About the project

A one-stop digital service center to address trafficking during COVID-19 in Bangladesh.

As the pandemic progresses, the trend in human trafficking continues to worsen, and the damage to systems for assistance and identification of trafficking victims becomes increasingly apparent. Referral mechanisms, which are essential for identification of victims and their access to rights, are impacted (UNODC). In Bangladesh,Counter-Trafficking Committees (CTCs) are used to identify victims at the grassroots level,assist with reporting, and referral to social and legal services. But due to COVID-19 restrictions,their opportunity to meet and support victims face to face has reduced. CTCs do not have offices, computers, IT systems, or online skills to help victims online. As a result, the victims of trafficking remain unidentified and do not have access to the assistance they need.Funded by The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons of the US government,the programme has established a one-stop digital service centre for the reporting and referral of sex and labour trafficking that includes a project team of Psychosocial Counselor, IT Specialist and Community Campaigners to provide in-person and remote consultations for local Counter-Trafficking Committees (CTCs) to identify and refer victims of trafficking. The program is also training 600 service providers (CTC members, NGOs, school teachers, and other anti-trafficking stakeholders) to use new online and mobile tools, including how to refer and report trafficking cases.The program is working on raising awareness among community members on human trafficking via mobile messaging. The project is led by Terre des Hommes Netherlands with local partner organisations (Viamo and INCIDIN Bangladesh). The project officially launched on 1 December 2021.The programme aims to support over two thousand victims and at-risk children and young men and women over the course of 2 years in Keraniganj Upazila, Dhaka district, Bangladesh.