ILO Project to Prevent Trafficking in Girls and Young Women for Labour Exploitation within China

The CP-TING project is a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Chinese Government and non-governmental agencies, implemented in close collaboration with the All China Women's Federation (ACWF). The project is funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development in China (DFID-China).

Project objectives

The project's main objective is to help prevent girls and young women ending up in the 'entertainment industry' or other unacceptable forms of work in China, by reducing their vulnerability to trafficking.

The project has three more specific objectives that will be achieved over time. In the first year efforts revolve mainly around advocacy, mobilization and building the knowledge base (objective 1). In year 2 and 3 efforts mainly revolve around pilot testing various direct assistance models that reach out to migrant girls at risk of trafficking (objective 2). In year 3 and 4 efforts will mainly revolve around policy dialogue (objective 3).

Coverage and target groups

The CP-TING project operates in five provinces Anhui, Henan, and Hunan (sending provinces) and Guangdong and Jiangsu (receiving provinces) and at national level where it works towards the creation of a national policy framework.

The project is targeted towards girls and young women at high risk of being victimized and the communities in which they live. Special attention is paid to the needs of unskilled girls and young women in particular those who have dropped out of school prematurely as they are more vulnerable to being lured into unacceptable work.

Interventions by Chinese counterpart agencies

Interventions to reduce vulnerability of girls and young women to trafficking include:

• Warning girls and women of the dangers of unprepared and ill-informed migration, and encouraging their direct participation in creating local solutions;
• Reducing the school drop-out of girls under 16 years to improve their employability;
• Raising awareness of the risks of trafficking and HIV-AIDS, protection measures and legal literacy in pre-departure life skills training to prospective migrant girls (aged 16 and over) and young women;
• Working with workers and employers organizations to offer decent jobs to migrant girls/women (aged 1624);
• Promoting managed migration for employment purposes, including bilateral cooperation agreements between sending and receiving provinces;
• Free information and job placement services targeting prospective migrant workers;
• Supervision of recruitment and contracting agencies for migrant workers;
Protecting the labour rights of all migrant workers including the adoption of minimum standards for employment contracts, training and information, and the provision of support services;
• Improving access to social services in urban areas for migrant girls and young women in need;
• Sex and age disaggregating and fully analysed data relevant to migration to support focused policy initiatives;
• Improving access in urban areas to social services for female migrants in need;
• Documenting lessons learned from pilot projects to improve policy frameworks at national, provincial and local levels.

Approaches

Matching interventions to age: Different ages - different needs - different responses;

Making migration safer: Acknowledging the right to migrate and the economic forces in play and giving young females the knowledge and information they need to migrate safely. In the case of girls under 16, the project will urge them not to migrate unaccompanied;

Participation: Actively involving those directly affected and others who can be part of the solution;

Process-based learning and mobilization: Use implementation as an opportunity for learning, invlovement, engagement and ownship.

Multi-dimensional response and partnerships: Trafficking is a complicated, multi-faceted issue that has many causes. It is a probelm both in and of society. it requires responses that are multi-dimensional and based on broad partnerships. The project is implemented in close collaboration with the ACWF and a range of ministries. The project collaborates further with other anti-trafficking initiatives such as those of UNICEF and SC-UK with whom it co-funds activities, and the UN-IAP.

Project as a catalyst, government at the centre: By developing small-scale models at different levels - with and through local partners - the project tries to influence broader policy mechanisms and to mobilize government resources.

Further information

• CPTING website