World day against trafficking in persons
World day against trafficking in persons
Australians often find it hard to believe that people-trafficking occurs across and within our borders. A new pilot program by The Salvation Army tells a different story.
30 July is United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons — a day aimed at raising awareness about human trafficking and encouraging communities, organisations and governments to take action to prevent and respond to this ongoing threat.
Having actively worked for this cause for over 140 years — since fighting to end the trafficking of girls for sexual exploitation in London in 1885 — The Salvation Army has an international mandate to deliver anti-trafficking responses.
As part of that, The Salvation Army Australia delivers a suite of specialist support programs for people who have experienced modern slavery, including trafficking. This includes a national helpline, an assessment and referral service, complex case management, refuge and transitional accommodation and a survivor leadership program. Over the last year, The Salvation Army has supported over a hundred survivors of trafficking and slavery in Australia with specialist support, to help them move towards healing and recovery.
What is trafficking?
In Australia, trafficking is defined as the use of tactics such as manipulation, control or violence, threats or lies to move a person across or within borders, so they can be exploited. Child trafficking is the term used for the illegal movement of children across or within borders for the intention of exploitation.
Exploitation can take many forms, e.g., being coerced to work long hours with little pay in a home, a business or on a farm, being pressured into a marriage without consent or being forced into sexual services.
Many people are tricked into travel to a new place under the false assurance of an opportunity on the other side, such as a positive work or study prospect, or the chance of a new personal relationship that promises safety and stability. Many others — when they encounter manipulation — feel they have no option but to comply, due to threats of harm to themselves or their families if they don’t.
Trafficking can happen to anyone. However, traffickers often target people already facing difficult circumstances like poverty or conflict, experiencing abuse and oppression, or living without a safe support network — knowing they can use these hardships against the individual to assert and retain control and create a barrier to seeking help.
Trafficking and other forms of modern slavery are notoriously hard to detect and grossly under-identified, with Australian research showing that for every one person identified as a victim-survivor, four others may go unseen.
Warning signs that someone could be experiencing trafficking include signs of control over their movements and behaviours, not having possession of their own identity and travel documents, a lack of awareness of their surroundings or where they live, and signs of fear, distress and abuse.
An abuse of trust
The theme for this year — ‘Human trafficking is Organised Crime – End the Exploitation’, — strives to draw attention to the important role that law enforcement and the criminal justice system play in stopping trafficking and holding perpetrators to account.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that up to three quarters of traffickers worldwide operate within organised crime groups, forcing, threatening or deceiving victims into travel to facilitate their entry into exploitation and abuse.
A fact even harder to fathom — many people who experience trafficking and other forms of modern slavery such as forced labour, forced marriage, servitude and slavery, have been coerced or trapped in these situations by someone they trusted, such as an intimate partner, a family or community member, or even a friend — someone who offered safety, protection and care, only to exploit them. This can make seeking help even more difficult for many people experiencing modern slavery, as they may not self-identify or be aware they are victim-survivors, and fear the consequences for themselves or their loved ones if they report.
Rights-based support is essential
Critical to ensuring that people experiencing trafficking or slavery can get help they need is to offer them support pathways that are not solely dependent on them cooperating with police investigation, or contingent on working to progress a criminal case against the trafficker. If family violence or sexual assault services were only available to people willing to make a formal police statement to take the matter to court, far fewer people would seek help and engage with essential support.
Additional Referral Pathway (ARP) — a Salvos pilot
Until recently in Australia, modern slavery survivors could only be referred to the national support program by the federal police. However, over the past two decades, The Salvation Army has worked alongside survivor advocates, other service providers and academics to call for change to the Australian support system to make it rights-based. This advocacy was ultimately successful, leading to the Australian Government changing the way people at risk of or experiencing modern slavery can seek help. This momentous milestone was marked by the introduction of the pilot Additional Referral Pathway (ARP), delivered by The Salvation Army in July 2024.
When we consider how the experience of trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices strips agency from the victim-survivor, restoring choice and control over how people receive help is essential. ARP does just that — by providing people the opportunity to gain confidential information, understand their options, conduct safety planning, gain legal advice and be referred to longer term supports. The program is delivered in partnership with Anti Slavery Australia (legal provider), Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights, Project Respect and Scarlet Alliance.
Success of the ARP pilot
As part of the ARP, over 100 people have been formally identified as having experienced modern slavery and referred onto longer term support programs such as the Support for Trafficked People Program and the Forced Marriage Specialist Support Program.
The ARP program is grounded in a rights-based, trauma-informed and person-centred approach. It strives to ensure the individual is able to feel safe knowing support is available to them, understand their rights and options, and make decisions about next steps they wish to take on their terms — ultimately moving towards reclaiming their life back.
The Additional Referral Pathway program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
To learn more about the Additional Referral Pathway or to get in touch with our team, visit https://web.dev.salvationarmy.org.au/additional-referral-pathway/
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