Key insights:

• • • Big sporting events create perfect cover for sex trafficking — The World Cup’s massive crowds, temporary workers, and stretched local infrastructure make it easier for traffickers to blend in and exploit vulnerable people while staying largely out of sight.

    • Money trails and online ads are where traffickers slip up — Trafficking often leaves patterns, such as payments tied to commercial sex ads, round‑dollar peer‑to‑peer transactions, and repeat phone numbers or language across online ads. Banks and investigators can spot these red flags, if they know what to look for.

    • Early, cross‑sector collaboration is what actually makes a difference — The strongest prevention efforts happen before kickoff, when law enforcement, financial institutions, and nonprofits share intelligence, use formal information‑sharing tools, and build trusted local networks to respond quickly and protect victims.

As millions of soccer fans descend upon stadiums across North America for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June and July, perpetrators of human rights crimes also are getting ready to operate in the shadows of host cities. Criminal networks are preparing to exploit the crowds, traffic, and chaos during the event by trafficking vulnerable individuals for commercial sex.

Human traffickers and organized crime groups often exploit major sporting events as opportunities to make quick money because the massive influx of visitors, temporary workers, and strained infrastructure creates perfect conditions for traffickers to operate while being largely undetected. At the same time, the stakeholders involved in countering this illegal activity — including law enforcement, civil society organizations, and financial institutions — stand ready to detect it, disrupt it, and protect vulnerable individuals who are exploited by criminal actors.

Indeed, close coordination and collaboration among these entities in advance of the games is key. To that end, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę are collaborating on a virtual and live event series to support these planning counter-trafficking efforts among stakeholders in several local cities this Spring.

Why major sporting events attract human trafficking activity

Not surprisingly, large crowds draw business opportunities whether they are legitimate or illicit. Collaboration between public and private entities underscore spikes in human trafficking activity. For example, during a recent large sporting event in 2025, ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę Special Services partnered with federal law enforcement and other partners to identify nine adult encounters & services offered, which led to the recovery of two juveniles from sex trafficking and three state arrests

Common industries that involve the exploitation of vulnerable individuals include hospitality, construction, illicit massage businesses, escort services, and adult content production. The chaos of events and large influx of people mask the reality that exploitation is happening and makes detection significantly more challenging during these high-traffic periods.

Human traffickers and organized crime groups often exploit major sporting events as opportunities to make quick money because the massive influx of visitors, temporary workers, and strained infrastructure creates perfect conditions for traffickers to operate while being largely undetected.

Critically, understanding human trafficking as a business model depends on the recruitment of vulnerable people and access to money flows. These aspects of the business are also where detection can occur. Financial institutions and money service businesses can identify suspicious transactions related to human trafficking by understanding and recognizing specific transactional patterns, including payments to commercial sex advertisement websites, round-dollar peer-to-peer transactions, and merchant services linked to illicit massage businesses.

This online footprint left by traffickers proves invaluable for detection. Investigators track advertisements across adult services websites, identifying criminal networks through repeated phone numbers, distinctive emojis, and similar wording that may appear across multiple cities. However, smaller-scale operations present significant challenges as well. When the trafficker is an intimate partner or family member with limited transaction volumes, detection becomes exponentially more difficult without external intelligence.

Collaboration is key for prevention and detection

The most critical element for combating human trafficking at major sporting events is collaboration among anti-trafficking experts and employers of these professionals. Effective prevention requires building strong partnerships before these major events occur. Specific actions that can be taken include:

Establishing multi-sector task forces — The most successful anti-trafficking efforts involve joint task forces that combine federal, state, and local law enforcement with trusted private sector partners and supportive nonprofits or non-government organizations (NGOs) that offer victim services. This toolkit for large scale public events and other anti-trafficking toolkits are excellent resources for local host cities to use to execute these partnerships. These collaborative mechanisms allow different entities to share information in a timely manner.

Leveraging information sharing mechanisms — Financial institutions can use Section 314(b) authority for peer-to-peer information sharing between banks. This allows financial institutions to piece together fragments of suspicious activity that individually might seem insignificant but collectively reveal trafficking networks. Large federal agencies are consumed by multiple priorities and benefit from information sharing through Section 314(a) and assistance from financial sector partners during special operations to act as a force multiplier. Law enforcement also can benefit from detailed Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that contain specific dollar amounts, clear timelines, behavioral observations, and explicit keywords like human trafficking.

Preparing host cities by building networks and outreach in advance — Some World Cup host cities have already established human rights plans with robust collaborative systems within local task forces, government awareness campaigns, QR codes that link to support services, and multidisciplinary safety plans.

In addition, anti-trafficking professionals across all sectors are accessible and willing to help. Resources include national hotlines, such as the , referral directories on website, and the for cases involving minors. The most important step is simply reaching out to establish connections before crises occur.

Preparing for a safer event

The 2026 World Cup presents a pivotal moment to strengthen collaborative efforts against human trafficking across North America’s host cities. By establishing robust information-sharing networks between financial institutions, law enforcement, NGOs, and host communities before the tournament begins, stakeholders can transform heightened awareness into meaningful action that protects vulnerable individuals.

While traffickers will undoubtedly attempt to exploit the inevitable chaos surrounding a major event like the World Cup, a coordinated, multi-sector response grounded in shared intelligence, victim-centered approaches, and proactive preparation can disrupt their operations and ensure that the world’s celebration of soccer doesn’t come at the cost of human dignity and freedom.

You can find out more aboutĚýhow organizations are trying to fight against human rights crimes here

Key insights:

• • • AI’s greatest strength in criminal justice is pattern recognition— AI can process vast amounts of data quickly, helping law enforcement and legal professionals detect connections, reduce oversight gaps, and improve consistency across investigations and casework.

    • AI should strengthen justice, not substitute for human judgment— Legal professionals are integral to evaluating AI-generated outputs, especially when decisions affect evidence, warrants, and individuals’ constitutional rights.

    • The most effective model is human/AI collaboration— AI handles scale and speed, while judges, attorneys, and investigators provide context, accountability, and ethical reasoning needed to protect due process.

The law has always been about patterns — patterns of behavior, patterns of evidence, and patterns of justice. Now, courts and law enforcement can leverage a tool powerful enough to see those patterns at a scale at a speed no human mind could match: AI.

At its core, AI works by recognizing patterns. Rather than simply matching keywords, it learns from large amounts of existing text to understand meaning and context and uses that learning to make predictions about what comes next. In the context of law enforcement, that capability is nothing short of transformative.

These themes were front and center in a recent webinar, , from theĚý, a joint effort by the National Center for State CourtsĚý(NCSC) and the Thomson Reuters Institute (TRI). The webinar brought together voices from across the justice system, and what emerged was a clear and consistent message: AI is a powerful ally in the pursuit of justice, but only when paired with the judgment, accountability, and constitutional grounding that human professionals can provide.

AI’s pattern recognition is a gamechanger

“AI is excellent,” said Mark Cheatham, Chief of Police in Acworth, Georgia, during the webinar. “It is better than anyone else in your office at recognizing patterns. No doubt about it. It is the smartest, most capable employee that you have.”

That kind of capability, applied to the demands of modern policing, investigation, and prosecution, is a genuine gamechanger. However, the promise of AI extends far beyond the patrol car or the precinct. Indeed, it cascades through the entire arc of justice — from the moment a crime is detected all the way through prosecution and adjudication.

Each step in that chain represents not just an operational and efficiency upgrade, but an opportunity to make the system more fair, more consistent, and more protective of the rights of everyone involved.

Webinar participants considered the practical implications. For example, AI can identify and mitigate human error in decision-making, promoting greater consistency and fairness in outcomes across cases. And by automating labor-intensive tasks such as reviewing body camera footage, AI frees prosecutors and defense attorneys to focus on other aspects of their work that demand professional judgment and legal expertise.

In legal education, the potential of AI is similarly recognized. Hon. Eric DuBois of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida emphasizes its role as a tool rather than a substitute. “I encourage the law students to use AI as a starting point,” Judge DuBois explained. “But it’s not going to replace us. You’ve got to put the work in, you’ve got to put the effort in.”

AI can never replace the detective, the prosecutor, the judge, or the defense attorney; however, it can work alongside them, handling the volume and velocity of data that no human team could process alone.

Judge DuBois’ perspective aligns with broader judicial sentiment on the responsible integration of AI. In fact, one consistent theme across the webinar was the necessity of maintaining human oversight. The role of the legal professional remains central, participants stressed, because that ensures accuracy, accountability, and ethical judgment. The appropriate placement of human expertise within AI-assisted processes is essential to ensuring a fair and effective legal system.

That balance between leveraging AI and preserving human judgment is not just good practice, rather it’s a cornerstone of justice. While Chief Cheatham praises AI’s pattern recognition, he also cautions that it “will call in sick, frequently and unexpectedly.” In other words, AI is a powerful but imperfect tool, and those professionals who rely on it must always be prepared to intervene in those situations in which AI falls short. Moreover, the technology is improving extremely rapidly, and the models we are using today will likely be the worst models we ever use.

Naturally, that readiness is especially critical when individuals’ rights are on the line. “A human cannot just rely on that machine,” said Joyce King, Deputy State’s Attorney for Frederick County in Maryland. “You need a warrant to open that cyber tip separately, to get human eyes on that for confirmation, that we cannot rely on the machine.” Clearly, as the webinar explained, AI does not replace constitutional obligations; rather, it operates within them, and the professionals who use AI are still the guardians of due process.

The human/AI partnership is where justice is served

Bob Rhodes, Chief Technology Officer for ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę Special Services (TRSS) echoed that sentiment with a principle that cuts across every application of AI in the justice system. “The number one thing… is a human should always be in the loop to verify what the systems are giving them,” Rhodes said.

This is not a limitation of AI; instead, it’s the design of a system that works. AI identifies the patterns, and trained, experienced professionals evaluate them, act on them, and are accountable for them.

That partnership is where the real opportunity lives. AI can never replace the detective, the prosecutor, the judge, or the defense attorney. However, it can work alongside them, handling the volume and velocity of data that no human team could process alone. So that means the humans in the room can focus on what they do best: applying judgment, upholding the law, and protecting an individual’s rights.

For judicial and law enforcement professionals, this is the moment to lean in. The patterns are there, the technology to read them is here, and the opportunity to use both in service of rights — not against them — has never been greater.

Please add your voice to ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę’ flagship , a global study exploring how the professional landscape continues to change.Ěý

Key insights:

• • • Effective human rights due diligence — Human rights can be hardwired into procurement by setting standards that include clear documentation thresholds, a code of conduct that bans forced labor and trafficking, a supplier assessment questionnaire, a locally informed worker safeguards addendum, and a risk-based vendor-grading rubric.

    • Procurement should feature human rights enforceable obligations — Further, human rights can be hardwired into commitments, such as request for proposals, vendor evaluation, and contract clauses.

    • Engaging unions and community groups early can lead to strong execution — Effective implementation relies on early stakeholder structures (unions, community groups, etc.), robust worker grievance mechanisms, and independent interviewers, complemented by AI-driven monitoring and continuous, rapid risk response.

Mega sporting events can have a significant impact on local economies, but they also pose substantial human rights risks, including labor exploitation, forced displacement, and sex trafficking. With the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics coming up next month, and the World Cup in summer, it’s crucial that organizations, communities, and governments prepare now to mitigate any human rights problems with these events.

As an advisor to host cities on human rights with more than a decade of experience now as the chief executive of , I have seen firsthand how the right commitments and responsible contracting practices can help mitigate these risks. By prioritizing human rights and adopting robust contracting practices, the cities that host these mega sporting events can ensure a positive legacy that extends beyond the event itself.

This was a recent topic at an event hosted by ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę and the International Labor Organization as part of its in which representatives from host cities, civil society organizations, and governments came together to discuss best practices to turn commitments around human rights into action during the FIFA World Cup games later this year. As a participant in this event, Henekom shared our approach in translating high‑level human rights commitments into context‑specific safeguards in order to create the social architecture that aligns organizational practice with community needs.

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States.ĚýCheck out our Human Rights Crimes resource center to learn how toĚýstop and prevent human trafficking

Centering human rights by using rigorous contracting standards starts with local jurisdictions working with multidisciplinary stakeholders to embed strong and comprehensive policies and protocols at all stages of event planning. In my experience, an all-inclusive approach typically shares five elements:

1. 1. 1. Clear thresholds in human rights documentation that are designed for speed of business.
      2. Code of conduct with essential ingredients, which include explicit bans on forced labor, trafficking, and other exploitation.
      3. Supplier assessment questionnaire (SAQ) that flags geographic and sector risk, such as temporary labor of food service employees.
      4. Worker safeguards addendum (WSA) that is built from local labor stakeholders who have lived concerns that help to translate the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) into local realities.
      5. Risk-based grading rubric for vendors that weights SAQ and WSA responses and turns them into a contracting risk rating.

In my experience, implementing these policies and tools deeply within the organization means embedding requirements at three critical junctures: i) request for proposals (RFPs); ii) vendor evaluation as part of the selection process; and iii) contract clauses. First, when subject-matter experts draft RFPs, the workflow should force-check human rights and sustainability language (or auto-insert standard clauses). Second, during vendor evaluation, the human rights team grades each SAQ/WSA and assigns a risk-based score. Third, contracts must lock in enforceability with particular emphasis on audit rights, corrective action plans, termination for cause, access to remedy, and accountability mechanisms, such as payment withholding.

Vendor contract agreements between the host cities and primary contractors are the best vehicle to incorporate enforcement of these rights. Likewise, provisions for these rights should also be incorporated into contracts between primary contractors and any subcontractors.

Centering human rights by using rigorous contracting standards starts with local jurisdictions working with multidisciplinary stakeholders to embed strong and comprehensive policies and protocols at all stages of event planning.

Temporary labor at mega sporting events — which include individuals working in private security, souvenir sales, construction, janitorial, and food service — adds complexity but does not have to stifle efforts to honor decent work and other human rights. With a solid sourcing policy, vendors get practical tools and technical assistance to implement requirements quickly.

Common examples include building a checks-and-balances loop with worker centers to receive complaints, and data reporting to track hours, wages, recruitment fees, and grievance outcomes. The risk-based grading rubric for vendors ideally determines the monitoring intensity, frequency of site visits, and reporting cadence.

Effective approaches for implementation

Beyond contract language, the following three actions and tools to help instill accountability in human rights commitments are recommended:

Working with stakeholders from day one — To effectively safeguard human rights, it’s crucial to establish standing stakeholder structures, such as advisory councils and labor roundtables, in order to co-create standards and monitor progress with unions and community groups. By doing so, organizations can ensure workers’ voices are heard, issues are escalated, and commitments are translated into tangible results through collective action and remediation advice.

Centering workers and ensuring access to grievance mechanisms — Establishing on-site, back-of-house centers for workers with confidential and multilingual intake processes, along with clear resolution pathways, is an effective way to drive accountability and reinforce human rights commitments. Using trained, independent worker interviewers with unannounced access to ensure compliance across venues, shifts, and subcontractor tiers further adds to this accountability.

Together, these approaches provide a means for workers to report concerns, verify compliance with policy requirements, and ensure that human rights are respected throughout the supply chain.

Using AI to fortify accountability — AI offers powerful tools for detecting and preventing labor exploitation in supply chains through automated monitoring and pattern recognition. Likewise, natural language processing may be able to analyze hotline transcripts and grievance logs to identify trends.

Even with the best policies and accountability tools, however, risks still persist because operating and business conditions are dynamic. New suppliers are added late, or a hot day turns into potentially harmful working conditions. This makes human rights due diligence a continuous requirement with ongoing risk monitoring, fast incident response, and a humble posture to make it right quickly, transparently, and fairly.

If host cities want a legacy that lasts beyond the mega sporting events’ closing ceremony, it is critical to ensure that the people who made the spectacle possible were seen, protected, paid, and heard. Doing the right thing is strategy — contracts and worker-centered approaches are how it shows up on the ground.

You can find out more about how organizations are trying to fight against human rights crimes here

Key insights:

• • • Sextortion has evolved into a global industry — This crime is being fueled by organized crime networks and human trafficking.

    • Victims exist on both sides— Often, vulnerable workers, who operate as forced labor in scam compounds abroad, are as much the victims as those people being scammed online and extorted for financial gain.

    • Digital literacy and cross-border cooperation are strong tools — Governments and law enforcement need to better educate the public about these scams and seek better collaboration to prevent exploitation and to dismantle organized crime networks.

A 17-year-old Michigan high school student after inadvertently sharing explicit photos with a Nigerian sextortion scammer after the scammer posed as a teenage girl on a fraudulent Instagram account. Also, a 16-year-old Kentucky high school student after he was blackmailed with an AI-generated nude image.

Sadly, these two families are victims of the more than 100,000 sextortion reports filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) since 2020, many now involving AI-generated imagery. These reports are part of the larger increase in , which typically targets males ages 14 to 17 and which has been on the rise since 2020. These tragic cases are part of a vast network of scams that stretches from the to criminal compounds in Asia and Africa.

Sextortion in the modern age

The FBI defines sextortion as a criminal act in which an offender blackmails a victim for payment under the threat of releasing sexually explicit material, such as a photo or video. The material may have been solicited through a romance scam or may be the product of generative AI (GenAI). Sextortion is the latest trend in a series of scams that generate billions of dollars for international criminal syndicates on the backs of forced labor in parts of the world with unstable governance and oversight. An average 800 CyberTipline reports submitted to NCMEC from 2022 to 2023 related to the sextortion of minors.

NCMEC notes that victims of sextortion scams to the CyberTipline and make use of the . Take It Down allows for anonymous requests to remove explicit images from participating platforms and social media companies. encourages changing passwords after scam activity and not responding to any requests for payment, even if threats are made.

Organized crime syndicates and cyber-scams

are the “definitive market leaders” in cyber-enabled fraud and online scams, which have been rapidly expanding since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime. In areas of Asia with weak governance, scam centers and fraud gangs run sophisticated operations that often front as industrial parks or casinos and hotels. and coerced into defrauding other victims online. The trafficked individuals often are lured with false promises of high-paying jobs and the ability to maximize their language skills.

Broad enforcement efforts have been relatively ineffective as scamming operations simply move within the country or offshore.

Once there, victims are forced into labor to commit financial fraud usually by enticing smartphone users to invest in cryptocurrency scams or engaging in sextortion (which sometimes includes forced sex trafficking to produce sexual content). It is unclear if teenagers are being targeted explicitly or if they are inadvertently targeted through broader, population-wide cyber-scams.

The Myanmar town of Laukkaing (also spelled Laukkai), the capital city of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone is considered the engine-room of forced labor scamming. In Myanmar’s Kokang region, have turned from narcotics to online scamming, operating casinos, and scam compounds possibly because these crimes are more lucrative and easier to operate at scale.

In October 2023, a deadly crackdown at Myanmar’s Crouching Tiger Villa (referred to as the 1020 Incident) was the beginning of the crumbling of mafia-led control in Laukkaing. The Chinese government launched coordinated attacks, which resulted in . The leader of the Ming family (which operated Crouching Tiger Villa) took his own life after being captured, but of his extended family with ties to organized crime and illegal activities in Myanmar were sentenced in Chinese courts in September 2025, including 11 who were sentenced to death.

An estimated US $1.4 billion was generated by the Ming family over 10 years through telecommunications fraud, illegal casinos, drug trafficking, and prostitution.

Inside offshore scam compounds

Beyond Southeast Asia, forced-scam operations have grown rapidly across the Mekong region. TheĚý, funded in part by ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę, notes their study of CyberTipline reports and IP addresses point to a strong presence of scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia.

The financial impact of scam compounds is no small factor — ruling elites in these countries have a financial motivation to look the other way because of its high profitability. The in Cambodia are more than US $12.5 billion annually, or about half of the country’s formal GDP. Across Mekong countries (China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam), cyber-scam returns generate an estimated US $43.8 billion annually.

The financial impact of scam compounds is no small factor — ruling elites in these countries have a financial motivation to look the other way because of its high profitability.

Broad enforcement efforts have been relatively ineffective as scamming operations simply move within the country or offshore, and there are reports that these complex money laundering operations help move funds into the formal economy of countries with weak governance.

Despite the challenges in enforcement, some high-profile enforcement cases have helped to generate international coordination against cyber-scams and sextortion. A California teen’s death by suicide resulting from sextortion led to three years later. Interpol’s (July and August 2025) resulted in 260 arrests and more than 1,200 electronic device seizures in 14 African countries. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced that as the main regional security concern last month. Domestically, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued sanctions on nine targets involved in scam operations in , and against (who is also associated with online scam centers).

Digital literacy as a solution

To truly begin to crack scam networks that operate in parts of the world with weak governance, of their citizens and support stronger cross-border investigation strategies. Stronger anti-money laundering frameworks can disrupt scam compounds more effectively than sting operations that just force the scam operation to move elsewhere.

It is critical that digital literacy is emphasized for online users who fall prey to sextortion and among job seekers lured into forced labor in scam compounds by fraudulent job advertisements. Cross-border collaboration among authorities, along with stronger enforcement and shared digital literacy, are the best defenses against this evolving threat.

You can find out more about our coverage of human trafficking, child exploitation, and forced labor at our Human Rights Crimes Resource Center here

Key highlights:

• • • Human rights risks are elevated for data enrichment workers — Data enrichment workers can face low and unstable pay, overtime pressure driven by buyer timelines, harmful content exposure with weak safeguards, limited grievance access, and uneven legal protections that hinder workers’ collective voice.

    • Human rights due diligence is essential for companies — Companies as buyers of these services must map subcontracting tiers, assess risk by employment model, document worker protections down to Tier-2 and Tier-3 suppliers, and audit and monitor their own rates, timelines, and payment terms to avoid reinforcing harm to workers.

    • Responsible contracting and remedy are a necessity — Contracts should embed shared responsibility, and include fair rates, predictable volumes, realistic deadlines, funded health & safety and mental‑health supports, effective grievance channels, and remediation.

Demand for data enrichment work has surged dramatically with the rapid development and expansion of AI technology. This work encompasses collecting, curating, annotating, and labeling data, as well as providing model training and evaluation — all of which are critical activities that improve how data functions in technological systems.

However, the workers performing these tasks currently operate under different employment models, according to from Article One Advisors, a corporate human rights advisory firm. Some workers are in-house employees at major AI developers, others work for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, and many are independent contractors on gig platforms on which they bid for tasks and get paid per piece.

Human rights issues in data enrichment work

Data enrichment workers sit at the sharp end of the AI economy, yet many struggle to earn a stable, decent income. In particular, pay for gig workers often falls short of a living wage because tasks are sporadic, payments can be delayed, and compensation is frequently piece‑rate. Because work flows through , fees and margins get skimmed at each layer and shrink take‑home pay — another area of exploitation for today’s digital labor workforce.

In addition, another human rights issue at work is their right to rest, leisure, and family life and, in some places, even breaching guidance from the International Labour Organization (ILO) or local labor laws. Buyer purchasing practices with aggressive deadlines are a significant upstream driver of this overtime pressure.

National labor protections vary widely, and platform workers in particular often fall through regulatory gaps.

For many, the work itself carries health risks. Labeling and moderation can require repeated exposure to violent or graphic content, with well‑documented mental‑health impacts. Yet safeguards are uneven. Indeed, workers may lack protected breaks, task rotation, mental‑health support, adequate insurance, or the option to switch assignments. Even when content is not graphic, strain shows up as ergonomic problems, stress, and disrupted sleep.

When harm occurs, remedy can be hard to access. Platform-based work setups often provide no clear, trusted point of contact, and reports of retaliation deter complaints. Effective operational grievance mechanisms can be missing, and this leaves workers without credible paths to redress.

Finally, national labor protections vary widely, and platform workers in particular often fall through regulatory gaps. Because work is individualized and online, forming unions or works councils is harder. This weakens workers’ collective voice just where and when it is most needed to identify risks, negotiate improvements, and secure remedies.

Due diligence for companies buying data enrichment services is essential

When companies procure data enrichment services, they must recognize that respecting human rights extends throughout the entire value chain and not just with themselves and their direct suppliers. Companies creating trusted partnerships with their suppliers helps to identify issues before they become harmful and create mutual accountability for the humans behind the algorithms.

Article One Advisors’ Lloyd explains that the mandatory baseline starts with human rights due diligence, and can be found in areas such as:

• • • Risk identification and assessment — The first step for companies is to identify and assess risksĚýby understanding their suppliers’ model. This means knowing which groups of workers are full-time employees, contracted workers, or platform-based gig workers. Each model carries different risk profiles.
    • Subcontractor ecosystem mapping — Tracing the subcontracting chainĚýto see how many layers exist between the supplier and the workers is essential. Fees and pressures compound at each tier of the value chain, says Lloyd.
    • Documentation of worker protections in Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers — Assessing and promoting worker protections for every layer of the value chain — which includes making sure the wage structures are clearly defined and equitable, health and safety measures are adequate, and protections for exposure to harmful content and effective grievance mechanisms exist — are baseline elements of human rights due diligence.
    • Examination of company’s own practices — Finally, it is necessary for companies to ensure that their own procurement standards and contracts are not reinforcing human rights harms. This includes companies confirming that their contract terms, timelines, and payment schedules are not inadvertently forcing suppliers to cut corners.

Responsible contracting and remedy mechanisms

Companies as buyers of data enrichment services also must instill shared responsibility in owning worker outcomes among themselves, BPOs, platforms, and model developers. Comprehensive, clear human-rights standards, living-income benchmarks, and shared responsibility are essential elements of good purchasing practices. More specifically, these require fair rates for work, predictable volume expectations, and realistic timelines to make sure suppliers do not push excessive hours. In addition, budgets should include cost-sharing for audits, key risk management measures (such as mental health support), and occupational health and safety controls.

Smart remediation turns harmful situations into improved conditions by providing back-pay for underpayment, medical and psychosocial care after exposure to harmful content, contract adjustments to remove perverse incentives, and time-bound corrective action plans co-designed with worker input. As a last resort when buyer and supplier need to part ways, a responsible exit is planned with notice, transition support, and no sudden contract termination that strands workers.

Similarly, grievance mechanisms for platform workers — who are often dispersed across geographics, classified as independent contractors, and lack line managers or union channels — need to be contractually documented. Effective grievance redressal needs to include confidential mechanisms and remediation processes, in-platform dispute tools, independent individuals to investigate complaints, multilingual facilitation, and joint buyer-supplier escalation paths to bridge gaps in labor-law protection and deliver credible remedies at scale, Lloyd notes.

Promoting quality through worker well-being

Protecting data enrichment workers is not only an ethical imperative but also essential for AI quality itself. When workers face excessive hours, inadequate pay, or harmful content exposure without proper support, the resulting stress and burnout directly impact data quality outcomes. Companies must recognize that responsibility for worker well-being and quality data outcomes extend throughout the entire value chain and does not solely rest with BPOs providers alone.

You can find more about the challenges companies and their workers face from forced labor in their supply chain here

Key takeaways:

• • • Increased dangers to children from immersive gaming platforms — Immersive gaming and VR platforms, heavily used by children, combine user-generated content and tactile realism in ways that can turn virtual abuse into psychologically traumatic experiences comparable to real-world harm.

    • Encryption is a double-edge sword — End-to-end encryption creates a policy paradox: While it’s vital for privacy and vulnerable users, it also shelters predators and complicates efforts to monitor and prevent exploitation.

    • GenAI in gaming presents openings for predators of children — GenAI introduces a new layer of risk by enabling AI-driven avatars and chatbots that can manipulate children and mimic human predators, making transparency, design safeguards, and stronger regulation increasingly urgent.

Digital spaces increasingly present new challenges for protecting children, according to , an expert in child exploitation methods in digital spaces and Policy Advisor at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

The fact that technology changes so quickly means that the threats are not static. With every technological advancement, new threats emerge, especially with virtual reality (VR) that uses headsets as pathways into immersive experiences. The combination of three-dimensional virtual reality and AI-powered interactions presents unprecedented challenges for parents, regulators, and platform operators.

Danger on the gaming frontier

Online gaming platforms, in particular, comprise a dominant space where these threats show up. For example, one prominent platform, Roblox, hosts roughly 110 million daily active users, and nearly half of them are under 13 years old. These spaces allow users to design worlds and create experiences for each other. This democratization of content creation sounds empowering; however, the reality is more troubling. Some observers have described this platform as both the Internet’s biggest playground for kids and, in the most critical accounts, an .

There have been dozens of arrests involving predators using these platforms to groom and abuse children, and many state attorneys general have filed lawsuits since 2018— all of which has spurred growing awareness. With these developments, the calculus is changing. From a purely economic perspective, the platforms’ failure to protect children has become unsustainable as lawsuits and regulatory pressure mount.

In response to the increased awareness and potential consequences, platform operators have implemented safety features, parental controls, and default settings to restrict interactions in the recent past. Yet, implementation lags behind necessity. In fact, many companies fear the costs of effective moderation or worry about alienating their user base with what users might consider to be intrusive monitoring, says NYU’s Olaizola Rosenblat.

If a user experiences a simulated sexual act in virtual reality, their psychological and physiological responses can mirror aspects of real-world trauma even though no physical contact occurs.

In many ways, abuse in virtual worlds can mirror that of abuse in the physical world. These three-dimensional virtual reality platforms differ fundamentally from traditional gaming spaces. Users with VR headsets entering fully immersive worlds embody avatars that move through thousands of interconnected experiences. While no actual touching occurs, the experiences feel visceral. Indeed, users report genuine sensations when avatars approach them. The technology simulating the sense of touch through vibrations, textures, or forces adds a tactile dimension to digital interactions. The brain processes these interactions, including negatives ones involving potential abuse, as real.

“If a user experiences a simulated sexual act in virtual reality, their psychological and physiological responses can mirror aspects of real-world trauma even though no physical contact occurs,” Olaizola Rosenblat explains, adding that the immersive nature makes the experiences more traumatic than traditional online interactions.

Studies further document the frequency of problematic encounters as incidents occurring every seven minutes in some virtual environments.

The encryption paradox

End-to-end encryption protects privacy but also limits oversight, complicating efforts to detect exploitation. Some evidence indicates that offenders are using these encrypted channels to evade detection.

The policy dilemma has no simple solution. Breaking encryption would devastate privacy rights, and eliminating encrypted platforms would harm vulnerable populations worldwide — but accepting that bad actors will exploit these spaces is unacceptable. While some design-level interventions could help, there are to implement features that make exploitation more difficult without compromising core encryption.

Generative AI (GenAI) introduces a new dimension to these threats. Until recently, exploitation required human predators. Now AI systems themselves can initiate harmful interactions. The integration of AI into digital products accelerates rapidly. One platform is already using GenAI to create assets to help build their worlds, but “it’s a matter of time until platforms will have avatars and other players being run by GenAI. This will make it difficult to know if a child is communicating with a human or a bot, unless we have robust transparency safeguards in place,” Olaizola Rosenblat says.

In response to the increased awareness and potential consequences, platform operators have implemented safety features, parental controls, and default settings to restrict interactions in the recent past.

Indeed, it is easy to see the evolution. Chatbots have already entered encrypted messaging platforms, such as when users see prompts to Ask AI at the top of their message screens. These interactions could compromise privacy and create new dangers. Recent cases involving AI companies demonstrate the risks. Chatbots can take users on unpredictable journeys, and the conversations can turn dangerous quickly. Young users lack the experience of recognizing manipulation by AI.

The combination of immersive environments and AI systems creates a perfect storm. Imagine a child in a virtual world interacting with what appears to be another player — yet, that player is actually an AI bot. The bot has been trained on vast datasets, and it understands psychological manipulation. The bot then adapts its approach based on the child’s responses. No human predator orchestrates the interaction; however, the algorithm itself becomes the threat.

This scenario is not science fiction. The integration of technologies into platforms that children use is already underway. The question is not whether these risks will materialize, rather the question is how quickly and how severely they will occur. The answer depends on choices made by technology companies, regulators, and society at large. This is especially true with the vulnerabilities from the explosion of data collection gathered from VR headsets,Ěýsmart gloves,ĚýandĚýhaptic suitsĚýfor enhanced physical feedback. Clearly, the time to act is now.

You can findĚýmore about ways to combat child exploitation here

3 key takeaways:

• • • The connection is detectable but required massive data analysis — IJM analyzed more than 1 million CyberTipline reports and matched them with mobile device data, ultimately linking sextortion reports to forced scamming sites in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.
    • Forced scamming compounds exploit trafficking victims to commit crimes — Human trafficking victims are lured by fake job ads, then confined in guarded compounds where they’re coerced into running various online scams.
    • Coordinated multi-stakeholder action is urgently needed — Electronic service providers must improve account creation safeguards and detection methods, while law enforcement needs to better coordinate cross-border investigations.

New research by links hundreds of financially-motivated child sextortion reports to scam compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Indeed, the research shows that significant effort was required to detect these linkages as IJM analyzed more than 1 million CyberTipline reports in the “Online Enticement” category from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

“Our research provides the first clear evidence of this likely link, but to understand the true scale of the problem, there needs to be further urgent investigation into this troubling nexus by law enforcement, tech companies, and global governments,” says Eric Heintz, Senior Criminal Analyst at IJM.

Because forced scamming compounds now blend labor trafficking, high-volume online fraud, and financially-motivated child sextortion, it becomes critical that electronic service providers (ESPs) must harden account creation and improve detection of signals indicative of online fraud and sextortion. In addition, law enforcement must better coordinate their efforts at cross-border investigations and distinguish trafficked workers from criminal organizers.

Links between compound scamming and child sextortion

To illustrate the details of how these two fast-moving crime waves are converging online, forced scamming occurs when victims are trafficked into guarded compounds across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, after responding to fake job-ads. These trafficked victims then are coerced into defrauding targets online as part of forced scams. These schemes employ deceit or trickery to defraud the online targets, often using scripted approaches, fake personas, or impersonation to elicit money or sensitive information.

You can read the IJM report here

The types of scams include romance, investment, crypto, fake loans, and impersonation scams, all of which are carried out from inside guarded compounds. Many times, trafficking victims endure confinement and abuse as part of being forced to perpetrate these scams on others.

These human trafficking victims are also trained on psychological manipulation tactics to lure in potential victims, including children in some instances, although it is not evident that children are being intentionally targeted.

Within some of the scam operations, if trafficking victims fail to elicit the desired outcome, such as an investment in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme, they are forced to pivot to sexualized chat and a request for images or a video call. The forced labor victims then use the collected sexual images to blackmail the scam target for money under threat of exposure. Since 2022, reports of such financially-motivated sextortion have surged globally and have disproportionately affected boys and young men, with devastating psychological harm including documented suicides.

Forced scamming is not just a fraud trend; rather, it is a human rights crisis that collides with child protection, cybercrime, and organized criminal groups across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Researchers from IJM combined large-scale ESP platform reports with mobile ad-tech telemetry to trace overlap between child sextortion and forced scamming. They analyzed nearly 1.2 million reports from NCMEC that covered 3.17 million IP addresses and paired them with more than 300 million advertiser ID rows, which included mobile devices used in these locations, the device’s latitude and longitude, and the IP address and date and timestamp (UTC) of an internet connection by the device. These were collected from 44 confirmed scam sites in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, resulting in 493 reports tied to devices at 40 sites in these countries.

The strongest links centered in hotspots in Cambodia and Myanmar, and some IP addresses traced back to internet service providers in Thailand. This reflected cross-border routing and service reliance and occurred when activity originated in neighboring countries or special economic zones.

Required actions to protect children

Coordinated action by platforms and law enforcement is essential to expose, disrupt, and prosecute the intertwined machinery of forced scamming and financially-motivated child sextortion. ESPs, such as social media networks, messaging apps, email providers, cloud services, and dating platforms, submit CyberTipline Reports to NCMEC when they detect suspected child sexual exploitation. While this is helpful, more efforts are required, which include:

• • • Cross-referencing account creation and activity with known scam hotspots and scripted patterns
    • Including precise timestamps, IP addresses, and geolocation context in CyberTipline submissions
    • Flagging and disrupting account creation that originates from suspicious infrastructure, beyond simple VPN indicators

At the same time, further law enforcement action is needed to improve disruption and prosecution of these networks, including:

• • • Examining sextortion cases for signs of forced scamming, which may include scripts, crypto addresses, or investment lures
    • Studying evidence for indicators of sextortion as a tactic, such as the use of sexually explicit scripts or imagery
    • Considering that some suspects are themselves trafficked victims who have been coerced into scam operations
    • Using advertiser ID data and timestamp matching to pinpoint devices and compounds
    • Devising ways to coordinate cross-border law enforcement actions in hotspot countries, known scam regions, and local jurisdictions.

Forced scamming is not just a fraud trend; rather, it is a human rights crisis that collides with child protection, cybercrime, and organized criminal groups across Southeast Asia and beyond.

The nexus between forced scamming and financially-motivated sextortion of children is detectable — as demonstrated by IJM’s new research. Now is the time for action among ESP platforms, law enforcement, and NGOs to align data and coordinate cross-border responses to better identify devices, compounds, and networks in real time.

You can learn more about how organizations can reduce and mitigate child exploitation in the TR Institute’s human rights crime resource center

Important highlights:

• • Technology-enhanced tools needed — Key recommendations in the fight against these disappearances include establishing a national database for Indigenous disappearances, using facial recognition technology to match missing persons with sex ads, and leveraging data analysis to identify patterns.

  • Disproportionate impact driven by systemic factors — Though Indigenous peoples are about 5% of Canada’s population, about half of women and girls trafficked are Indigenous.

  • Geographic patterns and cross‑border links — Urban hotspots show concentrated disappearances and trafficking activity, with evidence of connections between Canadian and US sex ads.

The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada represents an urgent human rights concern, with Indigenous women disproportionately affected by violence and exploitation. This issue, often obscured by geographical and societal barriers, demands the attention and action of governments and law enforcement.

Research completed by ¶¶ŇőłÉÄę in late-July illuminates the alarming intersection between missing and murdered Indigenous women and human trafficking. These insights are captured in a report titled Missing and Stolen: Disappearance and Trafficking of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Findings in the report shed light on the systemic factors that contribute to these tragedies, and the report offers actionable recommendations to address and prevent further injustices against potential victims in Canada.

Examining disappearances and trafficking activities

Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls are overrepresented in cases of violence and trafficking, the report shows. Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit, and Metis) comprise roughly 5% of Canada’s total population; but despite this low figure, the 2014 National Task Force on Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls in Canada found that 51% of women and 50% of girls .

Systemic factors also contribute to the crisis of these victims, including a history of sexual abuse. Other adverse childhood experiences such as are disproportionately prevalent among Indigenous communities in Canada. These previous childhood abuse experiences contribute to the heightened vulnerability to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking into adulthood.

Further, these systemic issues are compounded by previous experience with the child welfare system, which continues to disrupt Indigenous family structures. Although represent only about 8% of the population under the age of 15, they accounted for nearly as of 2021. Research also shows that many survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking have prior involvement with the .

Sex ads points to cross-border activity

By analyzing data from reported Indigenous disappearances and sex ads, the study identified urban areas as hotspots in which these issues are most prevalent. Notably, cities such as Vancouver, Edmonton, and the Windsor-Toronto-Ottawa corridor, emerge as key centers of disappearances and trafficking. Edmonton also is a point of interest because of its high Indigenous population but relatively remote nature in comparison to other hotspots.

Additionally, the study highlights the cross-border nature of trafficking, with connections between Canadian sex ads and those in the United States. This tracks with the general population demographics of Canada, in which much of the population lives within driving distance of the US border. However, when examining some of the ads in urban areas along the border, many involved cross-border connections.

Recommended actions

To address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and human trafficking, several key actions are recommended for government agencies and law enforcement, including:

Consolidate reporting into a central repository — Establishing a national database for Indigenous disappearances is crucial for improving the speed and effectiveness of investigations.

Use advanced technology and data analysis — Likewise, using advanced technology to integrate and analyze data on missing and murdered Indigenous women and comparing that with sex ad data using facial recognition technology could help to quickly identify and locate missing individuals featured in sex ads. In addition, technology could be used in identifying potential victims in sex ads by homing in on specific terms that are used in ads, although this is tricky. Indeed, ads may falsely state ethnicity due to prejudices against Indigenous peoples, and some ads mislabel individuals to avoid devaluation or risk. At the same time, some ads used derogatory terms and specific tribal affiliations associated with the demand from sex buyers.

Put a face on the data — It is easy to see how the stories of these women and girls get lost as a data point. This is why it is important to amplify the stories of survivors and build awareness of the problem. Behind each data point is a person and family’s heartbreak, pain, and loss — those stories should be emphasized and disseminated.

Prioritize investigative resources in known epicenters and across borders — Investigations should focus on hotspots in which significant patterns of disappearances and sex trafficking have been identified.

Addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and sex trafficking is of paramount importance. Policymakers, communities, and individuals must unite to support these recommend actions to help ensure that every effort is made to prevent future tragedies and uphold the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples.

You can find more about the ongoing fight against sex trafficking here

Key highlights:

• • Human trafficking is a local problem — Contrary to the stranger danger myth, trafficking primarily involves emotional manipulation and targets vulnerable populations locally.

  • Prevention requires talking to men and boys — Discussions should be held about how online pornography, and the impact of their visits to strip clubs is furthering the sexual exploitation of women and indirectly fueling sex trafficking.

  • Human trafficking is a criminal enterprise — This enterprise is operating in the shadow economy, with profits that fuel the world’s second-largest illicit financial enterprise.

An estimated 50 million people are currently living in modern slavery globally, a stark reality often hidden in plain sight. Indeed, , established by the United Nations in 2013, serves as a crucial reminder that human trafficking remains one of the most pressing human rights challenges of our time.

A recent Thomson Reuters Institute webinar in observance of this day brought together experts from technology, survivor services, and law enforcement for a discussion to deepen the collective understanding of trafficking’s complexities, examine its devastating impacts on victims, and develop strategies to drive meaningful change.

Debunking myths around human trafficking

Human trafficking is often misunderstood, with common misconceptions including the stranger danger myth that most trafficking situations come from anonymous kidnappers. However, , CEO of , a nonprofit group helping law enforcement on the front lines of domestic minor sex trafficking, notes that trafficking often involves emotional manipulation by traffickers who target individuals from vulnerable populations, including youth without housing and children in foster care and juvenile justice systems.

, CEO of New Friends New Life, which provides comprehensive care to human trafficking victims, explains that between 95% and 97% of the survivors with whom she works are local. And, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fraud and coercion are more prevalent than brute force in trafficking cases. In fact, traffickers frequently use and to exploit existing vulnerabilities.

Evolving approaches to combating trafficking

The fight against human trafficking requires a multi-faceted approach that involves cooperation of technology companies, survivor support organizations, and law enforcement agencies. More specifically, this approach can include:

Use and scale of technology — Boorse states that “technology has changed everything” in the anti-trafficking space and has made it easier for offenders to exploit victims. At the same time, technology is also providing opportunities for identifying survivors and offering support. Spotlight has developed innovative tools that help law enforcement and service providers identify trafficking situations and connect survivors with vital resources.

“Trying to identify a child victim in this mound of data is like trying to identify a needle in a haystack, but we aren’t looking for needles, we’re looking for children,” Boorse explains, adding that Spotlight leverages data and AI to help with the identification of some of the most vulnerable children. “We aim to reduce the time it takes to identify a victim from months to minutes. The speed of identification has a direct relationship to recovery and reduces the amount of time a victim remains in trauma.” With the help of technology, Spotlight has helped investigators identify more than 26,000 children.

Holistic approaches to support survivors — Comprehensive survivor support and compassionate care are key parts of the equation when stopping human trafficking. A model to mirror is the one used by New Friends New Life, which provides a range of services, including housing partnerships, emotional trauma support, and economic empowerment through job training and education. Davis emphasizes that rebuilding trust is crucial, and “the whole bunch of love approach” is essential in supporting survivors.

Collaboration with law enforcement and survivor care providers — The protracted nature of prosecuting human trafficking cases makes cooperation between law enforcement and those nonprofits which support survivors critical. Indeed, there often is a 24- to 36-month time span before the trial starts or the trafficker is convicted through a plea deal. This is a long time to keep a victim engaged, and this lengthy timeline can strain that engagement, especially given the trauma and instability survivors often face.

Because of this challenge, law enforcement relies heavily on robust partnerships with service organizations. The hyper-focus on the welfare and the well-being of the victim is key so that law enforcement can then focus on working with the prosecutors on the case.

In addition, collaboration on expanding awareness of traffickers’ recruitment methods in digital spaces is essential. And another key challenge lies in public awareness around the shifting landscape of trafficking online. More awareness and education in our schools and within our own homes are needed, primarily about how offenders use social media and other online platforms to identify and get their foothold on potential victims. Sadly, most minor victims — disproportionately over 95% — are recruited on Instagram, according to DHS.

Addressing root causes is key to prevention

Of course, the best way to prevent sex trafficking is to stop it before it starts, and effective prevention demands a multi-faceted approach starting with early intervention and addressing both vulnerabilities and demand. For example:

Give vulnerable minors love and acceptance — Boorse emphasized the importance of “looking back at the family unit,” noting that “one of the most critical pieces is… this feeling of being loved and accepted, obviously with appropriate boundaries.” She argued that fortifying family and community relationships from early childhood onward can help build emotional resilience and provide children with the strong foundation they need to resist exploitation.

Addressing demand is equally vital — Human trafficking is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, which means it is a business. “If we are ever going to end this issue, we have to address the demand — and that means talking to our men,” Davis states. More specifically, there is a strong need to educate men and boys about the impact of seemingly “normalized” behaviors, such as consuming sexually exploitative online pornography or visiting strip clubs because “these normalized behaviors fuel a criminal industry,” she adds.

Everyone has a role to play

Combating human trafficking is a collective responsibility that requires education and action from many sectors of society. Everyone has the opportunity to educate themselves and support organizations like Spotlight, New Friends New Life, and the . In addition, reporting suspicious activity to the DHS tip line (1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) or the at 1-888-373-7888, as well as advocating for meaningful policy changes in local communities are other ways to help.

Only through shared commitment and action, can we build a world in which exploitation no longer has a foothold and all people can be free from the devastating exploitation of human trafficking.

Learn more about human trafficking and human rights crimes through the Thomson Reuters Institute resource center.

Key takeaways:

• • • Poverty is a prime driver of child exploitation — Poverty drives more than half of child labor cases, with girls comprising 64% of affected children.

    • Companies can act to fight child labor — Companies must critically examine their purchasing practices, include lower-tier suppliers in risk assessments, establish multiple detection methods beyond audits, and fund independent remediation mechanisms to effectively combat child labor.

    • The Centre’s Action Hubs offers help — The Hub pools resources among brands, suppliers, civil society, and governments to create sustainable, locally driven solutions that achieve measurable results in child protection and remediation.

Child labor remains a persistent global crisis and affects an estimated 138 million children worldwide, according to the latest estimates by . Despite international commitments, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to end child labor by 2025, progress has fallen short and left millions deprived of their fundamental rights to safety, education, and protection.

While often framed as a human rights violation, child labor is also a pressing business issue. Companies are increasingly expected to ensure ethical supply chains, and their reputations, compliance with regulations, and supply chain resilience all hinge on addressing this challenge.

Yet, , the calls for moving beyond pledges and instead pursue collaboration toward real action. Overly ambitious goals and zero tolerance policies have sometimes backfired, and when this occurs, it pushes child labor further underground rather than eliminating it.

One of the main causes of child labor is poverty. In fact, more than half of the children affected cite it as the primary reason for working, according to the Centre. And almost two-thirds (64%) of the Centre’s child labor cases are girls. Other hidden challenges include cuts to social services, shifting migration policies, and a lack of local remediation capacity, especially in countries like the United States, where child labor persists due to inadequate support systems and limited transparency.

Companies can take action to reduce child labor

Companies can take several actions to fight against child labor in their supply chains, and the first of which requires them to honestly acknowledge its existence and take targeted, practical steps toward prevention and remediation. Indeed, businesses know that they have a vital role to play in tackling child labor for ethical reasons, especially since consumer expectations, especially among Gen Z consumers, and new regulations increasingly require transparency and real action.

Child labor remains a persistent global crisis and affects an estimated 138 million children worldwide.

To effectively prevent and remediate child labor, companies must critically examine their own practices. The Centre recommends that company leaders ask themselves critical questions, such as:

• • • Are purchasing practices enabling fair wages?
    • Are lower-tier supplies included in the company’s risk assessments and are there sufficient long-term budgets for due diligence?
    • Do suppliers understand and the company’s expectations around children’s rights?
    • Are multiple detection methods being used beyond audits?

“One of the first steps to close the gap between rhetoric and practice is acknowledging the intrinsic link between informal lower-tier actors and formal supply chains,” explains Ines Kaempfer, CEO of the Centre. “Once that is fully acknowledged and recognized, the case to engage and invest in lower-tiers becomes glaringly clear. The most severe human rights violations and deprived children are those in lower-tier and informal settings, trapped in generational poverty with little hope of breaking the cycle if approaches don’t change. We also know that engaging can seem extremely challenging, but that cannot keep us from taking action. There are innovative programs, partnerships and tools available — it is up to businesses to take the resolve and engage.”

In addition, companies must move beyond policy to establish comprehensive actionable mechanisms that can monitor risks in sourcing countries and adapt how companies monitor complex supply chains. Robust remediation mechanisms should be funded and managed by independent experts to ensure priority is given to children’s rights over commercial interests.

Enlisting outside support

Providing transparent reporting and collaborating with local stakeholders are other key actions that corporations can take to ensure sustainable, child-centered solutions throughout the supply chain. For example, companies can take a lead role in — a Centre initiative that promotes collaboration among multiple stakeholders to address systemic child labor risks — by becoming funding partners, which enables the scaling of prevention and remediation efforts for child labor in high-risk supply chains.

Companies also can nominate their suppliers, including those in lower tiers, to participate in Action Hub activities. By engaging and supporting suppliers to implement change-making programs and participate in training, companies can strengthen local capacity. Finally, companies in these Hubs also can proactively join stakeholder meetings, share best practices, and advocate for transparency and collaboration within their own industry.

Key lessons highlight the need for companies to engage in local capacity building, sustained funding, and strong stakeholder collaboration to address the unique challenges of informal and lower-tier supply chains.

The Centre has played a central role in activating recent Hubs in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with new ones planned in Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka in the coming months. These Hubs unite brands, suppliers, civil society, and local governments to pool resources, provide training, and create sustainable remediation systems. For example, the Action Hub in Bangladesh has integrated 87 child labor cases in the ready-made garment industry into remediation and enabled 42 young workers to access decent work.

In the DRC Hub, which focused on the country’s mining industry, has supported more than 82 children in remediation and built a strong local network of eight civil society organizations for long-term impact. And in Malaysia, despite sudden funding cuts, the Hub has remained operational with private sector support. Currently, 18 children are in the remediation program, with 42 case managers having been trained, and 46 community focal points having been established from country’s palm oil planting communities.

Key lessons learned from the Centre’s Action Hubs highlight the need for companies to engage in local capacity building, sustained funding, and strong stakeholder collaboration to address the unique challenges of informal and lower-tier supply chains. While there is no single solution to ending child labor, the Action Hubs proves that decisive, collaborative action can drive meaningful changes.

Businesses must move beyond pledges and take responsibility for their supply chains by investing in prevention, remediation, and honest transparency about the challenges they face. Now is the time to turn commitments into real progress by building resilient, ethical supply chains that protect children’s rights and create a safer, more just future for them.

You can find more about child labor and exploitation here