By Elesha Pimentel, Contributing Writer
COVID has cast a wide net of changes over our everyday lives, including closures of schools and workplaces. Staying at home has led to more time spent online for both adults and children. For the everyday person, these changes might result in online shopping and baking sourdough bread. Unfortunately, the effects of these changes are not as light-hearted for everyone.
According to the United Nations, “The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a health crisis; it is an economic crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a security crisis, and a human rights crisis.” Many families are struggling with financial instability, with Tech Against Trafficking reporting that “81% of people in the workforce are being affected by full or partial workplace closures.” Thus, leading to families becoming more susceptible to sex trafficking as a way of survival.
Children bear the brunt of this vulnerability from school closures. Schools serve as a safe haven for many underprivileged children. Providing an education and important resources to help children in need (i.e. second chance breakfasts, counseling services). With access to these safe havens being restricted, many children are being pushed onto the street, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), leaving them vulnerable to predators who make false promises of a better life.
Decreased availability of resources for sex trafficking victims, increased difficulty in identifying and rescuing victims, and exposure to contracting the virus while being less equipped to prevent it and having less access to healthcare to ensure recovery are further impacts of COVID-19 on sex trafficking victims, according to the UNODC.
While reports of some forms of sex trafficking have decreased, many sex traffickers are now turning to the internet. The Polaris Project reports that “the number of online situations of sex trafficking reported to the hotline increased significantly by more than 45%.” At the same time, “traditional forms of commercial sex trafficking situations such as street based prostitution went down by approximately 30%.”
Not only has COVID affected the way people are exploited by sex trafficking, it has also affected the way we are able to support victims of sex trafficking. Financial instability has seeped into many anti-trafficking organizations. Tech Against Trafficking reports that “lack of consistent reliable funding may cause an irreparable negative spillover effect in regions where these organizations are the sole providers of these services.” A number of anti-trafficking organizations and support centers are expected to close without the hope of re-opening in the future.
In this new era predominated by COVID, the future of sex trafficking may look bleak. However,
hope is not lost. There are still a number of ways that we can combat sex trafficking. The first would be to teach children internet safety so that they are not so easily exploited by online predators. Internet Matters explains we can do this through a number of ways. For instance, teaching children which personal information to keep private, talking to them about dangers of meeting online friends without a parent present. And lastly, establishing a multitude of communication lines (both adults and organizations) they can turn to if they ever encounter an online situation where they start to feel uncomfortable.
You can support anti-trafficking organizations so that we can continue to support victims of sex trafficking. You can donate to One Bread Foundation through our website, or you can support us by simply starting your online shopping from our Shop Now page.
Sex trafficking rings have evolved during this new COVID era, it’s time for the way we face them to evolve too.
References and further reading:
United Nations: UN Response to COVID-19
Tech Against Trafficking: The Effect of COVID-19: Five Impacts on Human Trafficking
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trafficking in Persons