((SIM International and the Oceania Freedom Network): Trafficking in Oceania
While the main topics of the trends covered are not new to the GLC, there were certainly new features and data shared, some being quite difficult to digest, which reveal a big and highly complex picture.
An overarching theme was the increased risk of trafficking for vulnerable and marginalised populations resulting from structural inequalities and systemic failures across different regions as well as the ineffectiveness of legislative and policy responses. These include: children affected by poverty and system failures leading to child domestic labour in Kenya; how bonded labour in India overwhelmingly impacts marginalised communities due to caste hierarchies and systemic discrimination; unaccompanied minors entering both the UK and US, and indigenous populations such as Alaskan natives in the U.S. face heightened trafficking risks due to various systemic neglect and geographical isolation; and the vulnerability of Pacific Islanders due to climate change, economic instability, and exploitation tied to international projects like Chinese infrastructure initiatives.
The additional, less prominent but still important theme that seemed to percolate through was that of the suppression of advocacy and activism, raised by both Kamal (India) and Chris (U.S. southern border) on the western call, which also ties into the increasingly hostile policy environment for trafficking survivors as raised by Rebecca (UK) in the Eastern call. We felt this was a feature to take note of as it recalls some points of discussion in other recent GLC calls on the possible need to shift our communication strategies. More a point to think about and keep under our hats if we start to notice this more in the spaces in which we work.
Across both the calls, the interconnected nature of human trafficking was underscored but so was the very real necessity for deep collaborative work and unified and inclusive approaches to combat these challenges. And while aspects of the calls reminded us of ongoing alarming geopolitical shifts and their global repercussions, there was a renewed encouragement to set our sights on the collective energy we have within our connected GLC community. As Dalaina reminded us, quoting US children’s television host Mr Rogers, to ‘look for the helpers’. She impressed upon us to look at all of the people who are still here, still working, and not minimising the difficulty but working in the face of it, and highlighting that the GLC can be a place where people can turn to and come alongside each other in solidarity to get energised, renewed, revived and remember that we’re not alone.
What we learned on the calls:
A brief summary of the presentations from the Eastern hemisphere call:
Human trafficking patterns in Asia-Pacific - Luong Le (Blue Dragon Children's Foundation)
Asia-Pacific hosts the majority of modern slavery cases, with distinct patterns across regions (e.g., forced labour in South Asia, sex trafficking in Southeast Asia).
Technology facilitated (e.g., cryptocurrency, social media). Traffickers rapidly adapt to evade detection and facilitate their operations. Need for international collaboration to monitor and disrupt online trafficking.
Blue Dragon works to rescue victims, emphasising survivor-centered approaches, cross-border cooperation and regional partnerships. Need to scale these efforts to combat networks operating across multiple countries.
Challenges: Gender biases in support systems for male victims and lack of state-run facilities for diverse trafficking demographics. Need for advocacy to redefine societal perceptions of trafficking victims and establish inclusive support centres
Child domestic labour in Kenya - Charles Mukabi (CANA Family, Kenya)
Child domestic labour is rising due to poverty, urban migration, and demand for cheap labour.
Many children face abuse, long hours, and lack of education.
Increasing awareness of broader impact to Kenyan economy from loss of potential by children not being educated.
Solutions: Strengthening legal frameworks, raising community awareness, economic empowerment, and school access for at-risk children.
Collaboration with NGOs and government to rescue children and address systemic issues, legislative gaps and conflicting laws.
Need to tailor messages to cultural contexts
Address root causes of child labour, such as poverty and unemployment.
Challenges: raising awareness with employers is difficult due to the challenge of accessing gated communities and secretive employers, and the hidden nature of child domestic work makes gathering data almost impossible.
Trafficking for forced criminality, particularly cyber scams in Southeast Asia - Mallika Karunan (Freedom Collaborative)
Systemic corruption and poverty in source countries perpetuate trafficking networks.
Victims forced into scamming are faced with serious physical and psychological abuse.
The role of technology (e.g., AI for deception) complicates enforcement efforts. Need for partnerships with tech companies to counteract these methods.
Overwhelming task of screening hundreds of survivors daily, often with limited resources.
Complex victim identification process at borders. Need for more streamlined cross-border repatriation processes and better cooperation between governments and NGOs
Societal stigmas that label victims of forced criminality as perpetrators.
Trafficking within the UK, especially immigration related issues - Rebecca Hacker (UK based lawyer)
UK policies increasingly focus on criminalising irregular migration rather than supporting trafficking survivors.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting trafficking survivors identifies the largest group being British (20%), with many being children.
Systemic problems: funding crisis in children’s social care leads to children falling through the cracks, and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children separated from social care with many going missing
Labour-led enforcement measures e.g., workplace raids targeting vulnerable populations, such as undocumented workers in car washes and nail bars, risk re-trafficking survivors.
Some positive developments:Online Safety Act (2023): Introduced measures to protect children from online exploitation. Concern: Relies on companies to self-regulate without independent oversight.
Procurement Act (2023): Prohibits companies implicated in modern slavery from participating in public procurement contracts.
A brief summary of the presentations from the Western hemisphere call:
Bonded Labour in India - Kamal Raj (Cross Global Asia Foundation in Chennai, India)
Historical roots of bonded labour tied to the caste system, affecting primarily Dalits and tribal communities.
Legislative frameworks like the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (1976) and Article 23 of the Indian Constitution prohibiting forced labour.
Systemic discrimination and lack of government accountability remains prevalent:
Government officials, often from higher castes, exhibit biases that hinder effective interventions.
Rescue operations face delays due to caste allegiances, as officials may be reluctant to act against those from their own caste.
NGOs seeking data and accountability on rescue efforts have received little to no response from authorities.
India's commitment to rescuing 18.4 million bonded labourers by 2030, a target criticised for slow progress and lack of transparency.
Foreign funding restrictions (through the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) have crippled many organisations working to combat bonded labour.
Efforts include creative advocacy, involving students, and building alliances with supportive officials.
Trafficking Vulnerabilities at the U.S. Southern Border - Chris Ash (Collective Threads Initiative and a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking)
Unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are especially at risk due to inadequate legal and social support systems.
Issues with systems like the CBP One app, which complicated asylum requests as many don’t have phones and heightened trafficking risks.
Lengthy waiting periods in border camps increase the risk of trafficking as migrants sought alternative, often unsafe, ways to cross.
Smuggling is not inherently trafficking but often becomes a gateway to exploitation. Migrants who pay for smuggling services are sometimes coerced into forced labour or criminal activities.
Frustration with administrative responses and systemic inefficiencies, such as lack of legal representation for minors and poor conditions in migrant camps.
Recent policy changes have further defunded nonprofits that provide legal aid to unaccompanied minors.
Reports of mistreatment by border patrol agents rarely addressed due to lack of external oversight.
Physical barriers like razor wire and dangerous moats exacerbate the risks migrants face.
Trafficking in Oceania - Sarah Scott Webb (SIM International and the Oceania Freedom Network)
Oceania consists of 26 nations, with most (except Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea), being small and often overlooked in global data collection and resource allocation, complicating advocacy and intervention efforts.
Need to stop working in silos and instead focus on collaborative, integrated efforts to combat trafficking effectively.
Migrant exploitation, forced labour, and forced marriages are prevalent in Australia and New Zealand.
Decriminalised prostitution laws in New Zealand create challenges in addressing sexual exploitation.
Climate change, high rates of gender-based violence, and child abuse exacerbate trafficking vulnerabilities.
Chinese infrastructure projects in the Pacific are linked to forced labour and exploitation of local women.
Positive steps: Australia's focus has been on modern slavery legislation, emphasising business compliance. The recent appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner is a positive step towards a broader anti-trafficking response.
What are the implications?
The implications of all this learning are vast, and not easily encapsulated in this call brief, but there are a few things that can be pulled out that point us towards the work required.
Need for Collaboration and Cross-Sector Partnership: The importance of partnerships between governments, NGOs, and private sectors to combat trafficking effectively.
Focus on Prevention: The need for targeted prevention beyond education and which focus on structural and systemic contributing factors such as poverty alleviation, addressing systemic discrimination and inequities.
Community Mobilisation: Community activated efforts such as collaborating with students and key community based representatives and officials, to educate, develop referral or support pathways and shift societal attitudes
Survivor-Centered Approaches: Prioritising survivors’ dignity, safety, and holistic support in all interventions, and a paradigm shift toward holistic and survivor-centered policies to address trafficking effectively.
Global Cooperation: The interconnected nature of trafficking networks demands international coordination and sharing of best practices.
What next for the GLC?
Simply put, if you have any further in-depth learning on any of the above topics that you think would be valuable for our community, that you would like to present in either a Monthly Learning Call or a Coffee Corner Call, do get in touch and let us know.
Or if you would like to connect with any of our presenters to discuss any of their work or what they presented on the calls, likewise get in touch and we can connect you.
And of course any and all community collaboration is welcomed and encouraged, we would just love to hear about it.