Since emerging as an independent nation in , after nearly years of Russian and then Soviet rule, Uzbekistan has slowly seen some economic progress. But poverty and unemployment remain high and many Uzbeks travel abroad for work. This leaves the men, women and children vulnerable to forced labour and sex trafficking. Born into a large, impoverished family, the year-old says life was difficult growing up. Her mother died in , leaving her father, a builder, to care for his four children. When she was 28 years old, Umida says she met a local Uzbek woman who promised her profitable work in Thailand.

The registered jewelry business offering dignifying employment and personal development opportunities to women who have come out of prostitution or trafficking in Thailand. The nonprofit organization offering holistic intervention and restoration for women, families, and communities affected by the global sex industry. In this report, Thailand was ranked on the Tier 2 watch list in terms of their efforts to combat human trafficking. Fueled by a growing demand, countless women and children from around the world are victimized by gender inequality, poverty, and cultural obligations. They are sold or pressured into prostitution and trafficked in and out of Bangkok to sustain an increasingly global network.

Significant illegal migration to Thailand presents traffickers with opportunities to coerce or defraud undocumented migrants into involuntary servitude or sexual exploitation. Thailand is a destination country for many illegal immigrants from neighboring countries for better-paying jobs. Four key sectors of the Thai economy fishing, construction, commercial agriculture, and domestic work rely heavily on undocumented Burmese migrants and other ethnic minority groups from Myanmar, including children, as cheap labourers.