Financial service providers must do more to tackle exploitation-related transactions
An Indonesian CSO urges fintech companies to collaborate on child abuse prevention strategies, Human Rights Watch flags up harmful migrant detention conditions in Malaysia, and a U.S. court rules in favor of major tech brands accused of supporting child labour.
ECPAT Indonesia, in partnership with Indonesia’s Association of Criminal Law and Criminology Lecturers (ASPERHUPIKI), is planning a regional conference on the role of financial service providers in child sexual exploitation crimes, and potential collaboration on prevention and protection measures. The event will engage with stakeholders from government agencies, law enforcement, the private sector, and international organizations, exploring ways in which financial institutions could assist in detecting and reporting suspicious transactions, and the joint strategies that could help eliminate these activities. It is the first conference of its kind and represents an innovative approach to tackling the issue of online abuse.
In a conference proposal paper, ECPAT Indonesia notes that the past few years have seen a dramatic increase in the use of cryptocurrencies to purchase child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In 2019, Chainalysis tracked nearly US$930,000 of payments via Bitcoin and Ethereum to addresses associated with CSAM providers while, in 2019, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) identified 288 new dark web sites selling CSAM, 197 of which only accepted payment in virtual currencies.
Identifying and preventing child sexual exploitation (CSE) in ASEAN countries requires a joint approach by the government, industry, and the broader community, ECPAT Indonesia says. The organization points out that the Regional Plan of Action for the Protection of Children from All Forms of Online Exploitation and Abuse in ASEAN contains several action points to be implemented by ASEAN members states that include:
• Establishing a legal requirement for private sector companies to report and remove CSAM from their platforms and services when they become aware of it; and for financial institutions to report suspicious transactions that may be related to CSAM or live streaming.
• Mobilizing and enhancing engagement with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to actively involve them in monitoring prevention and response measures through regulations, corporate social responsibility, and collaboration, for the development of effective measures to detect, take down and report illegal content related to child sexual abuse and exploitation.
• Fostering public-private partnerships that bring together government, law enforcement and private sector institutions to facilitate sharing of financial intelligence to assist the financial industry to identify and report transactions suspected to involve purchases of CSAM and live-streaming of exploitation.
Currently, however, efforts to act on these strategies have not been prioritized in high-risk countries, the paper suggests. For instance, although the financial technology industry in Indonesia is growing rapidly, there is currently no accurate data regarding its misuse for sexual exploitation crimes. While a report by the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (INTRAC) found 41 transactions related to trafficking in persons involving children in 2021, this number is likely to reflect only a fraction of the total, because the financial sector in Indonesia does not see these activities as a priority issue in its fight against money laundering and related crimes, the authors say.
To address this gap, the conference will look at international and ASEAN regulations related to financial service providers designed to protect children from sexual exploitation, forms of misuse of financial service providers in child sexual exploitation transactions, misuse of financial technology in CSE crimes, experience in the financial technology industry in detecting and reporting suspicious transactions, a potential model for prevention of this misuse, current prevention and response policies, and international and regional cooperation on prevention and countering measures.
ECPAT Indonesia is currently looking for co-funding and support partnerships for the conference, which it envisions as the initial step towards establishing broader alliances to address financial technology factors in child exploitation crimes. Interested parties can enquire here.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
A new report by Human Rights Watch details the Malaysian government’s detention of approximately 12,000 migrants and refugees, including 1,400 children, in 20 immigration detention centers where conditions place them at serious risk of physical abuse and psychological harm.
This report by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants highlights the plight of trafficking survivors caught in the government funding debate’s asylum stipulations, revealing how anti-asylum and anti-immigrant proposals, originally from the Secure the Border Act of 2023, found their way into negotiations for emergency supplemental funding, impacting the asylum and immigration system in the United States.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports on the way in which the UK’s visa system for migrant care workers, who are barred from bringing family members with them, compels them to remain silent about instances of rape and abuse. This flawed system confines workers to exploitative conditions and hinders their ability to report abuses because they depend on their employer for their right to stay and work in the UK, the report says.
A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled in favor of major technology companies, including Alphabet, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla, dismissing an appeal by former child miners who accused the companies of supporting child labour in cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, stating that purchasing cobalt in the global supply chain did not constitute “participation in a venture” under federal laws protecting children and victims of human trafficking and forced labour.
ASEAN-ACT and the UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia & the Pacific are implementing a multi-year project to strengthen international legal cooperation on transnational trafficking in persons cases. Following consultations and a recent forum with practitioners, stakeholders, and other experts, the initiative will address the legal, institutional, and practical challenges that detract from a harmonized response.
And, to strengthen prosecutorial cooperation across the region, ASEAN-ACT is supporting prosecutors and policymakers across ASEAN member states to work towards the establishment of a permanent ASEAN entity to discuss trafficking in persons cases. Around 20 prosecutors from across the region convened in Bangkok last week to agree terms of reference for a mechanism for prosecutorial cooperation in trafficking cases.
This blog post from Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Vietnam provides updates on its efforts to combat human trafficking, highlighting a significant increase in rescues and urgent calls for help, and expressing concern about the escalating severity of trafficking activities, but also conveying hope that these issues will be addressed positively due to international efforts and growing awareness.
The U.S. TIP Office is seeking photos and artwork for the 2024 TIP Report, and invites interested photographers and artists to contact TIPOutreach@state.gov by 25 March 2024.
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