Fighting against human trafficking: cooperation as the key

Working together to identify solutions against human trafficking was the focus of the final conference of the DISRUPT project on 18 March. The aim of this project was to improve investigations, strengthen professional’s capabilities and build new partnerships. The creation of a manual, a training content, a graphic novel and a framework for advocacy strategy were the outcomes.

Picture by African Media Association. The public attending the conference on the 18th March 2025 in Malta

The conference started with a presentation of four police officers from four different countries: The Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Belgium. They explained the judicial system and domestic  ways  of combating  human trafficking in their land. For them, there are  two big issues concerning this international crime. First of all, technology :The digitalisation of criminality can complicate the work of police officers. Secondly: geography. Human trafficking concerns more than just one country, it means that cooperation is crucial. 

Case study

To make it easier for the audience to be engaged, some case studies were highlighted.

The operation Blackwrist in 2017: Abusive videos and photos of young boys under 13 years old were detected in the dark web. The cooperation between Thailand, the United States, Bulgaria, Interpol, Europol and many other countries was crucial in finding the IP address. The administrators of the website were found in Thailand and Australia and have been arrested. 

Challenges

Among the challenges raised to effectively defeat human trafficking, they pointed at the lack of technical equipment, the growing volume of data and the data encryption for the investigation. For the prosecution, two challenges were identified : An adequate training of prosecutors and an adequate presentation of e-evidence in court - complex but necessary. International cooperation includes more than one challenge, as the cooperation with a third country could be slow as well as the procedures in the EU. 

Graphic Novel and Empathy

Disrupt created a graphic novel to better understand the complexities of human trafficking, in an accessible format where the reader  can feel empathy. It was created to educate on the advantages of using evidence tools and showcase the best practices in victim identification. The novel tells the story of “Blue”, a young girl who develops a romantic online relationship with “Shadow”. “Shadow” blackmails “Blue” and forces her to meet in person, otherwise he will post online the sexual content of her. “Blue” agrees and becomes a victim of child trafficking. 

International organisations and NGOs

The conference ended with the presentation of some NGO and international organisations. KOK, a german NGO network against trafficking in human beings recommend to “expand cybersecurity agenda to include human trafficking and introduce uniform definitions”.

Officials from Slovak Republic listed some red flags of human trafficking:

• Physical indicators like fatigue and malnourishment,

• Movement and communication restrictions: people who are not able to move freely or to communicate alone,

• Document control,

• People without identification documents,

• Financial exploitation,

• working excessive hours. 

Eurojust and Interpol gave some insights on their actions, that include global communications, specialized databases, operational support, special projects, capacity building and interpol alerts of criminal activities. 

More information about this project can be received by contacting the project coordinator: aitana.radu@um.edu.mt and the project website: https://victim-support.eu/what-we-do/our-projects/ongoing/disrupt/