Connecting the Dots: Human Trafficking and Online Harassment and Abuse

Office on Trafficking in Persons sent this bulletin at 01/20/2025 08:05 AM EST

January 20, 2025

This week, we explore the connections between human trafficking and on online harassment and abuse. Traffickers increasingly exploit online platforms to recruit and manipulate individuals, particularly youth seeking connection and support. Education, outreach and collective action are essential to creating safer digital spaces. Proactive strategies, such as online education, after-school programs and family engagement, help reduce the risk of online abuse. Strong family and social connections are vital in preventing trafficking by offering support and fostering open communication. Leveraging technology for anti-trafficking education and services strengthens outreach efforts and helps build the resilience of individuals and communities to prevent technology-facilitated exploitation and abuse.

Addressing the Impact of Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Path to Healing and Prevention

In today’s digital world, image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) is a growing and pervasive issue that impacts individuals, families, and communities across the globe. IBSA can take many forms, from someone sharing intimate images or videos without consent, to online predators coercing minors into producing explicit content, to perpetrators using deepfake technology to create sexualized images of unsuspecting individuals. Facilitated by the rapid advancement of technology, IBSA thrives on evolving digital platforms. As these platforms grow, so too does the reach of this harmful behavior, disproportionately affecting children, women, and people on the margins.

In December 2024, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), alongside partners at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice, hosted a two-day listening session aimed at better understanding the impact of IBSA on health and well-being, and to help inform future policies, programs, and practices. This session, which included more than 75 survivors, allied professionals, and advocates, offered critical insights into the far-reaching impacts of IBSA on health and well-being.

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What You Can Do to Strengthen Communities Through Family and Social Connectedness

Talk to your children or students about healthy media habits and common scenarios involving technology, social media and video games.
Take the Surgeon General’s 5-for-5 Connection Challenge.
Teach children and youth about healthy relationships.
Mentor and support children, youth, and/or parents and caregivers in your community.
Consider becoming a foster parent.

Resources

Look Beneath the Surface Videos for Youth and Adults: These videos emphasize an individual’s right to live and work safely, highlighting that no one can force someone to work or have sex in exchange for money, food, or shelter. It explains that manipulation, threats, and coercion are never acceptable, whether from family, friends, or partners. The survivor-informed videos also provide information on how to seek help, offering contact details for the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which provides confidential assistance regardless of immigration status.

Social Media, Online Safety, and Youth Mental Health: This factsheet provides best practices and resources to help parents and caregivers protect children from unhealthy media use or risky exposure.

HTLA Class 8 Report on Engagement Strategies to Increase Youth Awareness and Resilience Against Online Exploitation and Abuse: This information was developed by the fellows of Class 8 of the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA). It outlines strategies for outreach and engagement aimed at enhancing youth awareness of online harassment and abuse related to human trafficking.

Online Health and Safety for Children and Youth –Best Practices for Families and Guidance for Industry: This resource provides recommendations and best practices for safer social media and online platform use for youth. 

Upcoming Events

A number of Federal agencies, technical assistance centers, and funding recipients host events during Human Trafficking Prevention Month. We encourage you to participate and spread the word about these opportunities to your networks. Visit the OTIP website throughout January for updates to the Federal interagency calendar of events.

Prevention through Innovation: Youth-Centric Prevention Education

January 23, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

Join the HHS Office on Women’s Health for a discussion on youth-centric prevention education, part of the Prevention through Innovation: Addressing Human Trafficking in Your Community webinar series. Panelists from among the Phase 1 awardees of the HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls will highlight the diverse methods of curricula development and delivery, how they engaged youth, and how they empowered youth to identify and report instances of human trafficking and the risk factors associated with being trafficked.

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Fostering Safe Communication Strategies: Effective Practices for Supporting Youth at the Intersection of Homelessness and Human Trafficking

January 29, 2025 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET

Join the Administration for Children and Families' Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) for a webinar focused on addressing the complex intersection of homelessness and human trafficking among youth. This session will provide strategies for better protecting and supporting young people who are at risk or experiencing trafficking.

Our expert panelists from OTIP, FYSB, the National Runaway Safeline, and Youth Collaboratory will delve into how homelessness heightens vulnerability to trafficking. They will also share effective communication strategies to foster trust and create safe spaces for open dialogue with at-risk youth. Participants will walk away with practical tools to help empower youth in developing safety plans and accessing the critical support they need.

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Prevention through Innovation: Providing Co-Located, Vital Services

January 30, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

Join the Office on Women’s Health for a discussion on providing co-located, vital services webinar, part of the Prevention through Innovation: Addressing Human Trafficking in Your Community webinar series. Panelists from among the Phase 1 awardees of the HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls will highlight the services they provided to those who recently exited trafficking situations, how they identified those who needed those services, funding mechanisms, and community partnerships that enabled them to provide those services.

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Meet the Authors Webinar: Adapting to Adversity - Transforming Interpersonal Violence Interventions for Youth and Adults Based on COVID-19 Insights

February 5, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET

Join Public Health Reports, the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health, and the Office on Trafficking in Persons for a Meet the Authors webinar on “Adapting to Adversity: Transforming Interpersonal Violence Interventions for Youth and Adults Based on COVID-19 Insights.”

The panel will explore how research findings can shape the development of more adaptive, technologically integrated, and culturally responsive strategies for combating interpersonal violence across healthcare settings and community contexts, potentially revolutionizing service delivery in our post-pandemic world.

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Prevention through Innovation: Training Professionals in Novel Industries

February 5, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

Join the HHS Office on Women’s Health for a discussion on training professionals in novel industries webinar, part of the Prevention through Innovation: Addressing Human Trafficking in Your Community webinar series. Panelists from among the Phase 1 awardees of the HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls will highlight fields they engaged in training, how they identified organizations and professionals in their community to partner with in training, and what their training emphasized.

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U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office on Trafficking in Persons

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