Over 30 potential victims identified in action against human trafficking enabled online
From 15 to 19 September, Dutch authorities led the fourth edition of the EU-funded EMPACT Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) Hackathon, an action week against human trafficking enabled online. It brought together 73 specialists from 26 countries across the world, including from Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Eurojust and Europol also participated in the action.
Over the course of the week, experts investigated social media platforms, marketplaces, dating apps, job searching portals, escort agency sites and instant messaging platforms in search of actors facilitating sexual or labour exploitation online.
Their efforts uncovered indications of human trafficking across 44 online platforms. They also identified 33 potential victims of human trafficking and 31 potential perpetrators and detected 302 URLs and 137 social networks related to THB.
The operation revealed that escort agencies dominate the market for sexual services and operate across multiple EU countries, although these services appear to be coordinated by a few organised criminal groups.
Additionally, experts detected an increase in advertisements generated by artificial intelligence to lure victims, as well as a shift towards sophisticated payment methods, where only cryptocurrencies are accepted. Analysts also found platforms with indicators of organ trafficking and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) sites on the dark web, along with pages claiming to rent, buy and sell minors, including newborn babies.
EMPACT (European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats) is a security initiative driven by EU Member States to identify, prioritise and address threats posed by organised and serious international crime.
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