Protecting Child Victims of Human Trafficking: A Socio-Legal Study of Preventive and Repressive Legal Frameworks in Kalimantan

Abstract

Human trafficking involving children remains a critical legal and social protection challenge in Indonesia, particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas where vulnerability may emerge within families and peer networks. This study examines the factors generating child trafficking vulnerability in Samarinda and analyzes how preventive and repressive legal protection is implemented by frontline institutions. Employing a socio-legal research design through a qualitative single-case study, the study combines normative analysis of trafficking and child protection legislation with empirical evidence from semi-structured interviews, institutional case records, and policy documents involving the Women and Children Protection Unit of the Samarinda City Police, P2TP2A Samarinda, and Borneo Insan Mandiri. The findings reveal that documented trafficking cases frequently involve household economic exploitation, peer-led procurement, and social media entrapment rather than organised trafficking networks. Protection is constrained by fragmented inter-agency coordination, limited institutional capacity, inadequate victim-support facilities, and the absence of a binding local regulatory framework governing referral and institutional responsibilities. The study further identifies a mismatch between the structure of Law No. 21 of 2007 and forms of trafficking occurring within household and peer relationships. The findings suggest that effective child protection requires stronger early identification, binding local coordination mechanisms, adequate victim-support capacity, and clearer legal treatment of household-based exploitation.