With advances in technology, more children are at risk of online child trafficking than ever before - over 32 million reports in 2022 (NCMEC).
By ‘following the money’, investigators can track and trace financial payments to contribute valuable evidence about a crime, suspect or criminal network.
‘Following the money’ is a snappy phrase that is used frequently in association with human trafficking - particularly online child sexual exploitation - but there are only a small group of experts that truly understand the potential of using financial investigations to prevent and improve our responses to trafficking in persons.
Experts in financial intelligence, law enforcement and civil society from Australia, the Philippines and Singapore provided valuable insights and shared real cases of commercial child exploitation that had been aided through financial investigations, at a recent ASEAN-ACT webinar (30 January).
Here are 4 salient points our speakers raised in this webinar:
1. Tackling the demand side
Law enforcement cannot prosecute on a scale commensurate to which online child sexual exploitation is occurring, we therefore need to understand the demand and take active steps to reduce it in countries where demand is high.
Bindu Sharma, Vice President of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) in Singapore highlighted that governments need to do more to acknowledge the scale and severity of this crime - online child sexual exploitation does not yet have the attention and resources that countering terrorist financing, fraud and other financial crimes attract.
Her colleague Jewel Dela Cruz, Program Manager at ICMEC in the Philippines added that financial and payment records are not only useful pieces of evidence when online exploitation has already happened – they can also be used to prevent exploitation from happening in the first place.
McDonald Carsula with the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat in the Philippines confirmed this by showing how the freezing of assets and bank accounts can prevent or stop further criminal activity from occurring either online or offline.
2. Building coalitions and public/private partnerships
Platforms such as the one supported by ICMEC which bring together financial institutions, regulators, law enforcement and civil society play a vital role in convening different sets of stakeholders that alone cannot act to prevent and respond to a crime as complex as online child trafficking. Speakers highlighted the particularly critical role of banks and other financial institutions in understanding their responsibilities to prevent and stop financial transactions linked to child trafficking, and in being part of the development of policy and regulatory frameworks to address the issue.
In a practical sense, Claire Arnold from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) shared an example of seamless cooperation between the law enforcement, businesses, and NGOs that generated strong evidence to take action against online child trafficking.
3. Supportive enabling environment
Restrictions on data sharing and privacy legislation is one of the biggest barriers to being able to successfully prosecute a trafficking case using financial evidence.
Speakers shared that in countries like Australia and the Philippines a good balance has been achieved between sharing information with actors that need to know and upholding the safety, privacy and other rights of the victim.
However, even with sufficient laws and regulations, it was acknowledged that capacity, budget, and resources are still lacking for effective implementation in most countries in Southeast Asia. To address this issue, speakers suggested that greater awareness and commitment at the political level was needed to give effect to the existing laws and regulations in place.
Our experts also made it clear that online platforms themselves, such as Paypal, Telegram and LINE, need to be empowered to conduct their own due diligence and take action when there is evidence of payments supporting child exploitation.
4. Indicators and patterns to commercial online sexual exploitation of children
Speakers offered practical and clear indicators that can be used to detect illegal activity and piece together a criminal chain, including examining online as well as offline behaviors and patterns, and identifying transactions from countries with children more vulnerable to exploitation to high-demand countries.
While tracking and tracing financial payments can produce an overwhelming volume of financial records, Claire Arnold from the AFP showed us exactly how a narrative can be put together by corroborating evidence with financial institutions and payment platforms to effectively target suspected perpetrators.
Having solid financial records and digital evidence can also reduce the need for child victims to appear in court. The appetite and capability to work across law enforcement, NGOs and financial institutions to combat online child trafficking is growing. Our experts made a clear case for ‘following the money’ to prevent and better respond to the harmful exploitation of children.
Watch the recording here: