Combating technology-facilitated trafficking in human beings in Central Asia and across the OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation

The event will be in English with simultaneous interpretation into Russian. Registration will be open until 26 April 2021 via this link. After registering, participants will receive an invitation with a link to the Zoom meeting. Please, see additional information here below.

In a comparative examination of demand for sex tourism and trafficking from 2007, researchers examined commercial sexual exploitation in four countries: Jamaica, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. Referring to technology, the authors concluded that “technology has become the single greatest facilitator of the commercial sex trade in most of the countries observed”.

In a recent report by the U.S. based NGO Thorn, from interviews with 260 survivors of THB in the US, the researchers found that 75% of THB victims were advertised online for sexual services. The same trend has been observed in the European Union. In its report on Criminal Networks Involved in the Trafficking and Exploitation of Underage Victims in the EU, Europol concludes that “the online advertisement of sexual services is an increasing phenomenon relating to THB for sexual exploitation, with children being advertised as adults”.

There are strong reasons to believe that technology plays an important role in facilitating THB in other sub-regions of the OSCE and across the OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation (PfC). Similarly to the above-mentioned research conclusions from the US and the European Union, victims of THB for sexual exploitation across other sub-regions of the OSCE and the OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation, including children, are likely being frequently advertised on different online platforms as a way to connect with buyers of sexual services.

The OSCE enjoys a long-standing level of co-operation with the Asian Partners for Co-operation. Over the past decades, the Asian PfC have contributed substantially to the OSCE’s dialogue on various aspects of comprehensive security, at the same time providing ideas for future and even closer security co-operation.

In furtherance of close and productive collaboration between the OSCE and Asian PfC, the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) is organising the Roundtable Combating technology-facilitated trafficking in human beings in Central Asia and across the OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation.

The major objective of the Roundtable is to discuss how technology is being misused by traffickers in human beings in Central Asia and across the OSCE Asian PfC, especially at the stage of advertising victims of sexual exploitation on online platforms. The specific focus of discussion on the advertisement of victims is needed because this is the most visible part of technology-facilitated trafficking and offers more opportunities to identify victims and traffickers. Since the crime of trafficking for sexual exploitation is financially motivated and traffickers’ main goal is to earn as much illegal proceeds as possible, they need to advertise their victims on open platforms easily accessible for the buyers of sexual services. The Internet is one of the most optimal platforms from this point of view because it provides traffickers and potential traffickers with an environment in which they can operate with an enhanced level of safety and anonymity, and advertise their victims to a broad audience on hundreds or thousands of platforms with minimal costs.

ORGANIZATIONAL MODALITIES

The event will be in English with simultaneous interpretation into Russian.

Due to exceptional circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, physical attendance at the OSCE events in Vienna will remain limited to the OSCE staff only.

Please note that only registered participants will be granted access to different sessions. Each participant is requested to register online before the deadline of 26 April 2021 via this link.