Navigating Repatriation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Bangladeshi Survivors with Justice and Care

In collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), GFEMS has partnered with Justice and Care to address commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of Bangladeshi women trafficked into India. 

The project operates in the Khulna and Dhaka Divisions of Bangladesh, where women and families are extremely vulnerable to trafficking. Many are trafficked across the border into India, but receive intermittent or disjointed access to services while going through the repatriation process due to their foreign nationality. Justice and Care, which was established to focus on CSE and has worked extensively in India and Bangladesh, will provide expertise on navigating the Indian migration and justice systems in repatriating Bangladeshi victims.

Working collaboratively, the GFEMS-Justice and Care project is addressing these issues through four primary activities: 

• Mapping the bureaucratic process of repatriation of victims from India to Bangladesh, working to improve efficiencies in the process and reduce overall time to bring survivors home. 
• Working with NGO providers in India to ensure coordinated trauma-informed services for survivors, minimizing disruptions to the care plan and providing support throughout the repatriation process. Upon return to Bangladesh, Justice and Care will continue providing wraparound rehabilitation and reintegration services, supporting survivors on their path to self-sufficiency. 
• Training service providers in the local Bangladesh community to support survivors after repatriation using trauma-informed systems and care. 
• Working with extremely vulnerable families in the Khulna and Dhaka Divisions to prevent re-trafficking and provide alternatives for women considering risky migration. 

The activities within this project align closely with the Fund’s approach to ending modern slavery. On the supply side, the project works with vulnerable families to reduce risk of trafficking due to financial shocks and provide adequate rehabilitation so that victims are not re-trafficked. To address the enabling environment, GFEMS is working with communities to accept survivors of trafficking and to combat the social stigma that can lead to victims being cast out of their communities, forcing a return to CSE due to lack of other options and support. 

Along with other projects under the Norad partnership, GFEMS aims to gain significant learnings from this project, including the effectiveness of various rehabilitation techniques and services, an understanding of repatriation from India to Bangladesh, effectiveness of reintegration services, and more details on CSE rehabilitation in the Bangladeshi context. 

GFEMS looks forward to sharing the successes and lessons learned from our work with Justice and Care. Learn more about the Norad partnership and the GFEMS portfolio.

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