Addressing exploitation of labour migrants in Southeast Asia: Beyond a counter-trafficking criminal justice response

Large numbers of young people in Southeast Asia seek work opportunities outside their country of origin, migrating both regularly and irregularly, and with little power to access or negotiate safe and fair migration and work conditions. The risk of exploitation is high.The potential for human trafficking in these situations has attracted
significant attention. Yet much of the response by regional governments and international donors has focused on identifying and prosecuting ‘traffickers’ rather than addressing the many vulnerabilities and forms of exploitation that many labour migrants experience. This thematic brief sets out a diversity of forms of exploitation that labour migrants in Southeast Asia experience, and the implications for how efforts to respond might need to adapt. This includes broadening beyond the dominant frame of criminal justice in order to address exploitation at scale and in a manner that is realistic about the prevailing political economy.

Addressing exploitation of labour migrants in Southeast Asia: Beyond a counter-trafficking criminal justice response- Australian Aid, 2023 DOWNLOAD

Hidden, Unprotected, and Vulnerable: Supporting Informal RMG Workers in Bangladesh

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An analysis of Bangladesh’s existing legal standards for the apparel industry reveals significant gaps in protections for workers in the informal ready-made garment (RMG) sector. This study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago with supp...Read More

TAGS: Due Diligence Reporting Garments & Textiles Asia

Announcing a New Cooperation Using Tech to Combat Human Trafficking

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When: June 28, 2018 all-day

The RESPECT founding organizations, Babson College’s Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, and the International Organization for Migration, proudly announce that we have been chosen as the Research Lead to guide the...

TAGS: Information and Communications Technology Global

Downstream due diligence: Setting the record straight

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The due diligence expectations contained in the OECD Guidelines and United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) have always, since their inception in 2011, been intended to take a risk-based approach that includes the full “value chain” of busines...Read More

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Speak out to confront plague of sexual harrassment against women commuters

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As the United Nations marks its annual 16-day campaign against gender-based violence and the world continues to be shaken with the #MeToo movement, UNFPA – the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency – is shining the spotlight ...Read More

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