#3: World-first report from eSafety; modern slavery and climate change?

Because we're all short on time and there is a lot happening in the anti-slavery space, we're breaking things down into the choicest, bite-size pieces.

Subscribe and share if you're a practitioner or just interested in the fight to end #modernslavery, including online sexual exploitation of children (#OSEC).

This month in …

Modern Slavery

In her article on International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December), Professor Jennifer Burn AM argues that “we need to understand the scale of the problem, amplify survivors’ voices and work towards a fair compensation system.” To that, we say a hearty, “Hear, hear!” Anti-Slavery Australia ’s report on survivor voice here. The Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre has more on consulting survivors in policy and programming in their podcast and research summary.

Overseas, IJM Founder and CEO Gary Haugen recently had an op-ed in The Hill, describing the connection between #climatechange and modern slavery – and how effective #lawenforcement is the best way to tackle both.

With the FIFA #WorldCup captivating the world over the last few weeks, #humanrights abuses – including the vulnerability of #migrantworkers to slavery – has made headlines. An oft-quoted factoid is The Guardian’s report that more than 6,500 workers have died constructing the stadiums. This more recent article from NPR highlights the human stories of Vinod and Anish.

Sadly, #forcedlabour is a global problem that touches all of us – it extends far beyond the construction of stadiums in #Qatar, to the shirts we wear, the footballs we kick and even the mobile phones we’re catching the score on. Let’s not lose sight of the 28 million people estimated to be in forced labour slavery around the world today.

Our podcast recommendation of the month is The Outlaw Ocean, a series on illegality in the world’s oceans, includes a powerful episode on slavery at sea. Reporter Ian Urbina boards a Thai deep-sea vessel and sees first-hand the use of forced Cambodian labour, including the heartbreaking experience of Lang Long. IJM’s Southeast Asian teams are all too familiar with stories like this, through our work combatting cross-border trafficking and forced labour in the region and especially in the Thai fishing industry. Listen here.

OSEC

Following our parliamentary screening of The Children in the Pictures in Canberra, The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO and the Embassy of Australia in the US hosted a screening at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Speakers included Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO), Beth Neitzel from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Australia’s own eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman - Grant . We’re pleased to see this Aussie documentary going beyond our shores, cementing Australia’s position at the forefront of the fight to end online sexual exploitation of children.

In Australia, the eSafety Commissioner has just released a report revealing the inadequacies and inconsistencies in the practices of seven major #tech platforms to protect children from OSEC. eSafety issued notices to the companies under the Basic Online Safety Expectations of the Online Safety Act and the report, compiling the companies’ responses, is well worth a read.

Something else to read is Eliminating Online Child Sexual Abuse Material, the debut book from Dr Rick Brown of the Australian Institute of Criminology , who was another panellist at IJM’s parliamentary event.

Also new is the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation’s campaign on sextortion. The Australian Federal Police has received an average of 100 reports of #sextortion a month, where the previous average had been 1 per month. Operation Huntsman is the AFP’s national strategy to disrupt this global trend of offshore crime syndicates coercing teenagers into sending sexually explicit content and then blackmailing them. So far, it’s led to the closure of 500 Australian bank, financial services and digital currency accounts.

The Attorney-General's Department is conducting a review of modern slavery offences under sections 270 and 271 of the Criminal Code, with public submissions due by 7 March 2023 and a report expected in June.

We know that OSEC and CSAM are in no way confined to the dark web. They’re all over social media on the surface of the internet, including Twitter , according to this Forbes article.

Question for you

A Bill to ban TikTok in the US has just been introduced to Congress. What do you think? Was this inevitable? Will Australia follow suit? What does that mean for child protection?

P.S.

Finally, as the Christmas season is upon us, a quick plug for the Justice Joy Christmas hamper - just $60 from Good Day People , with a portion of proceeds supporting IJM’s work. There’s also the Freedom Foli for $120. You’ve got time before postage cut-offs, plus there’s same-day shipping in Sydney.

We also have gift cards helping fund an end to slavery, or you can make a tax-deductible donation – we currently have a match fund doubling gifts up to $75,000.

***

International Justice Mission is the largest global anti-slavery organisation.

Interested in IJM's work? Connect with us via email:

·????????[email protected] for partnership opportunities and enquiries

·????????Sign up to receive the Wilberforce Wire (quarterly updates on IJM Australia's advocacy work) in your inbox