• Sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation are taking place virtually; photos and videos are sold further on different platforms to customers worldwide, resulting in even more money for traffickers at no additional cost.

• Traffickers are currently using technology to profile, recruit, control, and exploit their victims as well as using the Internet, especially the dark web, to hide illegal materials stemming from trafficking without ever having to meet them in person.

• Traffickers create fake websites or post advertisements on legitimate employment portals and social networking websites. Some of these sites feature the option of a live chat. This gives traffickers immediate contact and an opportunity to obtain personal information, enhancing their power over targeted victims.

• Location-tracking applications and use of global positioning systems in mobile phones can be used to determine the victim’s location, while cameras in smartphones used during video calls enable traffickers to see their victims and their surroundings.

• Traffickers also maintain control over their victims by threatening to release intimate photos or videos of them to family and friends if they do not comply with their demands.

 The illicit proceeds from this highly profitable crime are also being laundered online through crypto currencies, which makes it easier for traffickers to receive, hide, and move large amounts of money with less risk of being detected. The global nature of human trafficking and the abuse of technology makes it even more difficult for law enforcement authorities to tackle this crime. When a crime is planned in one country, with victims in another country, and a customer in a third, law enforcement authorities face practical challenges such as finding and securing evidence, as any investigation requires cooperation across borders and a certain level of digital expertise.” (UNODC)

Who is at risk and why?

Essentially all children are at risk of exploitation on the Internet. Certain characteristics and behaviours can make children more vulnerable to trafficking; examples include:

• Adolescence • Social isolation • Parental conflict • History of physical abuse • Depression Bullying • Poverty • Urbanisation • Family disintegration

Examples: boys seeking out support online in relation to the development of their sexual identity, adolescent children’s interest in accessing pornographic materials online, and all children are vulnerable to sexual exploition online.

Children need protection from predatory criminals who turn the vulnerability and desperation of their victims into big business. Accurate CSEA (Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) data is particularly difficult to find, especially online. However, the available data indicates that girls are more likely to be affected. A significant number of boys are also affected, but less is known about their experiences as they are less likely to be asked in surveys. For example, many demographic and health surveys include girls and women as participants from the age of 15. This renders the experiences of boys and younger children invisible. A recent global survey found that the problem of CSEA against boys is “largely unknown, unacknowledged, and not responded to, across a wide range of contexts and cultures due to social norms which shape perceptions that boys are not vulnerable.”  – which makes rescue & rehabilitation even more difficult.

So how do we protect our children…What next?

Despite the increasing criminal usage of technology by traffickers, technology can also be used to identify victims and support police investigations and prosecutions, thus providing hope for the most vulnerable kids. We strongly need to adopt a common approach to combat human trafficking online effectively at the national and international level.

Prevention and Awareness

We need to amplify the reach of awareness & educational resources across all communities.

• The key step to combating this growing menace is through awareness. Starting with knowledge of “how” and “why” to start with can create a safety matrix for young children and girls who are increasingly on the radar of sex traffickers. Awareness-raising activities as part of the curriculum, coupled with support for teachers and teaching materials, can make a difference. Educational programmes for younger children must take account of their dependence on those abusing them and offer realistic reporting mechanisms to seek assistance outside of the family or caretaking relationship. Educational programmes regarding safe practices when sharing self-generated images, videos, etc., especially with children in the age group of 11–15 years old; and education programmes related to perpetrators contacting children directly should be focused on older children aged 14–15 and above.

• Targeted resources and support for identifying behavioural changes – to equip parents with knowledge, ideas, and ways to communicate with children to protect them from online sexual abuse.

• Sextortion is a topic that needs to be included in education about the risks involved in the use of social media and video chats directed at children aged 8–17 years old;

• Wide dissemination of key messages in public areas and throughout the private sector.

• Engagement of media to promote the campaign.

• Certification programme for partners in the tourism sector.

• Training for partners and workshops with community members.

• National awareness-raising campaigns and reporting and response mechanisms – including helplines.

Pursuit, Disruption, and Prosecution

• It is essential to normalise and scale proactive detection of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across digital platforms. This will help in identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting offenders.

• We should also take into consideration new methods by which traffickers recruit victims and take measures to develop targeted awareness-raising campaigns, specialised training for law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners.

Protection & Partnerships

• Protecting victims from further abuse through victim identification, accelerated detection and removal of publicly available images, and providing support services for victims and survivors.

• Protecting people is about providing access to information. – where to go for help, where to go if you have a grievance, and raising awareness of child helplines for reporting instances of abuse and reducing stigma around reporting will help prevent child sexual exploitation on the Internet. For example, when one is enslaved in domestic work and gets an opportunity to use someone’s phone, who do you contact to get help?

Tech for Good:

Technology is beneficial when used to raise awareness about human trafficking online through activities such as virtual teaching and tailoring content for children, youth, parents, teachers, health professionals, and others, allowing us to reach a larger audience.

Innovations in technological methods and techniques such as Web crawling, PhotoDNA, and databases have contributed to improving forensic processes to advance investigations of cases of trafficking, including child sexual exploitation.

Conclusion:

There is no greater inhumanity in the world than the social evils of child trafficking. It is our responsibility to take this onus to be aware and educate our children, and those around us on the safe usage of the internet. Being aware of potential traps online will go a long way in preventing the cyber trafficking menace. Every child is a gift and their life or innocence should never be up for sale. Let’s give every child their today by protecting, educating, and creating awareness about the right usage of social media and the associated evils of online trafficking.

“An aware child is a protected child”

References:

• https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/9/6/455206_1.pdf

• https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/WG_TiP_2021/CTOC_COP_WG.4_2021_2/ctoc_cop_wg.4_2021_2_E.pdf

• https://www.unicef.org/eap/media/4706/file/What%20works.pdf

In Chennai, Prakash A, CBO & AHT Programme Coordinator, heads the after-school programme (ASP) in Kannagi Nagar, Kalyanapuram, Basin Bridge and Kannigapuram. When asked how childrens’ education has been affected during the pandemic, he says, “The ground reality is – not attending school has majorly affected the behaviour of children, especially because their routine and a disciplined schedule has changed. In the post-pandemic days, children are more casual about school or following a schedule for learning. Those that were able to do basic reading are now unable to even read a sentence or write. The major problem that has circled back yet again is the lack of foundational knowledge.”

In our ASP, we provide holistic education for children from 2nd – 10th grade. To address this issue, the team used a tool called ACER and assessed children across all hubs. This helped them understand each child’s learning level. Prakash says, “We found that majority of children were still in a beginner level. They were reading without truly understanding what they were learning. It is ingrained in them to study by heart that they have not developed the art of understanding what they learn.”

With a challenge as difficult as this, our team put together a specialised plan to tackle this issue. They began a 3-month retrieval class that will focus on the foundational learning. Prakash says, “The pandemic has caused children to lose their spark for learning. So in our retrieval classes, we introduced learn by play method to help them ease into their learning habits. For the first month, we focused on teaching multiplication tables, numbers, English and Tamil alphabets. Post 30 days, we conducted an assessment to check their learning progress and we were glad to see that majority of the students were able to understand and learn well. This proved that children ARE able to learn, provided the right tutoring and method of learning. Our goal is that by the end of the retrieval classes, they will be able to read and write. If they can do that, then they will easily study on their own. The foundation is important.”

Another issue children face is studying at home because they do not have the suitable environment for this. Prakash says, “We wanted children to also receive the support at home to study well. So we conducted focus group discussions with children and their parents separately to understand their needs and challenges. Through this, we were able to identify that there was a strain in the parent-child relationships which in turn affected the child’s desire to learn. Children were disappointed that parents were not giving them enough attention or affection while the parents were struggling through the pandemic to put food on the table. For parents, children took a back seat as they operated on survival mode through the pandemic. How can we mend these relationships? We had to understand both sides and offer solutions.”

Our staff conducted a parents’ meet where the parents were presented with this harsh reality of the relationship with their child. A brief session was conducted to help them understand the needs of their child and the importance of meeting those needs. Prakash says, “We hope that we will be able to lay a solid foundation for these children and provide a positive environment for learning in collaboration with their parents. It is not going to be easy but it will be worth it.”

Human trafficking is a serious global issue. Increasingly referred to as the “modern-day slavery”, human trafficking has stimulated rapid increase of anti-trafficking laws, and has countries devoting resources to eradicate this problem. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), approximately 80% of trafficking of persons across the world is done for sexual exploitation and bonded labour. For this prime reason, Asia is considered as the hub of this crime in the world.

According to UNODC, 76% of people trafficked in the country were women and girls. West Bengal is the highest recorded state with maximum number of cases. As per the statistics of the government, in 2011 about 35,000 children were reported missing and more than 11,000 of them were from West Bengal. Rajasthan stands second in child trafficking and Maharashtra in trafficking of women. Karnataka is the third highest state, being the source and the destination for human trafficking. So, why is human trafficking increasing in India? With the fundamental theory of demand and supply, men generally migrate to major commercial cities for work and hence, the demand for commercial sex has increased. Another reason is economic injustice and poverty where women and girls born into a poor family are at higher risk of being sold or lured into ‘easy money’, especially in North-East India. The other known causes are social inequality, gender preferences, corruption, forced marriages and bonded labour.

In the reality of trafficking, many victims are lost in the brutality of the system while others find solace in death. Victims experience emotional, physical and psychological trauma while undergoing the phases of trafficking: recruitment, transport and exploitation. They also experience lack of sleep, lack of control, limited freedom, limited medical facilities, lack of control over clientele, intensity of working hours, and lack of choice in choosing an alternate path of living life. They deal with threats of harm which spurs a great deal of mental health issues such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Understanding the cruelty and viciousness of trafficking, it is important to ask the question ‘why does trafficking in persons happen in the first place and how it leads to human insecurity?’ The intensity of this barbarity also needs to be taken into account to stop trafficking.

What are the crimes children in Kannagi Nagar are involved in?

A large percentage of children in Kannagi Nagar are addicted to drugs. Most of them use marijuana and spend their time at street corners with friends using drugs. If they smoke near my house I often tell them to leave.

Where do they get marijuana from?
Someone will buy it as bulk from the city and distribute it to the children here for various sinister reasons.

What kind of reasons?
Adults use children to steal for them and to sell drugs. The only way they can get them to do this is by paying them with drugs. Adults use children to commit crimes because hiring adults is not cost effective. Therefore they entice children with drugs and alcohol.

At Oasis, our hope is to help youth and children who are caught in this vicious cycle. From the initial survey that we conducted at Kannagi Nagar, we found that almost 50% of children face alcoholism and substance abuse issues. Our combat strategy against this is by beginning a holistic education center for children between the age group of 7-14 years where they will focus on four core areas: academic development, personal development (mentoring, activity-based learning), behaviour modification (sports) and creating change agents. This will help children take ownership of themselves and their community.

Ranita Sarma works as a Relationship officer at Oasis India, Bangalore and is passionate about supporting humanitarian issues like child rights. Read her thoughts below on child labour and substance abuse.

In India, we often find children at restaurants cleaning a table, or serving chai (tea) at a nearby stall. Some may think it is a compulsion due to family constraints, but most of us look away and regard it as a menace. The 2011 Census in India recorded nearly 10.1 million children aged between 5-14
years employed in various work environments. UNICEF suggests that poverty is the biggest influence of child labour. Child labour not only affects a child’s physical well-being but harms their overall psycho-social development. This also leads to adolescents being highly de-motivated to pursue a career.

On the other hand, the world faces yet another social problem among children and youth – substance abuse. According to the World Drug Report 2017, released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) about a quarter of a billion people (or 5.3% of the global adultpopulation) used drugs at least once in 2015. Over the last decade, children and youth resorted to drug consumption (majority of whom are street children or child labourers) to avoid hunger, cold and poverty. How can we address this issue?

As we look into the ‘World Day against Child Labour’ and ‘International Day against Drugs and Illicit Trafficking’ this month, we are reminded of a cruel and unsafe world for children. The themes for 2019 is ‘Generation safe & health’ and ‘Listen first – listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe’. A strong bond between parents / teachers and children / youth can bring about a positive influence for them to grow happy and resilient.

One of the articles in the Universal Declaration of Rights is that “All human beings are born free and equal with dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

When being born free and equal is a right, why are human trafficking and other forms of social evil still prevalent? It is because, although individuals are born free and equal – they are bound by poverty. In India, 73 million people live in extreme poverty as of 2018.*

Hailing from Jharkhand, North India – Ashik’s* family lived in poverty for generations. He grew up with four siblings under impoverished conditions and had no access to education at his village. His father, a farmer who worked hard to make ends meet, often found it difficult to sustain his family.

So when Ashik’s favourite uncle visited them and offered him a job in Mumbai, Ashik jumped at the prospect. He was more than eager to help his family and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It was only later when he arrived in Mumbai that he realised his uncle worked as a pimp in one of the biggest red-light areas (RLAs). And now he was thrust into the job too.

Like Ashik there are many young men who come to Mumbai from villages in extreme poverty, desperately seeking for jobs. This desperation is time and again exploited by those running the brothels.

How can we help young men like Ashik live a life of dignity?

At Oasis we help pimps who wish to leave the RLA find other employment opportunities. We network with job placement agencies that train and provide employment. During one of our outreach visits, our staff met Ashik who expressed his desire to quit his job as a pimp. We invited him to our drop-in centre to attend counselling and life skill sessions. In a few months not only did Ashik leave the RLA, he is now helping other young pimps who find themselves trapped with no scope of employment outside. With career guidance from our staff, Ashik went back to his village and opened a small food stall of his own. His thriving business motivated him to start a food stall in the city as well. He says, “I hope to help and protect those like me to live a respectful life.” While his struggle to
achieve a secure life is not over yet, he continues to fight for the rights of those like him.

Name changed
*Source: www.timeofindia.com