I want to help my mother make money because our family lives in poverty.”
– Nimu, aged 15
I want to help my mother make money because our family lives in poverty.”
Nimu, 15 years old
Nimu’s story is not uncommon amongst the children of migrant labourers. Though policy exists to prevent child labour in Thailand, plenty of employers are willing to exploit migrant children by accepting false data for identification documents. With brokers and officials prone to corruption, and families in dire poverty, parents become incentivised to send their underage children to work.
What is Safe Child Thailand doing to help?
We aim to protect the child victims of exploitation and forced labour by providing access to education, rehabilitation and justice. Working in partnership with outstanding local partners we strive to bring an end to the exploitation of children in Thailand. This work includes:
- Providing temporary shelter to support child victims of forced labour and human trafficking.
- Supporting families through micro-finance and small business training, keeping their children in school instead of at work.
- Assisting the authorities to identify victims and bring cases of child labour and trafficking to court.
- Providing health clinics that offer tests and medical supplies for children exploited in the sex industry.
- Educating vulnerable families and communities on the dangers of child exploitation.
- Running public awareness campaigns on the prevention of child exploitation and services available for victims of forced labour.
We are also proud to support Childline Thailand.
The Childline Thailand Foundation has been vital to the development of child protection and the fight against exploitation in Thailand. It advocates for child rights issues through all levels of Thai society.
Your support helps Childline provide professional support to children. These services include counselling, referrals, emergency interventions, victim support, rehabilitation and their 24-hour call centre.
Staff in the call centre are ready to take phone calls and respond to online messages 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They answer about 150,000 calls a year, providing direct assistance to children in need, providing instant emotional support.
In rural areas our partners are working to build the capability of local organisations to build a strong response to child abuse, ensuring that everyone in the district knows how to seek help.
To make sure this protection is sustainable, they are helping to build the child protection capacity of the Royal Thai Government.
With your support, there is huge potential for Safe Child Thailand to become a catalyst for change. With your generosity, our partners on the ground can deliver world-class services for the prevention of child exploitation and the rehabilitation of those who have already been victimised.
