What is modern slavery?
Human trafficking is a growing $150 billion a year business, enslaving over 40 million women, children, and men in forced sexual and forced labor exploitation (International Labour Organization & Walk Free Foundation 2017).
According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, modern slavery is estimated to be over three times as prevalent in Vietnam (4.5 per 1,000 population) than it is in the United States (1.3 per 1,000 population). In comparison, modern slavery prevalence rates in other countries are as follows: Canada (0.3), Australia (0.6), United Kingdom (2.1). Vietnam is a top source country for cross-border sex and labor trafficking.
Foundation of Our
Counter-Trafficking Work
Ethical Supply Chains
We work with employers to create good practices in labor recruitment to reduce modern slavery risks in the supply chain.
Protection through Education
Increasing knowledge protects at-risk youth and trafficking survivors, empowering them to make safer economic choices and reducing
(re)-trafficking risks.
International Collaboration
We work closely with partners from the local to international levels to raise trafficking awareness; keep at-risk youth in school; protect supply chains from trafficking; increase first responder capacity to support potential victims; and ensure survivors' safe returns.
Pacific Links Foundation breaks the cycle of human trafficking by investing comprehensively in at-risk youth to prevent trafficking and help trafficking survivors to build new lives. We work throughout Vietnam in trafficking hotspots and collaborate with partner organizations in transit and destination countries, including those in Asia and Europe.
Building a brighter future
Factory Awareness to Counter Trafficking (FACT®)
FACT® trains factory workers and managers about human trafficking in industrial zone to create good practice standards in labor recruiting and retention to reduce trafficking risks in the supply chain.
PAXU® - Workers' well-being & growth app
PAXU® is a mobile app that helps users compare living costs in different locations, calculate debt repayments, connect with trusted information, and learn about safe migration.
Empower Migrants (EMMI)
Migrant women become effective leaders who conduct activities that transform their communities, increase knowledge to keep themselves safe from forced labor and human trafficking risks.
Reintegration Services
We offer comprehensive reintegration services throughout Vietnam and at our Compassion House in Lao Cai to empower trafficking survivors with self-confidence and self-reliance to reduce re-trafficking risks and establish foundation for a better future.
Community Outreach Activities & Campaigns
Our awareness-raising and outreach events build vulnerable communities's capacity to protect themselves against trafficking risks. These events in communal areas expose trafficking as preventable crime.
Capacity Building for Responders (CaRes)
We provide training to responders in Asia and Europe to build responders’ capacity in supporting and interviewing Vietnamese irregular migrants and victims of trafficking by advocating for empathetic, victim-centered, and culturally sensitive approaches.
Matera Alliance Inc.
Matera is the corporate subsidiary of Pacific Links Foundation, focusing on workforce development solutions such as FACT® and PAXU for companies and their employees in the supply chain.
Transforming lives
Resilience
H. is from the Dao ethnic group. At the age of 16, she was sold to a Chinese man to be his wife. A year later, H. was rescued and returned to Vietnam, but she was stigmatized in her community as a trafficking survivor, forcing her to drop out of school. A social worker introduced H. to our Compassion House in Lao Cai. Through counseling and social skills sessions, H. became more confident. She graduated from high school and university. Currently H. has a stable job and lives happily with her husband and a daughter.
Trafficking Survivor, Reintegration Program
Gratitude
“After participating in the FACT® Training, I have come to believe that this program is very helpful and meaningful. By participating in the training, everyone can raise awareness, learn to protect themselves, their loved ones, and the whole community. We thank [Pacific Links Foundation] for bringing such a meaningful program to our company.”
FACT® Training volunteer
Grace
COVID-19 has brought widespread suffering and fear to communities worldwide. A, one of our core leaders, was not excluded from the threats posed by the pandemic. She lost her job and had to settle down in a new city to earn income and provide for her small family. Despite these difficulties, she still managed to set a good example for everyone in her group, especially female migrant workers. She engaged enthusiastically in our projects by spreading her knowledge and suggested many helpful initiatives for local communities.
Beneficiary, Empower Migrant Program
Courage
T. had the intention of working abroad, but after using PAXU’s Calculators, she realizes the higher risks and the difference in the living costs between where she lives and where she wants to immigrate. T. decided that she would not go abroad to work. “I find the calculators very specific, which helps us to make better migration decisions."
PAXU® User
Grit
When P. came to the Compassion House at the age of 13, her father objected and did not want P. to continue her education. He took P. home and arranged for her to get married, but P. refused. Together with a Compassion House social worker, P. persuaded her father to support her studies. She wanted to become a chef and in 2019, P. graduated from KOTO Humanitarian Vocational Training Center in Hanoi. She achieved her dreams and became a chef at a Thai restaurant.
Trafficking Survivor, Reintegration Program
