Fighting Human Trafficking (#2) – Technology is Just a Tool

Legal and educational frameworks

Technology, on its own, is not a solution; it is a tool. All partners of the Kalinga Fellowship agreed that legal and educational frameworks are fundamental to the fight against human trafficking. For example, in his keynote address at the Kalinga Fellowship, Dr G K Goswami highlighted that the large supply of potential victims was the main factor contributing to human trafficking in India. The causes of this large supply of potential victims, he said, were “economic difficulties, lack of employment opportunities, poverty, illiteracy and lack of awareness”.

Dr Goswami is Inspector General of Police in Uttar Pradesh; and a Doctor of Science (DSc) at Gujarat Forensic Science University, Gandhingar. He has served as District Police Chief (SSP) in various districts of Uttar Pradesh. His sentiment was echoed by all delegates at the Kalinga Fellowship, including Dr Achyuta Samata, Member of Parliament and founder of KIIT and KISS, P Vijayan, Inspector General of Police, Kochi Range, and Mamta Borgoyary, CEO of FXB India Suraksha.

These opinions highlight that legal and educational frameworks, together, are required to address awareness and to combat poverty.

Technology as a tool

For there to be alignment across all stakeholders, on how to develop the legal and educational frameworks, and how to implement them effectively, all members of the Fellowship agreed that there needs to be greater shared visibility of useful metrics and empirical data, and much greater analysis of emerging trends at all levels. One of the key findings of the Fellowship is that the ‘right’ technological solutions could deliver a step change in how that visibility and analysis is provided.

Over recent years, the advancement of emerging technologies has accelerated rapidly, providing powerful new tools and weapons to change the landscape of the fight against human trafficking. This rapid advance in technology is set to continue in the coming years.

The recommendations in the full report (available on request) do not focus on specific solutions for legal and educational frameworks, but rather on how technology should be used to support effective decision making at all levels, and thus how legal and educational frameworks can then be developed and implemented more effectively. The recommendations set out, not to isolate the technological aspects of the fight against human trafficking, but rather to show how intelligent use of technology can support stakeholders across all initiatives including the development of legal and educational frameworks.

The members of the Fellowship agreed that the legal, educational and technological aspects of the fight against human trafficking must form a cohesive strategy; i.e. to be effective, they must not progress in silos.

In addition, the Government of India already has several ambitious technological initiatives underway on their technology landscape. This document outlines further recommendations for where and how those initiatives influence a technological approach to the Fellowship’s proposed anti-human trafficking strategy.