Abstract
In an era of unprecedented technological accessibility coupled with the possibility of online anonymity, human traffickers often operate in the shadows – avoiding interference by typical societal safeguards and law enforcement. This chapter highlights challenges to combatting human trafficking due to the widespread use of mobile technology and the anonymity of the Darknet. The chapter also reviews criminal justice resources devoted to combatting human trafficking facilitated by the Internet.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, U.N. Doc. A/53/383 (2000) [Palermo Protocol], available at http://www.uncjin.org/Documents/Conventions/dcatoc/final_documents_2/convention_%20traff_eng.pdf
- 2.
Organ procurement organizations https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/273
- 3.
TOR, The TOR Project. https://www.torproject.org/
- 4.
TOR. The TOR Project. https://blog.torproject.org/tor-project-elects-new-board-directors
- 5.
I2P, The Invisible Internet Project. https://geti2p.net/en/
- 6.
Freenet, The Free Network. https://freenetproject.org/index.html
- 7.
DeepDive. http://deepdive.stanford.edu/
- 8.
Memex. https://memex.jpl.nasa.gov/
- 9.
A list of memex-related tools and their repository URLs. https://github.com/darpa-i2o/memex-program-index
- 10.
DIG, Domain-specific Insight Graphs. http://usc-isi-i2.github.io/dig/
- 11.
Tellfinder. http://usc-isi-i2.github.io/dig/
References
Açar, K. V. (2017). Organizational aspect of the global fight against online child sexual abuse. Global Policy, 8(2), 259–262.
Aked, S. (2011). An investigation into darknets and the content available via anonymous peer-to-peer file sharing. In Proceedings of the 9th Australian information security management conference, Edith Cowan University, Perth Western Australia, 5th – 7th December. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ism/106
Armagh, D. S., Battaglia, N. L., & U.S Department of Justice. (2006). Use of computers in the sexual exploitation of children, 2nd ed. Washington, DC.
Bartlett, J. (2014). The dark net: Inside the digital underworld. London: William Heinemann.
Beech, A. R., Elliott, I. A., Birgden, A., & Findlater, D. (2008). The internet and child sexual offending: A criminological review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13(3), 216–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2008.03.007.
Bergman, M. K. (2001). White paper: The deep web: Surfacing hidden value. Journal of Electronic Publishing, 7(1). Retrieved from https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/idx/j/jep/3336451.0007.104/%2D%2Dwhite-paper-the-deep-websurfacing-hidden-value?rgn=main;view=fulltext.
Biryukov, A., Pustogarov, I., Thill, F., & Weinmann, R. P. (2014, June). Content and popularity analysis of Tor hidden services. In 2014 IEEE 34th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems Workshops (ICDCSW) (pp. 188–193). IEEE.
Bouche, V. & THORN. (2015). A report on the use of technology to recruit, groom and sell domestic minor sex trafficking victims. Technical Report, THORN. Retrieved from https://www.wearethorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Survivor_Survey_r5.pdf
Brennan, D. (2018, November 7). Former police chief arrested in baby trafficking ring bust. Newsweek. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/former-police-chief-arrested-baby-trafficking-ring-bust-1205404
Çalışkan, E., Minárik, T., & Osula, A.-M. (2015). Technical and legal overview of the tor anonymity network. NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence. Retrieved from https://www.ccdcoe.org/library/publications/technical-and-legal-overview-of-the-tor-anonymity-network/
Caulfield, T., Duijst, W., Bos, M., Chassis, I., Codreanu, I., Danovitch, G., et al. (2016). Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal and the ethical and legal obligations of healthcare providers. Transplantation direct, 2(2), e60–e60. https://doi.org/10.1097/TXD.0000000000000566.
Conti, M., Kumar, E. S., Lal, C., & Ruj, S. (2018). A survey on security and privacy issues of bitcoin. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 20(4), 3416–3452. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2018.2842460.
Crawford, A. (2013, November 5). Computer-generated ‘Sweetie’ catches online predators. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24818769
Crawford, A. (2016, August 12). Paedophiles use secret Facebook groups to swap images. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35521068
Delmonico, F. L. (2009). The implications of Istanbul Declaration on organ trafficking and transplant tourism. Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation, 14(2), 116–119. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOT.0b013e32832917c9.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2017). FBI announces results of operation cross country XI: Underage sex trafficking crackdown leads to recovery of 84 minors. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-announces-results-of-operation-cross-country-xi
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Seattle. (2017). Eleventh FBI-wide operation cross country arrests three suspected sex traffickers in Washington state. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/seattle/news/press-releases/11th-fbi-wide-operation-cross-country-arrests-three-suspected-sex-traffickers-in-washington-state
Finklea, K. (2017, March 10). Dark Web. Congressional Research Service CRS Report. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44101.pdf
Finn, M. A., & Stalans, L. J. (2016). How targeted enforcement shapes marketing decisions of pimps: Evidence of displacement and innovation. Victims & Offenders, 11(4), 578–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2016.1187694.
Florida no haven for teen exploitation. (2008, June 6). Editorial. The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, FL), p. 2. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A181350103/ITOF?u=tamp44898&sid=ITOF&xid=bef19b52
Fortin, F., & Paquette, S. (2018). Online Sexual Exploitation of Children: Reactive and proactive policing. In P. Lussier & E. Beauregard (Eds.), Sexual Offending: A Criminological Perspective (pp. 237–256). New York, NY: Routledge.
Global Financial Integrity. (2017). Transnational crime and the developing world. Retrieved from http://www.gfintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Transnational_Crime-final.pdf
Gonzales, A. R. (2006). Transcript of attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales’ address to the employees at the national center for missing and exploited children. Washington, DC, April 20. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2006/ag_speech_0604202.html
Graeber, C. (2016). The man who lit the Dark Web: Data-mining tools are helping cops bust open online human trafficking. Popular Science. Retrieved from https://www.popsci.com/man-who-lit-dark-web/
Greenemeier, L. (2015, February 8). Human traffickers caught on hidden internet. Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-traffickers-caught-on-hidden-internet/
Gupta, J. A. (2018). Reproductive labour or reproductive trafficking?: Indian women’s reproductive bodies in the globalised bioeconomy. In R. Ryan-Flood & J. G. Payne (Eds.), Transnationalising reproduction (pp. 95–116). Routledge.
Heil, E., & Nichols, A. (2014). Hot spot trafficking: A theoretical discussion of the potential problems associated with targeted policing and the eradication of sex trafficking in the United States. Contemporary Justice Review, 17(4), 421–433.
Janson, L., Durchslag, R., Mann, H., Marro, R., & Matvey, A. (2013). “Our great hobby”: An analysis of online networks for buyers of sex in Illinois. Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE). Retrieved from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sites/default/files/Our%20Great%20Hobby%20-%20CAASE%20and%20Thorn_0.pdf
Johnson, R. (2019). How the U.S. immigration system encourages child marriages. United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Retrieved from https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=820021
Jones, J. (2011). Trafficking internet brides. Information & Communications Technology Law, 20(1), 19–33.
Keiper, A., & Chiaramonte, P. (2019a, June 1). The ‘village’ of law enforcement agencies battling human trafficking. Fox News Investigates. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-village-of-law-enforcement-agencies-battling-human-trafficking
Keiper, A., & Chiaramonte, P. (2019b, June 22). Human trafficking in America among worst in world: Report. Fox News Investigates. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/us/human-trafficking-in-america-among-worst-in-world-report
Klain, E. J., Davies, H. J., & Hicks, M. A. (2001). Child pornography: The criminal-justice-system response. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Krone, T. (2005a). International police operations against online child pornography. Crime & Justice International, 21(89), 1–6.
Krone, T. (2005b). Queensland police stings in online chat rooms. Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved from https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2005/10/apo-nid2358-1095206.pdf
Lacter, E. P. (2018, September 29). Child rape and torture materials on the dark web: Peter Scully and beyond. Retrieved from https://endritualabuse.org/child-rape-torture-materials-dark-web/
Latonero, M. (2011). Human trafficking online: The role of social networking sites and online classifieds. Available at SSRN 2045851.
Latonero, M., Musto, J., Boyd, Z., Boyle, E., Bissel, A., Gibson, K., & Kim, J. (2012). The rise of mobile and the diffusion of technology-facilitated trafficking (p. 43). Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.
Latonero, M., Wex, B., Dank, M., & Poucki, S. (2015). Technology and labor trafficking in a network society. USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, Report. Retrieved from https://communicationleadership.usc.edu/files/2015/10/USC_Tech-and-Labor-Trafficking_Feb2015.pdf
Mensikova, A., & Mattmann, C. A. (2018). Ensemble sentiment analysis to identify human trafficking in web data. NASA. Retrieved from https://memex.jpl.nasa.gov/GTA2018-Sentiment.pdf
Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., Jones, L. M., & Wolak, J. (2010). Growth and change in undercover online child exploitation investigations, 2000–2006. Policing and Society, 20(4), 416–431.
Moore, D., & Rid, T. (2016). Cryptopolitik and the Darknet. Survival, 58(1), 7–38.
Murphy, L., Ranger, R., & Fedoroff, J. P. (2014). Legal and clinical issues in interpreting child pornography on the internet. In F. M. Saleh, A. Grudzinskas, & A. Judge (Eds.), Adolescent sexual behavior in the digital age: Considerations for clinicians, legal professionals, and educators (pp. 215–243). New York: Oxford University Press.
Newman, G. R., & Socia, K. (2007). Sting operations. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
Nwaka, J. C., & Odoemene, A. (2019). “Baby factories”: Exploitation of women in Southern Nigeria. Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence, 4(2), 2. https://doi.org/10.23860/dignity.2019.04.02.02.
Owen, G. (2014, December 30). Tor: Hidden services and deanonymisation. Presentation #6112 at the Chaos Communication Congress, Hamburg, Germany. Retrieved from https://media.ccc.de/v/31c3_-_6112_-_en_-_saal_2_-_201412301715_-_tor_hidden_services_and_deanonymisation_-_dr_gareth_owen
Pugliese, E. (2007). Organ trafficking and the TVPA: Why one word makes a difference in international enforcement efforts. Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy, 24, 181–208.
Quayle, E., & Jones, T. (2011). Sexualized images of children on the internet. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 23(1), 7–21.
Quayle, E., & Taylor, M. (2002). Child pornography and the internet: Perpetuating a cycle of abuse. Deviant Behavior, 23(4), 331–361.
Reid, J. (2008). Rapid assessment of domestic minor sex trafficking in the Clearwater/Tampa Bay area. Retrieved from http://www.northeastern.edu/humantrafficking/wp-content/uploads/Clearwater.pdf
Reid, J. A. (2015). Sex trafficking of girls: How sex traffickers exploit youth and system vulnerabilities. In Paper presented at the anti-trafficking initiative lecture series. St. Louis: Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved from https://digital.usfsp.edu/fac_publications/217/
Reid, J. A. (2016a). Entrapment and enmeshment schemes used by sex traffickers. Sexual Abuse, 28(6), 491–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063214544334.
Reid, J. A. (2016b). Child pornography in the 21st century: From child pornographic exploitation to youth sexting. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935383.013.132.
Reid, J. A. (2018). System failure! Is the Department of Children and Families (DCF) facilitating sex trafficking of foster girls? In A. G. Nichols, T. Edmond, & E. C. Heil (Eds.), Social work practice with survivors of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation (pp. 296–315). New York: Columbia University Press.
Riley, D. (2017, October 8). Australian police ran a child porn site for nearly a year to catch pedophiles. SiliconANGLE Media Inc. Retrieved from https://siliconangle.com/2017/10/08/australian-police-hosted-ran-child-porn-site-nearly-year-catch-pedophiles/
Rodas, E. (2014). The multi-facets of cyber-sex trafficking. A Call for Action and Reform from Society. GRIN Verlag.
Scheper-Hughes, N. (2003). Rotten trade: Millennial capitalism, human values and global justice in organs trafficking. Journal of Human Rights, 2(2), 197–226.
Stone, J. (2015, March 19). ‘Sweetie 2.0’ software uses virtual girl to lure child porn offenders out of the dark. International Business Times. Retrieved from https://www.ibtimes.com/sweetie-20-software-uses-virtual-girl-lure-child-porn-offenders-out-dark-1848724
Terre des hommes. (2013). Webcam child sex tourism: Becoming sweetie: A novel approach to stopping the global rise of webcam child sex tourism. Retrieved from http://www.terredeshommes.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/11/FAQ-English.pdf
Thompson, T. (2003). Net closes on British paedophiles. The Observer UK. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/aug/17/epublic.childrensservices
Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, 22 U.S.C. x7105(b)(1)(E)(u)[2000].
Turner, L. (2008). ‘Medical tourism’ initiatives should exclude commercial organ transplantation. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 101(8), 391–394.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2019). El Salvador national charged with posting child pornography on Facebook and illegally reentering the US after deportation. Retrieved from https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/el-salvador-national-charged-posting-child-pornography-facebook-and-illegally
U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ]. (2013, March 1). California man arrested in federal sex trafficking case [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-arrested-federal-sex-trafficking-case
U.S. Department of State. (2019, June 20). 2019 trafficking in persons report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (2015). Georgia man sentenced to more than 21 years for sexually exploiting minors in Thailand. Retrieved from http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/georgia-man-sentenced-more-21-years-sexually-exploiting-minors-thailand
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC]. (2015a). The role of recruitment fees and abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices of recruitment agencies in trafficking in persons. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2015/Recruitment_Fees_Report-Final-22_June_2015_AG_Final.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC]. (2015b). Assessment_Toolkit_TIP_for_the_Purpose_of_Organ_Removal. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2015/UNODC_Assessment_Toolkit_TIP_for_the_Purpose_of_Organ_Removal.pdf
Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., & Mitchell, K. (2011). Child pornography possessors: Trends in offender and case characteristics. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 23(1), 22–42.
Wolak, J., Liberatore, M., & Levine, B. N. (2014). Measuring a year of child pornography trafficking by U.S. computers on a peer-to-peer network. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(2), 347–356.
Wortley, R. K., & Smallbone, S. (2006). Child pornography on the internet. US Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
Wortley, R., & Smallbone, S. (2012). Internet child pornography: Causes, investigation, and prevention. ABC-CLIO.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Reid, J., Fox, B. (2020). Human Trafficking and the Darknet: Technology, Innovation, and Evolving Criminal Justice Strategies. In: Fox, B., Reid, J., Masys, A. (eds) Science Informed Policing. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41287-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41287-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41286-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41287-6
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)