The trade is in people, but the currency is hope
Each year on 30 July, we mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons—a day to honour survivors, raise awareness, and demand action. At Be Slavery Free, we know that behind every statistic is a story—and behind every story is a person who was hoping for something better.
Hope: The Most Exploited Resource
People don’t choose slavery. They’re tricked, lured, or coerced—not because they’re gullible, but because they’re hopeful. They dream of a better future, for themselves and their families. They answer job ads, respond to online relationships, or seek out migration opportunities that promise a way forward. Instead, they find exploitation.
Take Oxana, a young professional from Eastern Europe who moved to Cambodia for what she believed was a legitimate job. Instead, she was trafficked into a scam compound, stripped of her freedom, and sold multiple times. Her story echoes across Southeast Asia, where educated workers are being trafficked into online fraud operations.
Scam Compounds: Profitable, Known—and Still Operating
The scam centres of Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines are no longer secrets—they’re widely known, yet barely touched. Why? Because they are too profitable to shut down.
Recent raids in Cambodia saw over 1,000 people arrested across five provinces. Inside these compounds, victims were held under threat of violence, torture, and death, forced to run online scams. The UN estimates over 100,000 people are enslaved in Cambodia alone, feeding a $40 billion criminal economy across Southeast Asia.
Despite international pressure, critics say governments lack the political will to take meaningful action. Corruption, insider deals, and reliance on scam revenue have created conditions where impunity thrives. Even sanctioned figures, linked to forced labour and cyber scams, remain powerful.
A Global Web of Trafficking
Human trafficking is not confined to borders—it’s a fast-evolving global threat powered by transnational organised crime. These networks exploit:
Migration flows
Gaps in supply chain oversight
Weak legal frameworks
Digital platforms and cryptocurrencies
From 2020 to 2023, more than 200,000 victims were identified worldwide—but this is only a fraction of the real number. Most cases go unreported.
Victims are trafficked into:
Forced labour
Sexual exploitation
Slavery-like conditions
Online scams and drug smuggling
Victims on Both Ends of the Scam
Scam compounds don’t just exploit those inside—they also target people on the outside. In 2023, Australians lost $2.7 billion to scams, especially romance and investment fraud. Many of these scams are carried out by trafficking victims, forced to defraud others in order to survive.
The tragic irony? The person scamming you may be a victim too.
Justice Must Be Survivor-Centred
Despite some progress, criminal justice responses fall far short. Ending trafficking requires more than words—it demands bold, coordinated action. That means:
Enforcing anti-trafficking laws
Proactively investigating criminal networks
Strengthening international cooperation
Following the money
Using tech to trace and dismantle trafficking systems
Justice must start and end with the needs of survivors: safety, support, accountability, and access to justice.
What You Can Do
Share survivor stories like Oxana’s to raise awareness.
Report scams to Australian Government’s Scamwatch.
Donate to Be Slavery Free to help us continue to prevent trafficking of people.
This World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, let’s honour those whose dreams were stolen—and fight to return them.