Study on

Trafficking,

Exploitation and

Abuse in the

Mekong (STEAM)

A survey of men, women

and children in Cambodia,

Thailand and Vietnam

(Vietnam results)

Study aim

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence

of health outcomes and explore risks and

consequences associated with migrant

labour exploitation among clients of post-

trafficking services in Cambodia, Thailand

and Vietnam

Objectives

• Document health risks and outcomes throughout the trafficking

process;

• Examine changes in reported physical and psychological health

symptoms over time;

• Compare living and working conditions, violence and health

indicators by labour sectors, countries, age groups, sex;

• Describe post-trafficking social responses (e.g., guilt, shame,

empowerment, stigma);

• Examine factors associated with physical and mental health

outcomes;

• Document individual perceptions of care needs;

• Explore vulnerability and risk factors for being trafficked

Study overview

o Study type: longitudinal cross-sectional survey of women, men and adolescents/ children over age 10 (consecutive sample) in entering post-trafficking services in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

o Interview intervals: interview participants twice, upon entry (within 0-14 days) and at 30-90 days.

o Study period: Data collection started in Dec 2011/Jan 2012, data collection ended in April 2013

Sample – full study

• Two-stages sample of men, women and children aged 10 years or more (n=1,102)

– First stage: 15 post trafficking assistance services in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam were purposively selected in each country (6 services in Cambodia, 4 in Thailand and 5 in Vietnam) based on diversity of clientele, service relationship with the IOM country teams and agreements with government instances.

– Second stage: a consecutive sample of individuals were interviewed within the first two weeks of admission into each of the selected services.

Participating Service providers in

Vietnam

Three government social support centres and two shelters implemented run by non-governmental organisations located in different regions in Vietnam include:

• Can Tho Support Centre for Women and Children in Difficult Circumstances (AAT)

• Lang Son Social Support Centre

• Centre for Vocational training, Women’s Union of Quang Ninh province

• Social Protection Centre of Lao Cai Province

• Centre for Women and Development (Peace House)

Sample: persons in post-

trafficking services

Individuals in this study may have been accessing services in:

• their home country after having been returned;

• the country of destination awaiting return or release; or

• a transit country, or home country in cases where they did not reach their destination.

RESULTS –

VIETNAM

Sample by service provider

Service provider N (%)

Can Tho 11 (2.8%)

Lang Son 201 (51.7%)

Quang Ninh 26 (6.7%)

Lao Cai 118(30.3%)

Peace House 33(8.5%)

TOTAL 389 (100%)

• Almost all participants were from Vietnam (n=388) and 1 from China

Age of participants

1.30%

15.90%

49.40%

16.50%

17.00%

10 to 14

15 to 17

18 to 24

25 to 34

35 or older

Age group (years)

Male N (%)

Female N (%)

TOTALN (%)

10-14 0 6 (1.8%) 5 (1.3%)

15-17 9 (8.4%) 53 (18.8%) 62 (15.9%)

18-24 55 (51.4%) 137 (48.6%) 192 (49.4%)

25-34 19 (17.8%) 45 (16.0%) 64 (16.5%)

35 or older 24 (22.4%) 42 (14.9%) 66 (17.0%)

TOTAL 107 (100%) 282 (100%) 389 (100%)

Age group

Adult (>=18 years) 98 (91.6%) 224 (79.4%) 322 (82.8%)

Child (<18 years) 9 (8.4%) 58 (20.6%) 67 (17.2%)

Age distribution (years)

Mean 26.0 (SD=9.5) 24.3(SD=9.5) 24.8 (SD=9.2)

Range 15 - 58 12 - 57 12 - 59

Age of male and female participants

Education: children and

adults

18%

54%

9%

11%

9%

31%

36%

12%

16%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Primary (1-5 grade)

Secondary (6-8 grade)

Higher (10-11 grade)

No formal schooling

No data

Adult

Child

Sector of exploitation (1)

Sector of exploitation Adult

male

N (%)

Adult

female

N (%)

Youth (both

sexes <18)

N (%)

TOTAL

Sex work 1 (1.0%) 77 (34.4%) 20 (29.9%) 98 (25.2%)

Factory 62 (63.3%) 25 (11.2%) 8 (11.9%) 95 (24.4%)

Agriculture 18 (18.4%) 34 (15.2%) 2 (3.0%) 54 (13.9%)

Wife - 38(17.0%) 15 (22.4%) 53 (13.6%)

Domestic worker 2 (2.0%) 9 (4.0%) 1 (1.5%) 12 (3.1%)

Entertainment/karaoke - 3 (1.3%) 2 (3.0%) 5 (1.3%)

Construction 5 (5.1%) - 1(1.5%) 6 (1.5%)

Home business 4 (4.1%) 1 (0.5%) 1 (1.5%) 6 (1.5%)

Street seller/shop - 3 (1.3%) - 3 (0.8%)

Other 5 (5.1%) 6 (2.7%) 1 (1.5%) 12 (3.1%)

Not reached destination 1 (1.0%) 28 (12.5%) 16 (23.9%) 45 (11.6%)

Sector of exploitation (2)

25.20%

24.40%

13.90%

13.60%

3.10%

1.30%

1.50%

1.50%

0.80%

3.10%

11.60%Sex work

Factory

Agriculture

Wife

Domestic worker

Entertainment/karaoke

Construction

Home business

Street seller/shop

Other

Not reached destination

Sector of exploitation:

further details

• Other sectors of exploitation were varied and included: loading goods, chopping wood, driving, looking after children, peeling onion and garlic, adopted child and kidnapping

• Almost one fourth of the sample (24.4%) were trafficked to work in factories

• Of these persons, 19.8% worked in garment factories and 20.9% in electronic factories and 23.1% in toys factories,

• Other reported factories included: shoes, plastic recycling, flash light

Country of exploitation

• 84.3% (n=328) of the sample was exploited in China

•Other participants were trafficked into Russia (n=6), Malaysia (n=5), internally in Vietnam (3), and Cambodia(n=2)

• People were trafficked internally as wives, to work in factories or home businesses

•11.6% did not reach destination

•The majority of those who did not reach destination were adult women (62.2%)

Duration of trafficking

situation

• The median duration of trafficking situations was 91.5 days (MAD 61), or 3 months. Females (96.5 days, MAD 72) and males (91.5 days, MAD 41) had similar median trafficking durations. And children were in trafficking situations (122 days, MAD 61) longer than adults (91.5 days, MAD 61)

• Wives* had the highest median duration of trafficking (183 days, MAD 122), followed by construction workers*** (137 days, MAD 22.5) and sex workers*** (119.5 days, MAD 75) and domestic workers** (89.8 days, MAD 36.8)

*1 missing **2 missing ***3 missing

Living and working

conditions (1)

34%

9%

21%

11%

47%

4%

21%

9%12%

9%5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Living and working conditions (2)

• Three in four participants reported at least one negative aspect of their living and working environment. The experience of negative conditions was nearly universal among males (93.3%), and very common among females (66.8%)

• A substantial portion of participants reported extremely hazardous or abusive conditions, including: having been locked in a room (21.2%), insufficient food (10.5%) and nowhere to sleep or sleeping on the floor (9.0%)

Daily working hours

Daily working hours

Labour sector Mean SD* Min Max

Sex workers (n=98) 14.3 4.1 8 24

Entertainment/karaoke/ massage/nail care (n=5) 12 - 12 12

Agriculture/farming/Plantation (n=54) 10.8 2.5 5 13

Domestic worker/Cleaner (n=12) 11 1.4 10 12

Construction (n=6) 9.6 1.7 8 12

Factory (n=95) 11.3 2.1 8 18

Home business (n=6) 9 - 9 9

Wife (n=53) 11.5 4.7 7 16

Other (n=12) 9 - 9 9

Not reached destination (n=45) - - - -

TOTAL 11.9 3.2 5 24

•Children reported longer working hours than adults, with a mean of 12.3 hours per day (SD=4.8) for children and 11.9 hours (SD=2.9) for adults

•Females generally reported working longer hours than males - 12.9 hours per day (SD=3.8) versus 10.6 hours (SD=1.2) for males

Freedom of movement

• The vast majority (90.1%) of respondents who reached their trafficking destination reported that they were "never" or "seldom" free to go where they wanted or do what they wanted.

• All six of the individuals trafficked for construction reported "never" or “seldom” being free to do what they wanted or go where they wanted, followed by 88.8% of sex workers, 83.3% of

• domestic workers and 71.7% of wives.

71.5 18.6 7.9

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Freedom of movementNever

Seldom

Occasionally

Often

Always

Injuries

• Overall, 12% of the sample were injured at least once

• Sex workers were the most likely to experience injuries (23.5% of sex workers)

• Injuries were also commonly reported by those who were trafficked as wives (13.2%)

• A higher proportion of children than adults reported serious injuries (17.7% and 13.0%, respectively)

23%

58%

23%

21%

15%

15%

4%

2%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Deep or very long cut

Skin damage or injury

Back or neck injury

Other accidental injury

Serious head injury

Very bad burn (not sun burn)

Ear damage

Eye injury/damage

Broken bone

Violence during trafficking

experience

Physical violence, N (%)

Sexual violence, N (%)

Physical or sexual violence, N (%)

Adult male 7 (7.1%) 1 (1.0%) 7 (7.1%)

Adult female 90 (40.2%) 115 (51.3%) 133 (59.4%)

Children 28 (41.8%) 31 (46.3%) 40 (59.7%)

TOTAL 125 (32.1%) 147 (37.8%) 180 (46.3%)

•Nearly half (47%) of the participants were personally threatened with violence; 23.6% reported receiving threats against their family or someone close to them

•Among the 180 participants who experienced any physical or sexual violence during trafficking or transit, 31.1% were seriously injured at least once. Factory workers were more likely to be injured (44.4%), followed by sex workers (40.9%)

Health problemsNearly half (47.6%) of the participants who experienced pain or injury requested a consultation with a medical professional

9%

9%

4%

4%

2%

11%

3%

9%

1%

12%

8%

3%

2%

5%

1%

2%

0%

7%

2%

1%

0%

1%

0%

2%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

Dizzy Spells

Headaches

Dental problems

Feeling nauseous

Diarrhoea

Back Pain

Skin Problems

Exhausted

Fainting

Weight loss

Memory problems

Persistent coughing

Quite a lot

Extreme

Post-trafficking mental

health symptoms

• 9 participants (7 women and 2 children) tried to commit suicide in the month before the interview

Depression Anxiety PTSD

N (%) N (%) N (%)

Adult male 76 (77.6%) 62 (63.3%) 61 (62.2%)

Adult female 137 (61.2%)* 102 (45.4%)* 84 (37.5%)

Children 44 (65.7%) 27 (40.3%) 24 (35.8%)

TOTAL 257 (66.1%) 191 (49.1%) 169 (43.4%)

*1 missing

Post trafficking concerns

19.50%

28.80%

4.10%

5.90%

27.80%

5.10%

24.90%

1.00%

17.70%

34.40%

3.90%

8.50%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00%

Own physical health

Earning money

Housing: long term

Healthproblems in family

Guilt or shame

Spiritual, religious concerns,

Own mental health

Housing: short-term

Money problems in family

Afraid of traffickers

Documents

Others

Conclusions

• Trafficked men, women and children are exploited in a range of sectors and experience gross violations of their rights

• They are exposed to multiple and severe health risks, including violence, deprivation and serious occupational hazards

• They report high levels of mental health symptoms, associated with the trafficking experience

• Trafficking survivors are very likely to need physical and psychological health care

Thank you