Human trafficking is a serious and worrying issue, especially for women and girls, who comprise more than 70% of traffic victims due to sexual exploitation. A link was recently found between human trafficking and online abuse; around 40% of traffic victims in the Atina organization previously suffered online abuse. They were targets of catfishing, revenge porn or cyber bullying, which led to trafficking for about half of the victims. Due to COVID lockdowns, there has been in increase in the number of cases of cyber trafficking; as digital interactions become more common place, online recruiting of victims for sexual exploration has become a greater threat.
According to a US State Department Report, the Serbian government is unsuccessfully trying to combat human trafficking. Furthermore, while gender-based violence is prohibited by law in many countries, including Serbia, online gender-based violence is overlooked and the perpetrators often go unpunished. For example, one victim shared her experience of authorities laughing at her when she came in to make a report.
Today, women face many difficulties, including victim-blaming. “She is responsible for being mistreated, she provoked it, she asked for it…,” society says. In this situation, it is vital to hear, understand and respect victims instead of blaming them.