Issues | Democrats for Change

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Using Taxpayer Dollars Wisely

Preventing Violence

Simply put, the world is spending lots of resources, including research, money and technological tools to end human trafficking. Countries, including the US, and the state of NJ have passed laws and are engaging with different sectors including civil society, businesses, government agencies, law enforcement and academia. Yet, Alliance 8.7’s latest global estimate indicates that the trend of victimization, especially amongst women and girls, is still going up (27.6 million worldwide). Illicit profiteering has increased 157% since the last estimate in 2014 to $236 billion.

Why? When utilizing forced or slave labour to produce goods yield incredible amounts of profits (as the expenses are minimal) then what is the incentive to stop? When utilizing children, primarily girls, or women coerced into having sex and that yields incredible amounts of profits for the procurers as well as those distributing the images, then what is the incentive to stop?

Background:

Businesses—In the last ten years there have been incredible strides made to raise awareness within the business community of issues with supply chain in the production of goods. There are laws in effect that prohibit the use of forced labour in goods that are imported into the country, increasing penalties both in investments and purchasing of goods that utilize forced and/or trafficked labour, and an increase in the awareness and sharing of data that enables investors and consumers to be aware of forced and/or trafficked labour. All aspects of the financial industry are becoming aware of the impact that they may have on the enablement of human trafficking through payments made online for sexual exploitation and abuse of children and others, flow of money, investments and money laundering. Businesses, financial businesses in particular, rely on technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) to conduct risk assessments, determine flows, and understand their markets.

Law Enforcement—Similarly, in the past five years there have been improvements in the sharing of data in investigations and prosecutions as well as cooperation in the methods and technological tools that are being used. There has been an increase in the training of members of the community as well as police forces that may be coming into contact with victims as a result of injuries, education or arrests. Artificial intelligence has been used successfully to understand markets and financial flows enabling law enforcement to “follow the money”.

Governments--Significant work has been done in organizing responses and aid to victims, passing laws and working with member states in developing plans that work to “prosecute, protect and prevent”. There has also been work trying to protect the vulnerable, including focusing on ending child forced labour, protecting migrants and working with tech companies to end the use of online child sexual abuse and exploitation materials. Within the past 5 years, there also has been an increase in the partnerships working together to end this scourge. Some governments have sponsored and built apps that provide businesses and consumers with information about geographical locations and products at risk of being made with forced and slave labour. Pressure has also been applied to tech companies that enable the purchasing and sharing of rapes, violence and sexual images.

Non-Government Organizations—NGOs have been instrumental in raising awareness amongst civil society, advocating for laws and monitoring results of commitments made by governments, United Nations and businesses. NGOs have also raised awareness in the investment and purchasing communities regarding how goods or services may be tainted with forced labour and trafficking practices. Many organizations have also been instrumental in developing apps and other technologies that prevent the sharing of sexual images, identifying businesses that are free from forced labour and trafficking.

Here are 4 major efforts that Rosalee has participated in to stem the tide of human trafficking:

1) October, 2021, CSTIP published its Bankrupting the Business of Human Trafficking: Summary and Recommendations.

2) July, 2024 UN's Inter-agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) produced an Issue Paper: Sustainable Finance and Trafficking in Persons, including recommendations from CSTIP's Bankrupting the Business of Human Trafficking.

3) December, 2024: UN's General Assembly passed the Cybercrimes Convention which included PACT by ECPAT-USA's definitions and description of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (Articles 14,15) as a named crime in the treaty.

4) March 4-7, 2025: The 56th session of the Statistical Commission will discuss and decide to adapt the UNODC and IOM's Report on Crime Statistics which calls for "an international classification on administrative data on trafficking in persons."