On October 11, 2023, two fellows from the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA) Class 8 participated in a one-hour virtual fireside chat with Katherine Chon, Director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP), to expand upon their class’s perspectives on outreach and engagement strategies to increase youth awareness and resilience against online harassment and abuse related to human trafficking. Fellows Alice Johnson and CeMarr Peterson provided their assessments as HTLA Class 8 graduates and leaders with lived experience in human trafficking.
The fireside chat first focused on ways in which traffickers engage and take advantage of children and youth online. “Befriending is the biggest way,” said Alice, pointing out that traffickers make friends with young people online, groom them over time, and then coerce them into exploitative situations. Traffickers especially target young people turning to online platforms seeking connection, affirmation, and support they may lack in their families, communities, or social circles. As CeMarr stated, “Traffickers are seeing that there’s a void to fill, and they’re figuring out how to fill those voids.”
The discussion also centered on concrete strategies to reach and engage youth and their families to assist in reporting abuse and seeking support, and to address gaps in education and support services. Early, proactive interventions for youth—including age-appropriate online and in-person education (e.g., anime, comic series, podcasts), after-school programs, and family and caregiver engagement—can help reduce young people’s fears and other concerns about reporting online abuse. Anti-bullying and anti-abuse education in schools is also critical. CeMarr stated, “We often think about—how do we teach people how to be safe? But I think we also have to figure out how to teach people to be safe people.”
In addition to reducing the risks and harms of technology, CeMarr challenged organizations and service providers to, “Think about how you can use technology in your role to further the effort.” Providing anti-trafficking education, outreach, and services through technology tools is a key strategy to support and connect with youth, as young people use technology so much in their daily lives. For example, a tailored text-message service could help youth quickly and directly connect with service providers and advocates for support. Youth must also be engaged as, according to CeMarr, “Young people are the best people to give the advice because they’re the ones that are using it.”
Alice also noted the importance of recognizing the leadership abilities of individuals with lived experience in human trafficking and their role in this effort. For example, individuals with lived experience in human trafficking may not always have a formal education or advanced degree, but instead have extensive work experience in creating, implementing, and managing programs on-the-ground. That experience should be valued the same way formal education is valued in society. CeMarr shared the example of TransTech Social, which provides opportunities for education, training, and networking in the technology sector to help individuals from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community grow professionally while also becoming leaders for positive change in media and technology.
Other opportunities to advance anti-trafficking efforts among youth that were discussed include hiring family support consultants to develop and implement ways to engage parents and caregivers around technology, so families are aware of young people's online interactions, facilitating open communication with youth about healthy online behaviors.
Contributions by HTLA Class 8 can advance human trafficking prevention and protection efforts in the spaces where youth and children conduct their daily lives—home, school, and online—leading to increased awareness about youth safety and well-being. The HTLA Fireside Chat recording in its entirety and full transcript can be viewed here.
OTIP is committed to learning from and working alongside individuals with lived and professional experience in human trafficking to advance person-focused, trauma-informed anti-trafficking efforts. Collaboration with HTLA Class 8 marks the eighth time OTIP has invited individuals with lived experience in human trafficking and allied professionals to strengthen leadership skills and collaborate on providing diverse perspectives for research, policy, and programs in critical anti-trafficking areas.