<![CDATA[Human trafficking affects women and children disproportionately, and North Sumatra recorded the highest number of victims nationwide in 2023. In January 2025, North Sumatra Governor Regulation No. 1 of 2025 changed the Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Human Trafficking. Women's organisations were no longer named as member components, the Daily Chair passed to the Regional Police Chief, and the secretariat moved into the police. This study explains the implications of these changes for the fulfilment of protection rights of women and child victims. It is qualitative and uses a normative juridical method with statutory and conceptual approaches. Secondary data were gathered through library and document study, including a systematic review of journal articles. The analysis compares the two governor regulations, tests them against collaborative governance criteria, and maps the strength of evidence for three victim rights. The findings show that victims' rights are not reduced in law, but the guarantee for women's and children's perspectives shifts from regulation to official discretion, so the risk to rights fulfilment increases at the level of norm design. The risk is strongest for the right to recovery and weakest for the right to special needs. The study offers criteria for assessing task force design in other regions. Regulators should set a minimum place for women's and children's perspectives, a channel for victim information, and a balance in leadership orientation, while the actual impact on the ground remains to be tested.]]>
