The use of internet and digital technologies has significantly increased in the past months marked by COVID-19, with significant changes in our lives. At the same time, two-thirds of frontline trafficking workers have reported an increase in online recruitment by traffickers for the purposes of sexual exploitation online according to the relevant OSCE and UN Women Guidance.
Despite being on the rise, e-trafficking remains poorly understood and addressed in the receiving countries and there are no effective mechanisms to help professionals understand online recruitment and online exploitation patterns.
Building knowledge on early identification of victims to equip frontline professionals with the tools they need is the first, important step in this fight.