The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed an expansion in the incidence and scope of trafficking in persons and modern slavery following the Covid-19 pandemic. Alongside the largest share of women and children trafficked globally for sexual exploitation, considerable numbers of men and women are trafficked for forced labour and related exploitation, with forced marriage a real concern for this region.
An expansion of social media use and time spent online has triggered a dramatic increase in tech-facilitated trafficking, with technology in use at every stage of trafficking—from recruitment to laundering the illicit proceeds of this criminal activity. Both global and domestic dimensions of trafficking are key issues for this region, with victims found across the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
Countering Trafficking in Persons Programme Objectives:
- To provide capacity-building and technical support to Member States to strengthen capacity to identify and protect victims of trafficking and exploitation, using a trauma and victim-centred approach.
- To promote cooperation among an extended network of policy makers, law enforcement, legal and protection practitioners for addressing trafficking in persons and modern slavery, in compliance with international, regional and national legal standards and with the commitments undertaken by the Bali Process.
- To work with Bali Process Member States to promote a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach through capacity building and training activities and policy dialogue.
- To design activities with the awareness that women, men, girls and boys are at risk of different methods of recruitment and exploitation. The RSO will support Bali Process Member States to embed a gender-sensitive approach when working to address activities relating to trafficking in persons.
The RSO published the Practitioner Guide Series on improving the Protection of Trafficking Victims in partnership with the NEXU...