Enhancing collaboration within and across sectors
Trafficking in persons cannot be addressed by any one agency, sector or country acting alone.
Fragmented responses create opportunities for traffickers to exploit gaps between institutions and jurisdictions. Strengthening collaboration is therefore a core part of effective counter-trafficking efforts.
From supporting cross-border investigations and victim-centred justice responses to advancing policy reform and multi-stakeholder partnerships, our focus is on helping institutions work together more effectively to prevent trafficking, protect victims and hold offenders accountable.
Through dialogue, research, knowledge exchanges and joint initiatives, ASEAN-ACT helps turn regional commitments into coordinated action.
Building the evidence on cyber scam trafficking
As trafficking into cyber scam operations continues to grow across the region, ASEAN-ACT is working with governments, international organisations and other partners to strengthen evidence, policy and cooperation. In partnership with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) and the Bali Process Regional Support Office, this research examines the criminal ecosystems behind cyber scam operations and the trafficking of people into scam compounds, helping inform more coordinated and effective regional responses.
A regional response to Child and Forced Marriage in the context of trafficking in persons
Developed by the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) with support from ASEAN-ACT, these regional guidelines are the result of collaborative, multi-stakeholder process involving governmetn agencies, civil society, practitioners and subject matter experts from across ASEAN. The guidance supports more coordinated responses to child and forced marraige within the context of trafficking in persons and provides frontliners with practical tools grounded in survivor-centred approaches.
Disability inclusion drives policy change in Indonesia
Starting with community-based support in Bogor, Yayasan Sakura with ASEAN-ACT support, brought together government, civil society and disability organisations to strengthen coordination on trafficking in persons. The resulting consortium helped shaped disability-inclusive guidelines and contributed to local and national policy discussions, demonstrating how local collaboration can influence broader system change.
Collaboration between government, NGO and private sector on recruitment and employment standards for migrant workers
Trafficking in persons is often discussed in isolation from the spectrum of labour abuse and exploitation that occurs in workplaces around the world. However, a growing number of countries, including Thailand, are considering how to prevent and respond to a broader range of slavery-like conditions that have significant human, environmental, social and economic costs.
Implementing the non-punishment principle: practical guidance for ASEAN Member States
Developed collaboratively by the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and supported by the ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking program, a new Guideline reflects ASEAN’s commitment to a victim-centered, rights-based approach to combating trafficking.