Protecting teenagers in the era of digital human trafficking
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Technology was initially created to simplify life and bring people closer together. Today, however, it is also being used to traffic human beings, including teenagers who are active in the digital world.
Recruitment of victims now takes place via social media, chat applications, and job vacancy platforms. Traffickers no longer rely on face-to-face meetings. They appear on the screens of mobile phones that children and teenagers hold every day, offering seemingly promising opportunities that conceal exploitation.
As we mark the commemoration of Anti-Trafficking in Persons Day on 30 July 2026, this paradox deserves reflection: the more sophisticated technology becomes, the greater our responsibility to protect human dignity, especially that of the younger generation.
The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicates that the number of detected trafficking victims in 2022 rose by 25 per cent compared to 2019, before the pandemic. Children accounted for 38 per cent of victims: approximately 22 per cent girls and 16 per cent boys, subjected to exploitation ranging from sexual abuse to forced labour.
In Indonesia, the Ministry of Social Affairs has recorded more than 128,000 survivors of human trafficking and migrant workers who have been assisted through rehabilitation and empowerment programmes from 2011 to 2026. Behind these figures lie many stories of teenagers who left home hoping to support their parents and earn a decent living, only to become trapped in networks of exploitation.
Georgios A. Antonopoulos and colleagues, in Technology in Human Smuggling and Trafficking (2020), demonstrate that technology is used at nearly every stage of the trafficking chain. It is employed for victim recruitment, communication between perpetrators, travel arrangements, and financial transactions. Technology is no longer merely a tool; it has become part of the modern trafficking business model. Consequently, protecting teenagers cannot be confined to physical spaces but must extend into the digital realm.
Many people still imagine human trafficking as an international mafia operation with a complex organisational structure. The reality is often quite different. Perpetrators can be neighbours, matchmakers, drivers, travel agents, owners of halfway houses, or even close relatives. They may appear to work alone, but in truth they are part of an interconnected network leading to human exploitation. Jay Albanese, in Organized Crime (2015), reveals that modern criminal organisations do not necessarily follow the classic mafia hierarchy; instead, they form flexible networks that adapt easily to legal pressure. Within such networks, teenagers become ideal targets because they are considered easier to influence, move, and silence.
The family serves as the first line of defence. It is the primary school where teenagers build a sense of security, self-worth, communication skills, and a vision for the future. When this function weakens, external influences—both positive and negative—take on a greater role. Divorce or poverty does not automatically produce trafficking victims, but prolonged conflict, neglect, violence, and the absence of parents during a child’s development significantly increase vulnerability. For this reason, families must not be treated merely as passive recipients of awareness campaigns; they must be strengthened as the principal actors in prevention.