Local level initiatives

Local level initiatives

Regional Committees of IMADR undertake the following activities in this activity area:

Latin American Base (IMADR-LAB)

- Together with church organizations and women’s groups, IMADR-LAB organizes workshops, exploring global and local impacts of human trafficking and ways to address the problem.

- Since January 2006, IMADR-LAB has been conducting research on trafficking in women in Argentina. It gathers and analyzes various data, and conducts research into past legal measures and other topics. The first stage was completed in September 2006.

Asia Committee (IMADR-AC)

- IMADR-AC joined the South Asia Regional Action Forum on Migration and Trafficking funded by the USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative/Equity Support Program (SARI/Q), and forged connections with organizations in Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Main focuses of the South Asian Initiative are:
・ Development of a safe migration policy for South Asia
・ Development of a care and protection manual for victims of trafficking
・ Production of mass awareness toolkit on migration
・ Establishment of a monitoring mechanism for the SAARC convention on trafficking

- IMADR-AC has encouraged its partners in South Asia to prepare a country status report, to be used to lobby the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons.

- The SARI/Q project supported the following national activities facilitated by IMADR-AC on Sri Lankan migrants’ rights issues:
・ Community awareness raising of potential migrant workers
・ Campaign activities on migrants’ rights
・ Participation of Asia Committee representatives in South Asian programs on migration and trafficking issues
・ Round Table with Policy Makers in Sri Lanka on the UN High Level Dialogue on international migration and development
・ Assistance to migrant workers affected during the crisis in Lebanon

Japan Committee (IMADR-JC)

- As an active member of the Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP), the Japan Committee of IMADR (IMADR-JC) is seeking the establishment of legal measures to protect the safety and human rights of trafficking victims, and is involved in actively lobbying the government, national Diet members and political parties. The introduction in June 2005 of

　

News

  • TRANSFORMING LIVES: Abused Migrant Women in Japan Blaze a Trail towards Empowerment
    2007.07.23

    • IMADR-JC Booklet Volume 11 (Nov. 2006)

    This book is a testimony of the journeys of six Filipino migrant women towards empowerment. In addition to sharing experiences of domestic violence and institutionalized racism, this work offers concrete proposals as to how we can create positive change in our society, communities and relationships with others, by re-examining the structure of the society we live in.

provisions in the Penal Code to criminalize and punish the act of human trafficking was one of the results of those lobbying activities. JNATIP continues to work towards legal system development, as well as conducts fact-finding surveys on the situation of trafficked women, and engages in awareness-raising activities.

- IMADR-JC intends to utilize international human rights mechanisms, including the UN Special Rapporteur system, to improve the situation pertaining to human trafficking. For example, IMADR-JC arranged unofficial country visits of the UN Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons and on the rights of migrants in 2005, together with other NGOs and academic institutions. In doing so, IMADR-JC is seeking to expand its networks with various individuals and organizations in Japan working to address the problem of human trafficking, including women's shelters that directly assist the survivors.

- From December 2005 to September 2006 in Tokyo, IMADR-JC organized a seminar series entitled “Human Trafficking in the Midst of Globalization,” with a total of eight sessions. The purpose of the seminar series was to reveal the social structure that gives rise to exploitative migration, to bring light to the variety of issues that human trafficking survivors/victims face in the process of migration, and to think together about what each member of Japanese society can do to remedy the situation. Records of the sessions were made into a Japanese publication (IMADR-JC Booklet 12).

- The Japan Committee provides indirect support for grassroots empowerment. Jointly with KALAKASAN Migrant Women Empowerment Center, a self-help group of migrant women, IMADR-JC published “Transforming Lives: Abused Migrant Women in Japan Blaze a Trail towards Empowerment,” as the 11th volume of IMADR-JC Booklet Series. This bilingual (Japanese and English) publication is a testimony of Filipino migrant women who survived domestic violence.