The U.S. State Department Unveils the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report
Since 2001, the U.S. State Department has released an annual Trafficking in Persons report, which provides the world's most comprehensive assessment on human trafficking.
This report covers long-standing and evolving forms and methods including how traffickers are using technology to lure and recruit victims. While the acceleration of technology is making it easier for traffickers to exploit social media, online forums, dating apps, or gaming platforms, the newly released 2024 report highlights the promise of technology and calls on governments, businesses, and the general public to cross-functionally work together to help prevent this practice. Highlights of the 2024 Trafficking in Persons report included:
Education and outreach efforts
Education is the key to prevention and intervention. The report asserts that given the increase in online activity among children, governments and parents should prioritize education and take advantage of online tools to inform children about the risks related to the internet. However, the first prerequisite to accessing these resources is digital literacy.
At Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT), we lead several educational initiatives such as the Social Identity Quest, a challenge educating youth on healthy relationships and online safety, which has reached over 1.2 million students to date. By the same token, we should allocate equal time and resources to direct on-the-ground efforts to reach vulnerable groups with limited access to technology. Using an innovative model, PACT conducts in-person workshops to educate migrants and students as young as in elementary school on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and trafficking. This is to ensure that the information is democratized and reaches as many individuals as possible.
Victim services
The report shares that digital technology can play a role in identifying trafficking victims and providing assistance in the exit and recovery phases of their experiences. The report also notes the use of AI, which can assist in trafficking detection, investigation, and successful prosecutions.
While PACT leverages technology to advance child protection, we are also at the forefront of advocacy surrounding the harms that online platforms can perpetrate, highlighted by our active engagement with the DEFIANCE Act, a groundbreaking legislation that addresses nonconsensual AI-generated sexually-explicit images and videos, and the SHIELD Act, a legislation that would make it illegal to distribute or threaten to distribute intimate photos of an individual. Our Public Policy team and our Survivors’ Council actively meet with federal legislators to urge the passage of legislation that prevents child sexual exploitation and better protections for survivors.
AI can be instrumental in streamlining processes that would otherwise be labor-intensive, but these automated systems still require human oversight to ensure accuracy and ethical use.
Data collection and sharing efforts
The report underscores the essential role of data collection, analysis, and sharing in preventing, identifying, and reducing instances of human trafficking. Technology companies are a goldmine for information that law enforcement can use to uncover suspected cases of child sexual exploitation. However, sifting through large amounts of data can be meticulous and time-consuming.
At PACT, we advocate for stronger online safety laws such as the REPORT Act, which became a federal law this past May. The REPORT Act helps to improve the reporting process and modernize The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline. Until recently, technology companies were only required to report CSAM. Now, they are required to report crimes against children encompassing sex trafficking, grooming, or the enticement of children for sexual acts to the CyberTipline. Critically, the law extends the time that submitted evidence is preserved from 90 days to a year, allowing more time for law enforcement to fully investigate and prosecute these cases.
Traffickers deploy a variety of tactics using technology at every stage to advance their exploitive activities. The 2024 Trafficking in Persons report sheds light on how technology can be used for good to help mitigate this. Despite the challenges, we are hopeful that technological advancements offer significant opportunities to help with prevention and will one day surpass the capabilities of traffickers.