Tearfund’s partner fights surge in online trafficking

Tearfund’s partner organisation, LIFT International, is a Kiwi founded not-for-profit combatting human trafficking in Thailand in partnership with local law enforcement. 

LIFT saw a major increase in forms of the online sex industry and human trafficking during the pandemic. This spike was echoed across the world, including New Zealand, with the consumption of online pornography. The organisation’s country director, Tipnaree Setphisut, says online sexual exploitation is now Thailand’s biggest human trafficking issue. 

LIFT International’s country director, Tipnaree Setphisut. Photo: LIFT International

But the modern slavery that LIFT combats is not limited to the sex industry. Tipnaree explains that vulnerable people living in poverty are tricked into taking fake jobs with the false promise of great pay and working locations. After being trafficked to a different region or country, they are forced to work in jobs such as call centre jobs run by organised criminal groups to scam money from people. They are beaten to achieve their scam targets and prevented from leaving. 

“The scams can be fake jobs, grooming for fake romance relationships, or sexual exploitation. They think they will be working in Thailand, but could end up in Myanmar or Cambodia,” she says. 

Pornography and cybercrime 

By helping to prosecute offenders and strengthening justice systems, LIFT is fighting to prevent human trafficking and advocating for a world where modern slavery is not tolerated. 

LIFT International were involved in exposing an online trafficking case which made global headlines. Photo: LIFT International 

Online grooming and sexual exploitation were at the centre of LIFT’s biggest justice case so far. In 2017, New Zealand authorities were involved in Operation Blackwrist, an investigation initiated by Interpol, which made global news. The operation uncovered a Thai man who was grooming boys online, aged between 6 and 14. He 

offered them sweets, internet access and games to gain their trust and lure them to his home. Once there, he would sexually abuse them and take explicit photos and videos of them, which he sold online. He made thousands of dollars from the abuse each week. More than 600 people in over 60 countries bought and downloaded the material. 

LIFT was asked by local law enforcement to apply their skills and expertise to identify the survivors and gather evidence for the man’s conviction. 

Finally, 50 children who had been trafficked were rescued and cared for. Nine offenders across Thailand, Australia and the United States were prosecuted. 

Tipnaree says part of LIFT’s focus for 2024 will be adapting their knowledge, skills and training where necessary, so they can continue to respond effectively to cases like Operation Blackwrist in an industry that is changing and adapting. 

“We want to increase the skills and techniques of frontline staff, law enforcement officials, and also organisations we work with, so they can respond to online human trafficking,” she says. 

Hope for survivors 

Before Tipnaree joined LIFT in 2022, Tearfund’s partner organisation worked on a human trafficking case which led to the rescue of more than five girls, some as young as 13. Some were locked in tiny rooms and not allowed to use the bathroom. 

A major cause of this type of human trafficking is poverty. Children are forced to help support their families financially, making them vulnerable to human trafficking, says Tipnaree. 

The girls were removed from harm and supported with counselling and education— all a part of LIFT’s casework process to ensure survivors do not fall back into the human trafficking cycle.

Not only do LIFT fight crime and seek justice, they also work to see survivors rehabilitated. Photo: LIFT International 

“I look at them now, and they are ready to go to university,” reflects Tipnaree as she considers the dramatically different future of those rescued children. 

“This case really inspires me. It gives me hope. If these girls can make it, other people we support will be able to recover one day, like those girls.” 

Tipnaree believes it is important to have quality support and education available for human trafficking survivors to empower them to build a new future. She adds that raising awareness in communities is also vital so that people can identify when a child is at risk of being trafficked. 

People are not always aware of how people are trafficked, and once it has happened to them, they don’t know what to do, or how to seek help—that is where LIFT offers a bridge of justice and mercy, says Tipnaree. 

You can be part of combating Modern Slavery and bringing freedom to survivors, by supporting partners our like LIFT.

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