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June 2019
Dear friends,
We hope this finds you well.
The rainy season started in Bangkok and although this is giving us a small respite after the
March and April heat, our thermometers do not drop below 30 degrees Celsius.
In the office, we continue working at full throttle, with an ever-stimulating agenda focused on
strengthening our core strategies: research and feminist knowledge building; strategic
communication and publications; support for social movements; advocacy and political
influence; and strengthening of the alliance.
In March, we participated in the Commission on the Status of Women whose theme was Social
Protections and Public Services. We published a position paper on social protections, public
services and sustainable infrastructures for migrant workers and trafficked persons and a
related statement on the occasion of International Women's Day. In these briefs, we called on
states to increase their investment in public services and social protections as a way to
prevent human trafficking and protect the rights of migrant and trafficked women. During
CSW, we organised a side event on migrant workers and public services focusing on the
garment sector, in cooperation with Komnas Perempuan.
In April we organised a Global Consultation on the prevention of trafficking and unsafe
migration. This consultation brought together forty-five representatives of thirty-five
organisations working on the promotion of the rights of women, migrants and trafficked
persons in twenty-eight countries. Over the course of three days we discussed and reflected on
the successes and failures of current initiatives to prevent human trafficking and unsafe
migration. On 1 May, International Workers Day, we published a summary of those discussions
in which we reiterated the urgency for governments of countries of origin and destination to
strengthen labour rights and protections as a way to prevent trafficking, exploitation and other
rights violations in the context of work and migration.
Also in April we published issue 12 of the Anti-Trafficking Review themed Sex Work. This issue
explores some of the current achievements and challenges facing the global movement for the
rights of sex workers. The articles examine the ways in which organising and collectivising
have allowed sex workers to tell their own stories, claim their human, social and labour rights,
resist stigma and punitive laws and policies, and provide peer-based support. Along with the
new issue, we released four videos where some of the authors speak about their articles.
In the past few months we also organised several webinars on topics related to human
trafficking, feminist strategies against political and religious fundamentalism, and genderbased violence in the world of work. The recordings of these discussions are available on our
YouTube channel.
In June, during the International Labour Conference, governments, trade unions and employers
will negotiate an agreement proposed by the ILO to end violence and harassment in the world
of work. The agreement is expected to be accompanied by a non-binding recommendation that
June 2019
Dear friends,
We hope this finds you well.
The rainy season started in Bangkok and although this is giving us a small respite after the
March and April heat, our thermometers do not drop below 30 degrees Celsius.
In the office, we continue working at full throttle, with an ever-stimulating agenda focused on
strengthening our core strategies: research and feminist knowledge building; strategic
communication and publications; support for social movements; advocacy and political
influence; and strengthening of the alliance.
In March, we participated in the Commission on the Status of Women whose theme was Social
Protections and Public Services. We published a position paper on social protections, public
services and sustainable infrastructures for migrant workers and trafficked persons and a
related statement on the occasion of International Women's Day. In these briefs, we called on
states to increase their investment in public services and social protections as a way to
prevent human trafficking and protect the rights of migrant and trafficked women. During
CSW, we organised a side event on migrant workers and public services focusing on the
garment sector, in cooperation with Komnas Perempuan.
In April we organised a Global Consultation on the prevention of trafficking and unsafe
migration. This consultation brought together forty-five representatives of thirty-five
organisations working on the promotion of the rights of women, migrants and trafficked
persons in twenty-eight countries. Over the course of three days we discussed and reflected on
the successes and failures of current initiatives to prevent human trafficking and unsafe
migration. On 1 May, International Workers Day, we published a summary of those discussions
in which we reiterated the urgency for governments of countries of origin and destination to
strengthen labour rights and protections as a way to prevent trafficking, exploitation and other
rights violations in the context of work and migration.
Also in April we published issue 12 of the Anti-Trafficking Review themed Sex Work. This issue
explores some of the current achievements and challenges facing the global movement for the
rights of sex workers. The articles examine the ways in which organising and collectivising
have allowed sex workers to tell their own stories, claim their human, social and labour rights,
resist stigma and punitive laws and policies, and provide peer-based support. Along with the
new issue, we released four videos where some of the authors speak about their articles.
In the past few months we also organised several webinars on topics related to human
trafficking, feminist strategies against political and religious fundamentalism, and genderbased violence in the world of work. The recordings of these discussions are available on our
YouTube channel.
In June, during the International Labour Conference, governments, trade unions and employers
will negotiate an agreement proposed by the ILO to end violence and harassment in the world
of work. The agreement is expected to be accompanied by a non-binding recommendation that