Policy

LIFT's Investigation team recently assisted a survivor of transnational sex trafficking that we will call Sara. When working her case, our team identified corruption at an embassy that allowed Sara, and hundreds of women from her country, to be easily trafficked to Thailand for sex.

Once LIFT gathered evidence and notified authorities, law enforcement arrested some of the traffickers and found Sara's case connected to the wider trafficking network and systemic corruption. This case led to policy change in the form of stricter visa requirements that protect young women from this nation being trafficked to Thailand. Policy change is a huge case outcome that we strive for because it ultimately leads to prevention and protection of more people on a wide scale that focusing on individuals alone doesn't accomplish. Stronger, better systems and policies keep people from being exploited and frustrate the efforts of traffickers. Sara told us this:

"My trafficker abandoned me in Thailand and left the country because she saw other traffickers being prosecuted. When she tried to get a visa to come back a few months later, she was unable to get one, because the rules had been tightened. Because I knew she couldn't come back, I was able to escape."  

You can help create policy change for survivors of human trafficking.