Meaningful survivor participation is the focus of this year’s E2A conference
USAID Asia CTIP brings together survivor leaders and other practitioners at its annual summit, Australia looks to establish its first federal Anti-Slavery Commissioner, and record numbers of Chinese citizens make the perilous journey to the U.S. southern border.
This year’s Evidence2Action (E2A) conference brought together multiple stakeholders including survivor leaders and grassroots organizations to discuss meaningful survivor engagement and practical ways in which to make anti-trafficking efforts more participatory. The three-day Bangkok summit, organized by Winrock International’s USAID Asia Counter Trafficking in Persons program (USAID Asia CTIP), was designed to shift access to professional learning and networking opportunities, with both survivors and other practitioners leading sessions and learning from each other.
Topics discussed included the interlinkages between climate change, migration, and human trafficking, and how climate change acts as a risk magnifier; the working conditions and challenges faced by migrant workers in the fishing, construction, and plantation sectors in Asia and the Middle East; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) integration in CTIP programming; and the challenges faced by domestic workers, with an emphasis on the lack of decent working conditions and social protection mechanisms.
A mix of survivor-led conversations, group exercises, reflections, and workshops focused on ways in which to create a paradigm shift towards survivor leadership and participatory approaches. For instance, attendees discussed the need for participatory measuring, evaluating and learning (MEL) practices, in order to make this process more robust. In practice, this could include transfer of control over decisions and resources (mobilization/empowerment); shared control over decision-making (collaboration); the two-way flow of information (consultation); and the flow of information from survivors to other stakeholders. Lack of such participation can lead to limited contextual understanding, reduced credibility and trust, a sense of survivor exclusion, and impacts on ethical considerations, contributors noted, but its practical application can be complex. As Abdus Salam, Survivor Empowerment Officer at Humanity Research Consultancy, said, “Survivor engagement is easy to talk about but difficult to implement.”
Collaboration among a large number of stakeholders was also highlighted as key, including participatory methods that bring together all beneficiaries and stakeholders. For example, workshops could be held with participants from the many different stages of the supply chain, while surveys, focus groups and community meetings were also mentioned as ways in which participation could be increased. Attendees also emphasized that the collection, analysis and use of TIP data needs to be improved, so that all stakeholders, including government departments, are using consistent definitions and standard platforms.
Survivors and representatives from survivor groups discussed the challenges they faced and the support that would have been or was most helpful to them. For instance, a member of a women’s group in Bangladesh observed that its employees are vulnerable to being attacked or even trafficked themselves by the perpetrators they confront, and the involvement of properly trained law enforcement is therefore crucial. And a survivor from Nepal explained that a lack of the correct documentation made it hard for her to access the help and services she needed when she tried to adjust back to normal life. Sustainable livelihoods, income generation, job opportunities, education, training, healthcare, and transportation were also flagged up as survivor needs.
Attendees were reminded that, ultimately, a paradigm shift towards survivor leadership rests on the understanding that healing is specific to the individual; that, as a sector, we need to respect and value expertise and empower others, even if this means giving up our own power; that our attempts to help others can end up being overbearing; and that big changes start with small steps.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Australia has introduced a bill to establish its first federal Anti-Slavery Commissioner as an independent pillar of Australia’s response to modern slavery. The bill amends the Modern Slavery Act 2018 to establish the core functions of the commissioner, including engaging and supporting victims and survivors of modern slavery, and supporting business to address risks of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.
A UK lawmaker has introduced a proposal for the UK’s first law requiring companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence. It would address the shortfalls of existing legislation by compelling companies to take meaningful steps to address modern slavery and the risk thereof in their operations, and would hold them accountable for their failure to prevent harm.
More than 24,000 Chinese citizens have been apprehended crossing into the United States from Mexico in the past year – more than in the preceding 10 years combined according to government data – and are now the fourth-largest group traversing the treacherous Darién Gap. Around 67 per cent of applicants from China were granted asylum from 2001 to 2021, while those who are not successful often end up staying because China will not take them back.
A newly published Market Monitor examines the number of stock exchanges making reference to modern slavery related items in their ESG guidance documents, to determine the extent to which this subject has been integrated into exchanges’ guidance to issuers. Of the 70 exchange ESG guidances currently available, more than 55 included at least one modern slavery reference, 59 included the topic of decent work, and supply chain topics and remedy were covered by 36 and 30 exchanges respectively.
A group of Filipino domestic workers have taken part in a "Trashion Show" in Singapore to show how man-made pollutants are wrecking ecosystems and decimating marine wildlife, while also highlighting that many workers feel as if they are treated “like trash”. The women wore dresses made from bottle caps, sachets, plastic wrappers and milk cartons, which some designed and made themselves.
Oxfam Germany has filed an official complaint under the German Supply Chain Act against the country’s two largest food retailers, alleging labour rights violations, including the exploitation of migrant workers, harassment, unpaid overtime and a lack of protection from pesticides, on the banana plantations that supply them.
Several thousand young people in the UK are being caught each year sharing or watching indecent images of children – including child abuse material – an investigation by the Guardian newspaper has revealed. Figures obtained through freedom of information requests to police forces show that in some regions the majority of people identified by police as watching or sharing indecent images of children, including “the most abhorrent material”, are under 18.
The Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls has called for input into a report for the Human Rights Council on the nexus between “prostitution and violence against women and girls”, and is “particularly interested in hearing from organizations that facilitate the recovery of women and girls who have been prostituted; those that are advocating for the rights of women and girls who have been prostituted; as well as well as from survivors”. The closing date for contributions is 31 January 2024.
Share your news
Post your experiences from the field and initiatives to feature