You are here » Home » Telling Our Story
Success Story
Inter-agency cooperation
improves prosecution of
human traffickers
Agencies Cooperate to End Trafficking
| |
Photo: USAID/Suzanne Ross
|
|
Role playing increases awareness of
trafficking among local authorities.
“Now the attorney
general’s office has begun
to take comprehensive
view of the many complex
issues involved,” said
veteran criminal prosecutor
Sakchai Assvinarnand.
|
Since Asia’s 1997 economic crisis, trafficking in women and children has steadily increased throughout the greater Mekong region. But in Thailand, judicial processes that lead to the
conviction of traffickers can be derailed by decentralized,
ineffective evidence collection and the lengthy amount of time it
takes to bring cases to trial — sometimes as long as two or
three years.
USAID is addressing these challenges by training police, civil
society, local governments and organizations to cooperate in
anti-trafficking efforts. Increasing awareness among key
partners, such as police and prosecutors, with the support of
social workers and local organizations, encourages a
collaborative approach that is more effective at putting human
traffickers in jail. Through activities like role-playing, the
curriculum teaches participants about the agencies’
organizational structures to improve their ability to work
together in and across bureaucracies. Attendees also develop
new approaches, such as creating multi-agency teams to
conduct evidentiary interviews and examinations, that reduce
stress on victims and stimulate information sharing. USAIDfunded
victim protection shelters encourage visits with family
members to support the witnesses as they await trial.
By September 2006, 540 people, including 300 prosecutors, will
have been comprehensively trained in laws and techniques to
combat trafficking and ensure the rights of victims. “Now the
attorney general’s office has begun to take comprehensive view
of the many complex issues involved,” said veteran criminal
prosecutor Sakchai Assvinarnand.
Print-friendly version of this page (244kb - PDF)
Back to Top ^ | 
