The Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is made up of six countries connected by the Mekong River: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. With limited opportunities for safe and legal migration in the GMS, irregular migration is widespread, creating opportunities for the trafficking and
exploitation of migrants. Human trafficking is a serious crime that affects men, women, youth and children around the world. It involves putting or keeping someone in an exploitative situation, usually for profit.
Since 2005, World Vision has been addressing human trafficking in the GMS through regional anti-trafficking projects.
The study was undertaken to inform the monitoring and evaluation of World Vision’s “End Trafficking in Persons” (ETIP) program, a regional initiative designed to prevent and respond to trafficking in persons in the Greater-Mekong Subregion. It assessed migration-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of young people and their primary female caregivers, and surveyed the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of Thai people toward migrants in areas with high migrant populations. On the basis of the results, we make recommendations for actions that could reduce the vulnerability of young people to trafficking.