Technology
Although the basic framework for defining a trafficking in human beings (THB) offense has remained the same since the adoption of the Palermo Protocol in 2000, the modalities of committing this grave crime have continuously evolved. As a result, the increasing global usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has shifted technology from being a niche subject to a central challenge in the anti-trafficking field.
Like all tools, technology can and is being used for both negative and positive purposes. Perpetrators of THB use ICT to facilitate the recruitment of victims, the financial transactions that make THB so profitable, and to expand the means by which victims may be exploited and controlled. Furthermore, ICT helps to increase the anonymity of those committing the crime. One of the most alarming consequences has been how ICT helps traffickers to engage in transactions with users, enter new marketplaces and expand criminal operations on an immense scale. The worldwide increase in access to the Internet also means an increase in the risk of Internet platforms being used for THB purposes by perpetrators.
Conversely technology is also increasingly being used to prevent exploitation, protect victims and assist in holding traffickers accountable. From cutting-edge facial recognition and signal -detection technologies being used to identify suspects and potential victims, to data management technology which can enable unprecedented levels of co-ordination between anti-trafficking actors, the opportunities are numerous. The Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) seeks to support participating States in responding to the dual nature of technology as it relates to trafficking in human beings and shift its future development toward more preventative uses.
The OSR/CTHB derives its mandate to address the technology facilitated/enabled THB through a number of OSCE strategic documents, such as the 2013 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (PC.DEC/1107/ Corr.1) and Ministerial Council Decision No. 7/17, which states that OSCE participating States should “take measures, where appropriate, to enhance capacities for monitoring, detecting, investigating and disrupting all forms of trafficking in human beings facilitated by ICTs, in particular by the Internet.”