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Solidarity Center Empowers Vulnerable Workers and Their Children to Fight Human Trafficking in Indonesia

More than 25,000 Boy and Girl Scouts are learning how to keep themselves safe in a part of Indonesia that is infamous for the cruel practice of human trafficking. The effort, which is supported by the Solidarity Center, is highlighted as an international best practice in the newly released U.S. State Department 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report. "Traffickers are preying on children -- many of them as young as 12 -- who may be forced to drop out of school and find work far from home to help support their families," said Solidarity Center Executive Director Kate Doherty. "We're working with the Scouts to empower kids to protect themselves from unscrupulous people trying to lure them into forced labor, domestic servitude, and prostitution." 

The Solidarity Center, in partnership with the International Catholic Migration Commission, has been working since 2001 to combat trafficking of women and children in Indonesia, where millions of people migrate every year seeking work in another part of the country or internationally. The Solidarity Center has worked with unions in Indonesia to mobilize a coalition of civil society organizations and government agencies to take action to prevent trafficking and protect those who fall prey to it. The Solidarity Center also has helped the Indonesian government draft legislation to fight the crime and forge a National Plan of Action. "The Solidarity Center has been at the forefront of the movement to promote labor standards and protections for all workers as a tool to fight trafficking in persons," said Doherty. "We are pleased that the report recognizes the approach the labor movement has known for decades -- that the best way to stop labor abuse is to empower people to stand up for their rights."

For more information, contact
Ms. Neha Misra
+1 202 778 4500
nmisra@solidaritycenter.org

2006 Trafficking in Persons Report

Learn more about Solidarity Center Counter-trafficking programs