Over the years, the programs have been effective. For example, a four-year partnership between the US and the Philippines, which started under the first Trump administration and ended in 2021, helped protect hundreds of children: more than 350 children were rescued and supported and arrested nearly 100 potential criminals . The new cuts also occur when record levels of online sexual abuse of children are discovered.
“Victims and offenders come from different regions and countries, which underline the need for continued international involvement and coordinated efforts to address these crimes extensively,” says an employee of a South American child protection group who works for human trafficking and online to combat sexual abuse. Like others in this story, the organization was given anonymity to speak, given the sensitive nature of the work and uncertainty about future financing. “The interruption of these funds inevitably limits the scope and scope of these critical services,” this states.
One person, who works for an organization that manages various child protection projects, says operations in one Southeast European country have been widely disrupted. Within the country, the projects of the organization have 147 trafficking victims, the person says. “The ongoing break and possibly the ending of funding would have a significant and negative impact on our ability and ability to provide essential services to these victims who are in fragile stages of their recovery; Some of them are in continued programs for psychosocial counseling related to their trauma, ”says the person.
Several members of LWOB say that children are further at risk in the projects it runs in East Africa. “These children may not be identified, the practices of reducing their trauma are not now supported,” says Ryckman. “Even if identified, they can be placed in a pipeline where they have to constantly interview their trauma or face their traders again.”
LWOB, along with partner organizations, identified about 200 trafficking victims in Tanzania, with the majority referred to safe homes, says Lulu Makwale, a victim of the victim at Lawyers Without Borders. “Most of the financing for the safe homes has been interrupted, which means that the services and needs of the victim are also interrupted,” Makwale says. She says the organization has so far linked shelters to investigators. “Victims may not be well linked to the law enforcement,” says Makwale.
In addition to the support of victims directly, many of the efforts also provide training or technical assistance to police forces, which allows them to better investigate crimes. One program listed on the State Department’s list of funding against human trafficking says it is providing training to combat sexual exploitation of online children for 10,000 police officers, prosecutors and judges in 100 countries.
The person with links to work in a European country says their organization has 74 investigations into traders going on, plus 66 prosecutions underway. They say that the financing changes will have a ‘significant and negative impact on these criminal hearings’ and the safety of people who can give evidence in cases.
Ryckman, of Lawyers Without Borders, says the organization has recently completed the work on an online database for identifying victims and tracking online exploitation in Kenya. While the database is functional, Ryckman says, future work is to train people, interrupt, and there will be a slower recording of the system. “I do believe it will be used, and it will be extremely useful,” says Ryckman. “But these victims are there now. They don’t have to wait. ‘