Effectively combat trafficking in children

Our project aims at effectively combating trafficking in persons in Sri Lanka through the strengthened collaborative efforts of all national stakeholders (governmental and non-governmental). In addition, we aim to improve protection mechanisms for child victims of trafficking.

Through the project we will ensure greater awareness and information sharing from the local and community level to the national level.

More concretely, the activities of the project are empowering civil society organisations to support Government efforts to address trafficking in persons at local levels. In addition, we are building capacities of government and non-government stakeholders to identify all forms of trafficking in Sri Lanka and provide effective protection.

To increase the understanding and reporting of trafficking in persons we have started a national outreach and research programme. It will help to understand what are the factors taking children to be exposed to, and associated with, trafficking risks, while providing the evidence needed to inform policies and regulations.

Icon Hand-in-Hand

Goal 1 Empower civil society organisations to support government efforts to address trafficking in persons at a local level.

Icon Kinderschutz

Goal 2 Build capacity of all stakeholders to identify all forms of victims and provide effective protection.

Icon Informieren

Goal 3 Increase the understanding and reporting of trafficking in persons cases through national research.

Girls read at one of Save the Children's play and recreational corner in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan civil society as an important actor

Sri Lankan civil society plays an important role in addressing trafficking in persons, but requires strengthened capacity to engage in strategic advocacy, policy dialogue and service delivery at the community level.

Information from our child protection interventions at community level with civil society organisations and children in detention centres in Sri Lanka shows that children are exposed to various risks in the field of trafficking:

  • Children are at risk of sexual and labor exploitation
  • Boys and girls are forced to engage in child sex tourism
  • Children are being coerced to beg or engage in criminal activities

There is a need to corroborate this information and further assess the prevalence of child trafficking and exploitation in the country.

With the participation of local enforcement authorities, including community police, local government officers, civil society actors and communities, we are aiming at strengthening the prevention mechanisms to counter children trafficking, as well as building the capacity of the Civil Society Organisatons (CSO) to identify child victims in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we organise district level trainings, awareness-raising and discussion forums, increased information sharing and coordination between the different stakeholders to identify and track any trafficking risks minors could be exposed to.

Our objective is also to introduce and sensitise stakeholders on the use of new tools such as child victim interview guidelines. By training local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for instance on assistance, referral and protection for child victims of trafficking and by equipping them to provide direct assistance, we help non-government stakeholders to play a greater role in the field of counter-trafficking in the most sustainable way possible.

As the civil society actors can be the closest to children on a daily basis, it is key to empower them in order to play an active role in protecting children from trafficking!

Sofyen Khlafaoui Head Protection and Migration Save the Children Switzerland

Innovative Approach

Based on field-based findings and context analysis, our project aims at involving and empowering civil society organisations to play an active and recognised role in the prevention of, and responses brought to, child trafficking in Sri Lanka.

One of the innovative components is a hotline linked to the public information campaign on trafficking, which is being run for the first time in the country and implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

In addition, we can enable information to reach new target groups through targeted public information campaign on local social media. This helps to raise awareness on the topic and make reporting mechanisms accessible for the general audience.

The revised research objective focuses on generating an in-depth understanding about child trafficking: what kind of children are particularly vulnerable to becoming involved in trafficking, push & pull factors, and geographic areas where exploitation is commonly found. By examining these questions, the research aims to provide new knowledge on child trafficking that will inform advocacy and programming efforts to tackle the issue in Sri Lanka.

Support our work

Save the Children is active where help is most urgently needed. Help us to help!

Your donation for the
children in need