Organizations
Non-government organizations supplement the role of the Thai government by serving vulnerable populations through counseling, vocational training, employment, child-care, life skills courses, and emergency shelter.
Planned Actions
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Non-government organizations should be responsible for reporting measures of performance and measures of effectiveness to the Thai administration.
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Expand victim care programs to include both physical and mental health. Survivors of human trafficking suffer from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and struggle with suicide.
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Allow industry trade union to supplement government enforcement in order to stop human trafficking. Incentivize the trade unions to police their industries by offering a rewards-systems. i.e. prorated rebate of fines collected.
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Increase awareness through global NGO partnerships that can provide a voice to those that are victimized and deter those that seek to exploit women and children through sex tourism in Thailand and other Asian Pacific countries.
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Increase communication to the travel industry to educate on trends and patterns, so they can readily identify victims in distress.
Allow non-government organizations to carry out the Thai administration's agenda
Non-government
organizations focus on alleviating human suffering in the face of the victimization of Thailand's vulnerable population by perpetrators who deal in forced labor and trafficking in persons.
As the sex trafficking crisis is growing in Thailand, organizations have been created to help prevent and stop young children from becoming victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons.
The Destiny Rescue, Zoe International, Ywam Thailand, Friends of Thai Daughters, and Nightlight are just a few of the many organizations that claim to work tirelessly to rescue young children from the ongoing human traffic problem. Although these organizations discuss on their websites the many services and activities they provide to victims, one issue is there is minimal data that addresses the organizations’ success rates. Destiny Rescue is one of the organizations that does provide an annual report which yields great results. In 2018, they had an 80% aftercare success rate where four out of five girls who entered their care stayed free from sex trade, 173 overall children rescued, and 238 cared for in Thailand, the youngest being 17 months old (“Rescuing Children,” 2020).
Victims of human trafficking reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and even attempted suicide (Kiss et al., 2015). Therefore, it’s important for survivors of human trafficking to access health care, especially mental health care, and other assistance programs.
In addition to the organizations already mentioned, one organization that can help make a difference at an early stage are trade unions. They can help protect against migrant workers before conditions get too bad and individuals are vulnerable to heading down the wrong path. SERC and TLSC are unions that have been instrumental in interviewing workers in Thailand to lobby for greater protection and improved conditions of migrant workers (Marks & Olsen, 2015).
Another idea that can play a key role in helping to spread the word about human trafficking is one organization in Thailand partnered with social work students from Southern California State University (SCSU). The undergraduate students studied abroad in Thailand where they conducted interviews and focus groups with victims of sex trafficking. When they completed the semester and returned to California, they were inspired and conducted activities of their own to help in the fight of human trafficking. For instance, students raised funds for victims by signing up for walk-a-thons, hosting events at local establishments inviting speakers to discuss the topic of human trafficking, and actively posting on their social media pages to spread awareness and collect donations for victims (Willis et al., 2019).
Additionally, human traffic victims are often transported to other areas outside of Thailand so companies such as the airline industry can play a key role in rescuing victims by training employees on what suspicious activity to notice.