Huai Pla Kung Village Club
by Global Family Thailand Project

Needs Statement

Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking, including sex trafficking and forced/child marriage. Our projects in Thailand are located in Chiang Rai which borders Myanmar, from which much trafficking occurs. The deep-rooted Thai prostitution industry provides an outlet to which victims are transported and enslaved. Many people are also trafficked into the commercial fishing industry. Migration to and from Thailand is largely identified as a medium through which trafficking takes place.

Description

The Huai Pla Kung village clubs is a mixed youth club which is located near central Chiang Rai. This club raises awareness about the impact of child abuse, positive discipline, and preventing violence against children. Clubs have met with school leaders and board members and aim to improve the knowledge and awareness about child abuse amongst school and community leaders.

Prevention clubs are organized by local citizens in their communities with the aim of reducing the prevalence of child exploitation and systematic abuse. They are driven by the idea that the best measures of protection and defense against exploitation are locally driven efforts beginning in homes, villages, schools, and communities by those most affected.

Activities are designed to raise awareness, educate, and equip local participants (children, youth, and adults) about the risks of child trafficking and systematic abuse of young girls. This is where we place our greatest focus! Efforts include children advocating for their peers, girls’ clubs that build self-worth, women cooperating to keep girls in school, and community leaders upholding children’s rights. Other clubs aim to intercept girls being trafficked or trapped in abuse and restore them to their families or guide them to a restoration shelter. Clubs follow a sustainability plan that helps them plan for the future and remain locally-imagined.