World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2025 Statement
30 July 2025
“Human Trafficking is Organised Crime – End the Exploitation”
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance (AICSA) joins with survivor leaders and frontline partners across the Indo-Pacific region to raise an urgent call: we are facing a more systematic, organised, and ruthless era of human trafficking, and Australia’s response must rise to meet it.
Around the world, the UNODC reports that 74% of detected trafficking cases are linked to organised, often transnational criminal networks. Exploitation is no longer just opportunistic. It is increasingly industrialised, often involving cyber-enabled fraud, forced criminality, online sexual exploitation, and debt bondage.
Alarmingly, in our region, the detection of victims is now 46% below pre covid-19 levels, and prosecutions have declined in East and Southeast Asia by 31% over the same period (2024, UNODC).
We acknowledge and thank the Australian Government for its long-standing commitment to combatting human trafficking and modern slavery, including programs such as the ASEAN–Australia Counter Trafficking (ASEAN-ACT) program and regional partnerships to strengthen justice responses.
However, in the face of escalating threats and shrinking frontline resources amongst civil society organisations, it is time we step up.
A more comprehensive, localised and survivor-centred approach must be integral to the support Australia provides to strengthen counter-trafficking capabilities and capacities in the Indo-Pacific region.
On the ground across the region, we too often see survivors unjustly treated as criminals, re-traumatised during legal processes, or left without the support needed to rebuild their lives – and thrive.
True justice means recognising the realities of coercion, holding traffickers to account, and providing survivors with pathways to healing, stability, and opportunity.
There is an urgent need to invest in organisations at the community level who can embed survivor voices and leadership across justice and recovery systems, ensuring those with lived experience help shape effective, ethical responses.
The vulnerabilities which lead to a person being trafficked still exist and are often compounded upon their return to their communities.
These challenges need to be overcome so that survivors are empowered to build new lives and reduce the risk factors that exist within their communities. This can open up opportunities to participate fully in the criminal justice process – if they choose to do so – and also confidently speak out about their experiences to prevent future exploitation.
As one survivor-leader within the Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance who works full-time with recently escaped survivors said:
"Returning to my old community without skills or a way to support my family would mean going back to the same cycle of hardship and vulnerability. Through the right support, I’ve found more than just training - I’ve found healing, confidence, and a safe community that believes in my potential. With trauma-informed care, life skills, and long-term support, I see myself and other survivors dreaming bigger and creating a future filled with hope and purpose."
In 2025, many frontline programs in Indo-Pacific are underfunded or disappearing altogether due to collapsing global resources and increasing cases of exploitation. In some of the highest-risk countries, civil society organisations are now the last line of protection. They cannot stand alone.
AICSA calls on the Australian Government to:
Double its investment in frontline anti-trafficking programs through the Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance. As the new term of parliament begins, we call on the government to partner with AICSA member organisations to support community-based programs that prevent human trafficking, improve victim identification, strengthens protection systems, and enables long-term reintegration support - including access to education and employment for survivors.
Establish a formal, regional mechanism with international survivor leaders. There is currently no means for survivor leaders from the region to partner and inform Australia’s international engagement on human trafficking. Now is the time to lead by example and integrate lived experience and expertise into Australia’s international programs to counter human trafficking.
Elevate as a regional diplomatic, development and security priority the escalating economic and social cost of human trafficking. Human trafficking in Asia and the Pacific likely costs billions in the physical and emotional harm to victims, health and victim service costs.[1] Scams, which can be fuelled by human trafficking labour in cyber scamming centres in Southeast Asia, cost Australians $2 billion dollars last year (National Anti-Scam Centre, 2024).
By walking alongside survivors of human trafficking and empowering them to stand beside police, prosecutors, and policymakers, Australia can further support the strengthening of justice systems, support critical survivor services, and partner to see a region where exploitation no longer thrives.
Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance (AICSA) – Learn more: the-aicsa.com
The Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance (AICSA) is a newly formed alliance of Australian based international non-government organisations who are working on the ground in the Asia-Pacific region to counter modern slavery, human trafficking, and support survivors.
Participating agencies in the alliance include: A21 Australia, Bloom Asia, Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Destiny Rescue Australia, Eden Australia, Global Counter-Trafficking Group, Hagar Australia and International Justice Mission Australia.
[1] See Economic and social costs of modern slavery, UK Home Office, 2018. This report estimated the cost of modern slavery in the UK at between £3.3bn and £4.3bn for between 10,000 and 13,000 victims (excluding costs to the criminal justice system). Given the much higher prevalence of human trafficking and modern slavery in the Indo-Pacific, the costs are likely many orders of magnitudes higher in this region.