June 2016 – NEXUS Institute is pleased to announce the release of its study on the reintegration of trafficking victims in Indonesia – Going Home. Challenges in the Reintegration of Trafficking Victims in Indonesia, authored by Rebecca Surtees, Laura S. Johnson, Thaufiek Zulbaharay and Suarni Daeng Caya.
Going Home, based on repeat interviews with seventy-five Indonesian trafficking victims, explores how Indonesian trafficking victims recover and reintegrate after their exploitation. The research, conducted over a period of two years, follows the lives and reintegration experiences of a diverse range of trafficked persons, including victims of trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation, male and female victims and those exploited internationally as well as within the country. The report examines in-depth the challenges that service providers and trafficked persons face in the reintegration process and what can be done to address these challenges. The research shows that while there is a range of laws, policies and programs currently in place in Indonesia to protect trafficking victims, not all victims have access to this support. Efforts and initiatives by the government, NGOs and IOs do not always reach trafficking victims and many trafficking victims do not receive the assistance and support that they need to recover from their trafficking experiences and reintegrate into their families and communities.
Some of the critical challenges identified and discussed in this study include:
- many trafficked persons are unidentified;
- reintegration is not clearly defined or understood;
- most assistance is “one-off” support;
- assistance programs are only short-term;
- victims face barriers in accessing available services;
- lack of information about reintegration assistance;
- lack of reintegration assistance to trafficked men;
- lack of case management and tailored reintegration support;
- an uneven provision of assistance due to decentralization and the geographic distribution of services.
This publication is the first in a series of longitudinal studies that explore various aspects of life and reintegration after trafficking in Indonesia. The project is generously funded by the United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP).