In its “2021 Report” published on Wednesday 13 July, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) notes an increase in the trafficking of children, who have been made “even more vulnerable” by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All actors involved in the fight against human trafficking need to step up their efforts”, says Helga Gayer, President of GRETA, referring to a study presented in the report.
Based on information provided by 40 States Parties to the ‘Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings’, 12 NGOs and two technology companies, this study examines the impact of new technologies on trafficking and describes the operational and legal difficulties encountered in detecting, investigating and prosecuting cases.
It also formulates a series of recommendations, strategies and best practices, including: the use of internet surveillance techniques, automatic data collection and social network analysis, complemented by a broad partnership between public bodies, knowledge sharing and cross-border cooperation.
Technological tools that facilitate the identification of trafficked persons, such as facial recognition and web crawlers, can be used, but the study stresses that, in view of the ethical issues they raise, they should only be used by operators who are properly informed and aware of human trafficking.
Faced with structural changes in the way traffickers operate, “it is essential that countries adapt and equip their law enforcement and criminal justice systems with capabilities to tackle the changing environment”, as Helga Gayer points out.
Link to GRETA’s 2021 report: https://aeur.eu/f/2mn
Link to the study: https://aeur.eu/f/2mo (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)