Jakarta, July 30 -- The Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions is promoting the "Village Action Responsive to Human Trafficking" campaign to empower rural communities in preventing human trafficking through early detection, protection, and victim assistance.

The ministry's Secretary General, Taufik Madjid, said on Thursday that villages hold a strategic position in preventing human trafficking, as approximately 91 percent of Indonesia's territory is rural. This makes village governments the first line of defense in identifying potential vulnerabilities to human trafficking.

"We position villages as the vanguard for all village development policies. We also recognize villages as the closest level of government to c...