article 8

COVID-19 Impact on Human Trafficking: Racial Disparities and Social Media Use 32 many sites and pages that promote commercial sex service. However, despite these laws being in place, sex trafficking is still an issue on many platforms, with social media sites turning a blind eye in the name of providing a platform not managing their users. As COVID-19 has forced many interactions to shift completely online, many potential victims have turned to social media. Online school and increased hours of online presence have facilitated a new way for traffickers to reach out to potential victims. In March 2020, the FBI issued a warning that traffickers are using popular social media and dating apps to recruit victims online. The Polaris Project states, “trafficking victims arenowbeing forced toparticipate in remote, web-based sexual activity or pornography and that the marketplace for those activities has grown” (“Sex Trafficking…”). Women who cannot afford the rent anymore are being subjected to sextortion. During May 2020, Inside Edition investigated the case of an ad posted on Craigslist, where a landlord was looking for “Room share for submissive female who wants to barter session/playtime once per week in lieu of rent we should talk” in Long Island, New York. After the landlord agreed to meet a contact, he suggested she should wait for him undressed in a hotel room (Vavra). While such proposals certainly predate both the internet and the COVID-19 pandemic, together they have pushed such activities in new directions. Policy Options In 2014, the ILO adopted the Protocol to the ILO Forced Labour Convention No. 29, 1930, and Recommendation No. 203. Such documents reveal four areas in which the problem can be addressed: prevention, protection, remedies, and enforcement/prosecution (ILO a). The biggest area the United States should focus on in the long-term is prevention. COVID-19 relief payments that provide for the most vulnerable are the first step toward achieving this goal. Instead of automatically sending out checks to most people, there should be an application process that provides fewer people larger sums of money, which would most help individuals at risk of exploitation. A 2019 ILO report, Ending Forced Labour by 2030, points to the fact that poverty makes an individual more vulnerable to exploitation, and, thus, why it is more important than ever to ensure workers, especially informal ones, are included in the payments (ILO a, 36). Such payments will ultimately contribute to the economy due to an increase in consumer spending. Another key to prevention is increased random labor inspections. The recent Trafficking in Persons Report put out by the State Department recommended more inspections, as these oftentimes are where the eleven indicators of forced labor are first discovered (2020, p. 523; ILO b, 43). Enhanced and more frequent inspections will help reduce the exploitation of immigrants and women of color. The random aspect of such inspections should help eliminate any potential bias as to who is included. Education about human trafficking is also a key preventative measure. President Biden just passed an executive order dealing with racial inequality. As part of this, companies should be required to go through human trafficking training. This could be a simple one-day training that then has to be recorded to the state government as being completed, serving to ensure accountability. Social media can also play a more direct educational role. The easiest way would be to offer ads from anti-trafficking organizations or the National Hotline number, so it will create an opportunity to facilitate direct and secure communication with the hotline, while also providing more education to the general public. Another would be to update the terms of service. Platforms need to not only make clear what they allow but also specifically state what the consequences are of violating their terms of use. Facebook has already developed a set of Community Standards where “Sexual Exploitation of Adults” and “Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Nudity” are included in their safety section. Meanwhile, platforms really popular among youngsters like Instagram and TikTok do not have human trafficking prevention as part of their Terms of Use. These platforms thus also need to expand their preventative and educational strategies. Conclusions and Recommendations The sex trafficking scenario in the United States is far from being solved; in fact, the problem has actually increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As noted by the Polaris Project, which operates the National Hotline, “the number of cases increased by more than 40% in the month following the shelter in place order, while the number of emergency situations more than doubled” (“Human Trafficking…”). A constructive short-term policy response to the new and