Australia
New ZealandA border rescue goes beyond saving a person from human trafficking and equips their family with strategic awareness training of the crisis to protect them and their communities in the future.
Border agents counsel survivors and their families using a curriculum that outlines the danger of all types of trafficking and defines related topics that might not be readily familiar such as force, fraud and coercion.
During a border rescue, survivors are usually unaware of the true nature of their situation. Traffickers pose as heroes, offering the security of a job or marriage to lure their targets out of the country. In every case last year, survivors lied to our agents at the border about their travels as instructed by their trafficker.
Agents might start teaching the awareness material to survivors during their rescue. By outlining key factors of human trafficking, agents can help a survivor understand her situation and begin to trust them.
After rescue, survivors are cared for in our transitional shelters as they wait for their families to arrive. Our staff walk survivors and their families through the training together, informing them about common trafficking scenarios and their human rights.
Afterwards, families usually express gratitude to our staff and say they will share their knowledge with their communities. In one case, a survivor was able to warn another girl in her village being groomed by a man she met on Facebook.
A rescue agent at one of our busiest border stations recalled a story about the positive effects of awarenes training.
“Tashwi grew up in the mountains and she never thought that people could sell people. She met a man on Facebook and started talking to him. One day, he asked her to meet him in her village. She trusted him and she came to meet him. That time he asked her to go out with him to his home and he forced her to have sex with him. She told him she is married and she will not have sex with him. He forced her anyway. Then he started threatening her. After we counselled and educated her, she understood her human rights. She filed a case against the man afterwards and she was so happy to understand the law and rules.”
Border agents implement this powerful training along the Nepal border every day. While our team’s dedication rescued 721 people at the border last year, their teachings on awareness have likely helped many more girls and women across the country. Donate today to fuel our work.