The Tech Against Trafficking Summit: leveraging innovation to tackle modern slavery
The first Tech Against Trafficking Summit revamps the global agenda on technology to combat trafficking, campaigners call on the EU to strengthen its proposed forced labour legislation, and a record number of migrants risk their lives crossing the Darién Gap.
Last month’s inaugural Tech Against Trafficking (TAT) Summit brought together more than 160 leaders from the anti-trafficking field, with businesses, survivors and activists, governments, investors and civil society coming together to expand opportunities for collaboration and accelerate the impact of innovative technology solutions for addressing human trafficking.
Throughout the summit, which was hosted by Amazon and BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), 10 organizations presented innovative technology tools that help combat different forms of trafficking in people – these were Polaris, Diginex, Winrock, Stop the Traffik, Pacific Links Foundation, Fundación Pasos Libres, Altana AI, Commit Global, Trilateral Research, and Quizzr. In addition, TAT members provided examples of the ways in which their companies are supporting anti-trafficking efforts and preventing the misuse of their platforms.
Key takeaways from the summit, which will inform the agenda in leveraging technology to combat human trafficking, include:
• The barriers that prevent effective deployment of technology need to be addressed. Firstly, technology development is often siloed and there is not enough dissemination between actors, which limits impact and leads to duplicated efforts. Secondly, technology is often developed in the Global North, without sufficient awareness of the local context in which solutions will be deployed. Finally, current financing models don’t address the needs of the field. Technology is seen as an “overhead” cost for most civil society groups, and anti-trafficking organizations struggle to find long-term funding with which to scale their efforts.
• It is critical that technologies are built with a survivor-first and trauma-informed approach. Most technology and anti-trafficking efforts today are led by professionals, but speakers at the summit repeatedly highlighted that technology development efforts should focus primarily on empowering survivors. For example, participatory technology tools that provide agency to impacted individuals have the potential to break existing power dynamics. When using and managing anti-trafficking data, we should not lose sight of the fact that data is about individuals’ lives and experiences. Similarly, funders should focus on supporting survivor-led organizations.
• Data privacy is a concern, but privacy-preserving methods may offer a solution. Data privacy concerns underscored much of the discussion, as privacy often means safety for those impacted by human trafficking. These concerns often limit data distribution across organizations. However, privacy-preserving mechanisms such as synthetic datasets may offer a solution. TAT’s work in previous years has helped make this technology more accessible to the anti-trafficking community.
• Technology is not a silver bullet; it must be complemented with policies and due diligence measures. Although the main theme of the summit was technology and innovation, most conversations focused on other factors that are crucial in making technology fully operational. Technology tools alone are insufficient; they must be complemented with policies and other due diligence measures for effective deployment and to ensure that technology tools themselves are not contributing to additional harms.
• Cross-sector collaboration is vital for the effective deployment of innovation. Addressing human trafficking and modern slavery requires a variety of skills and expertise from professionals ranging from criminal justice experts to service providers and technologists. Without input from companies, civil society, those with lived experience, and meaningful cooperation with governments, efforts to scale effective technology solutions risk remaining ineffectual.
TAT is committed to continuing its efforts to facilitate collaboration in the anti-trafficking field, including the TAT Accelerator Program in which members and partners will work with Polaris’s Nonechka program and the Issara Institute to help accelerate the scale and impact of their technology solutions. TAT intends to build on the momentum it has generated thus far, and will continue its work as part of the collective effort to tackle modern slavery. All companies and anti-human trafficking organizations are invited to get in contact to find out how to get involved.
Originally published by BSR on 13 October 2022
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Last week, more than 70 civil society organizations, coalitions and trade unions worldwide called upon the European Parliament and Council to strengthen the European Commission’s proposed legislation on the prohibition of products made with forced labour. Most importantly, say campaigners, the proposal must be amended to ensure that workers receive remediation, and that both affected and potentially affected workers’ views and interests are taken into account at all stages of the investigation and decision processes.
The Conclusions from the 22nd Conference of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons, published by the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, share the main conference takeaways for creating effective protection systems that ensure access to holistic assistance for all victims and uphold their rights.
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