Thursday, 04 December 2025 / Published in 16 Days of Activism

Digital Dynamics in Trafficking and Forced/Child Marriage | Day 10

By Mariama Bah

Technology has fundamentally reshaped the landscape of global human rights abuses, acting as a powerful accelerant for both perpetrators and protection efforts in the interconnected crises of human trafficking and forced/child marriage. From encrypted communication and fake profiles that allow traffickers to operate with increased anonymity, to leveraging AI and data analytics for victim identification and prevention, the digital realm presents a double-edged sword. Understanding these technological trends is crucial for building effective, modern strategies to safeguard the most vulnerable populations across the globe.

Trafficking

Human trafficking is a profound and brutal violation of human rights and often referred to as modern-day slavery. This systematic crime relies on force, fraud, or coercion to exploit vulnerable people, including men, women, and children, for immense and illegal profit across various industries, from agricultural and domestic work to commercial sexual exploitation. It shatters lives by isolating victims from their communities and systematically denying them their freedom, autonomy, and dignity, representing a devastating failure of our global society to protect people, especially those most marginalized.

The development of technology has had a significant influence on human trafficking, moving this brutal crime from physical shadows onto our screens. Traffickers are using digital tools to increase the efficiency of their operations and conduct financial transactions anonymously. This development has created a lethal paradox for the anti-trafficking movement.

Current News & Current Statistics

Estimated 27.6 million people worldwide have been trafficked & modern slavery.
Globally, 133,943 victims were identified in 2023, an increase from 2022
Increasing by a third over the space of three years in 2022, with a 38% surge in detected child victims
43% of global trafficked victims are Women and girls
78% of sexual exploitation victims are Women and girls
65% of human trafficked individuals were recruited online in 2021

Technology’s Role in Trafficking

Negative (Misuse by Traffickers)	Positive (Counter-Trafficking Efforts)
Increased Anonymity: Perpetrators use encrypted applications, the Dark Web, and cryptocurrency to hide their identities and transactions.	AI and Data Analytics: Machine learning algorithms can identify suspicious patterns in financial transactions or supply chains to flag potential trafficking activity.
Recruitment: Traffickers use fake social media accounts and online platforms to target, establish trust, and entrap potential victims.	Prevention: Mobile phones and social media can be used to raise greater awareness about workers’ rights and safe migration.
Control and Exploitation: Traffickers use technology like GPS software, video surveillance, and threats to share sexually explicit images to control and coerce victims.	Victim Support: Technology can provide safe and confidential online spaces for survivors to access psychosocial support, especially in times of crisis.
Expanded Marketplace: The internet facilitates the advertising of victims for sexual services, connecting traffickers more easily with a large market of users.	Detection: Organizations can use data analysis to spot irregular patterns in travel bookings or job postings that may provide evidence of trafficking.

Child, Early, & Forced Marriages

Child, early, and forced marriage has been a long performed harmful gender-based practice and a serious human rights violation, disproportionately affecting girls and women. Rooted deeply in gender inequality and discrimination, this practice brutally cuts short a girl’s potential, undermining her bodily autonomy, health, and access to education.

The consequences are devastating, trapping girls in cycles of violence and poverty, and exposing them to high risks of physical and sexual abuse from intimate partners, who are typically much older. This crisis is tragically amplified in times of instability, such as conflict, humanitarian crises, and fragile settings, where protective systems collapse. In these vulnerable contexts, families sometimes resort to marriage, mistakenly believing it offers their daughters protection or economic security, yet it often only deepens their risk and suffering.

Current News & Statistics

Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18.
Estimated of 640 million women and girls in the world who were child brides.
A girl is married every 30 seconds in ‘fragile-ranked’ countries
- Girls in extremely fragile countries are twice as likely to marry under the age of 17.
The Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024 was introduced as the first concerted federal effort to condemn and prevent child marriage domestically in the United States.

Technology’s role in Forced/child marriages

Negative (Contributes to Risk)	Positive (Intervention and Prevention)
Unsupervised Interaction: Access to social media and the internet allows young people to meet potential partners virtually without parental interference, which can lead to early pregnancy and subsequent marriage.	Anonymity for Support: Digital technologies offer anonymity, which is crucial for girls and young women to access information about taboo subjects like sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Digital Divide: Existing digital disparities can exacerbate gender inequalities, impacting girls’ opportunities to access information and services, which is one of the underlying causes of Child, early, and forced marriage	Immediate Reporting and Referral: Online platforms and mobile applications are becoming main channels for reporting suspected cases to law enforcement and strengthening referral pathways.
Risk in Displacement: In forced migration and displacement contexts, technology can influence the aspirations of adolescent girls to get married by exposing them to films and clips about romantic relationships.	Awareness Campaigns: Social media platforms are powerful channels for promoting messaging on child marriage elimination and preventing gender-based violence.

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