Broken Chain: Reconstructing Policy and Protection for Human Trafficking Victims in Indonesia

Abstract

Human trafficking remains one of the most serious forms of human rights violations in Indonesia, with the number of victims increasing annually, particularly among women and children. This study aims to examine the gaps between the legal framework, policy implementation, and protection of victims of human trafficking (TPPO) in Indonesia, while also formulating ideas for reconstructing more adaptive and victim-oriented policies. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach with juridical-normative and juridical-empirical methods, through a literature review of laws and regulations, official government reports, and relevant scientific journals. The results of the study indicate that although Law Number 21 of 2007 has provided a fairly comprehensive legal foundation and is the result of harmonization with the Palermo Protocol, its implementation in the field still faces various structural obstacles, such as weak inter-institutional coordination, limited victim identification and recovery, obstacles to cross-border legal cooperation, and the transformation of perpetrators' modus operandi, which is now increasingly utilizing digital technology through cyberrecruitment and online scam schemes. This problem is also rooted in structural vulnerabilities resulting from poverty, low access to education, and gender discrimination. This study concludes that combating human trafficking in Indonesia requires comprehensive and simultaneous policy reconstruction, encompassing regulatory harmonization, data and institutional strengthening, victim-oriented law enforcement, enhanced international cooperation, and socio-economic empowerment as an upstream prevention strategy.