For information only – not an official document
UNIS/CP/1147
26 July 2022
VIENNA, 26 July (UN Information Service) – As our daily lives have shifted online, so too have the criminal operations of human traffickers. Traffickers have incorporated technology into their business models, using the Internet to capture their next victims, advertise services, and hide illicit proceeds.
The theme of this year’s World Day against Trafficking in Persons, marked on 30 July, is ‘use and abuse of technology.’ Governments, businesses, and the public need to be aware of the powerful trafficking threats posed by technology and act quickly to protect themselves, at-risk populations, or their platforms from being exploited. At the same time, these actors must dedicate resources and attention to leverage technology to detect, rescue, and support victims and prosecute traffickers.
As noted by Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “let us commit to preventing online exploitation and promoting the power of tech to better protect children, women and men, and support victims.”
Learn more about UNODC’s work to combat human trafficking here.
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Learn more about the 2022 World Day against Trafficking in Persons here.
Learn more about the traffickers’ use of the internet in the 2020 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons here.
Find out how technology can be used to detect, rescue, and support victims here.
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For interviews and other inquiries, contact:
Brian Hansford
Chief, UNODC Advocacy Section
Mobile: (+43-699) 1458-3225
