ILO and UNODC strengthen protection for Indonesian women migrant workers

Participants at a series of joint ILO-UNODC training workshops on gender-responsive case management and coordinated protection for women migrant workers at risk of trafficking and forced labour, March 2026.

Jakarta, Indonesia (ILO News) - Across five districts in Indonesia, frontline officials are changing how they identify and respond to the risks facing women migrant workers thanks to the efforts of the PROTECT Project. Labour officers, police, prosecutors, trade unions, social workers and village authorities are increasingly working across institutional boundaries, identifying trafficking indicators earlier and responding to exploitation in a more coordinated way.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) joined forces under PROTECT during March-May 2026, to deliver joint training workshops on gender-responsive case management and coordinated protection for women migrant workers at risk of trafficking and forced labour.

Conducted across five priority districts with high levels of labour migration and migrant return- Cirebon, Deli Serdang, Kupang, Tulungagung and Lampung Timur - the workshops brought together 203 participants from local government, law enforcement, labour institutions, Migrant Worker Resource Centres, trade unions and civil society organizations.

The collaboration reflects a shared recognition that effective protection requires both a strong labour system and a functioning criminal justice response - two systems that have too often operated in parallel. The ILO contributed technical guidance on labour migration governance and coordinated service delivery through the integrated One Stop Centre with Migrant Worker Resource Centre (LTSA-MRC) model, which brings together government institutions, workers' organizations and women's crisis centres. To date, these centres have reached 7,500 migrant workers, 85 per cent of them women, with pre-employment, psychosocial, health, legal and case management services, while outreach campaigns have reached over 69,000 women migrant workers.

UNODC contributed expertise on criminal justice responses to trafficking and smuggling, including victim identification, investigation and prosecution.

"From our experience handling trafficking cases, the warning signs are not always obvious. As recruitment increasingly takes place online, it is becoming more important than ever for frontline actors to recognize these risks early and work together to prevent harm," said Haris Sanjaya, Women and Children Protection and Trafficking in Persons Unit (PPA-PPO), Indonesian National Police

The risks facing migrant workers take different forms across the five districts. In Kupang, concerns frequently arise from workers returning in critical condition, or not returning at all. In Cirebon, exploitation is often concealed behind fraudulent marriage arrangements. In Deli Serdang, a border area with close access to Malaysia, illegal brokers present irregular migration as a shortcut to work abroad. Tulungagung and Lampung Timur are seeing a similar pattern shift online, with recruitment increasingly linked to scam operations.

Despite these differences, all five districts face the same challenge: identifying signs of vulnerability early enough to prevent harm. Cases of trafficking continue to be misidentified as administrative labour or immigration violations at district level, limiting timely access to protection and justice. Frontline officials are often the first to engage with workers at risk, and their ability to identify warning signs early - and coordinate an effective response across institutions - is critical.

The PROTECT workshop in each of the five provinces, which ran over two and a half days focused on labour migration governance and the LTSA-MRC model; and on criminal justice responses, victim identification and the distinction between trafficking and smuggling. A final half-day was dedicated to developing joint standard operating procedures and district-level action plans.

Group discussion during the Deli Serdang workshop on mapping human trafficking challenges in Deli Serdang.

"Efforts to combat human trafficking cannot rely solely on legal enforcement; they must begin with strengthening prevention systems at the community level, particularly in villages where vulnerability to trafficking often first emerges," said Irene Kanalasari Inaq, Women Solidarity, Kupang Migrant Resrouce centre.

"This training has given me a better understanding of how trafficking cases are evolving and what signs to look for. The practical case discussions helped me understand not only how to identify and investigate potential trafficking cases, but also the importance of protecting victims and working closely with other institutions - lessons I can immediately apply in my work, said Indah, a police officer from East Lampung.