MIGRANT workers have made huge changes to their lives and work to adapt to Covid-19. So too have the human traffickers who prey on them.

Migrant workers, especially the women, have been particularly hard hit by Covid-19.

As with past shocks, migrant workers have found themselves the first to lose jobs. They have borne the brunt of quarantines, curfews, lockdowns, and slow vaccine rollouts. Border closures and travel restrictions have prevented them going home or coming back to work.

All these measures were meant to flatten the infection curve and restore business and people’s lives. No one could have predicted the unintended consequences on women and especially female migrant workers.

Service providers, trade unions, civil society organisations and migrant worker resource centres report that these conditions have seen more violence against women migrant workers, labour exploitation as well as the risk of human trafficking. The pandemic makes these issues harder to prevent and detect, leaving survivors struggling to access basic support, essential services and justice.

With economic insecurity pushing individuals into taking more risks to find work, traffickers have been swift to take advantage. A study released in June 2021 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that women, children and migrants remain particularly vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and violence during Covid-19. A survey by the same also indicated how traffickers had adapted to the pandemic by recruiting victims online, capitalising on people’s desperation to find a job and increased time spent on the internet.

It is clear if we are to build back better from the impact of Covid-19, we need to build back differently.

New strategies are required to address prevention and protection gaps that have emerged from, or exacerbated by Covid-19. Tackling human traffickers as they ply their insidious trade online instead of in rural villages or at urban food stalls is just one example. Far deeper embedded are the existing gender inequalities and decent work deficits that punish millions of women and push them to migrate in their quest for a better life for them and their families.

The list of inequalities is a long one. Limited educational and occupational opportunities available to women, early and forced marriage, domestic violence, high levels of informal work, gaps in labour migration management as well the high cost of regular labour migration all contribute to increased irregular and undocumented migration and migrant smuggling.

This, in turn, can so easily transform into human trafficking.

These challenges may seem insurmountable, but we have seen time and time again that through resilience and innovation complex problems can be tackled.

Governments already have the tools to confront violence, labour exploitation and human trafficking. They can put their long-standing commitments into action by reinvigorating coordination efforts, both within countries and across borders, drawing on support from civil society partners and women’s rights groups closest to those most affected.

Evidence-driven policies and interventions to prevent abuses and hold perpetrators accountable must also be strengthened. We need to build on promising practices of the past to strengthen efforts to rise to the challenges of today. Survivors of violence must be provided with access to quality essential services to address their physical and mental health, safety and social welfare needs. They need the support necessary to heal, recover and regain their agency, autonomy, productivity, social functioning and overall wellbeing.

As we commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and approach the International Day for Human Rights and International Day for Migrants, there is need for continued awareness raising on the conditions and issues faced by women migrant workers and trafficked women.

Yet more than anything else, there is a need for action. Action to help forge a world where respect, dignity and human rights prevail for all, and not just a few. – December 14, 2021.

* Panudda Boonpala is deputy regional director, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Sarah Knibbs is deputy regional director and officer in charge, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Julien Garsany is deputy regional representative, UN Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.