As a global problem, human trafficking frequently victimizes the most vulnerable: children. Offenders often use the Internet as a vehicle for criminal activities, including acts to sexually exploit children. With Internet access growing exponentially, more children are online every day, increasing their risk of becoming involved in sexual exploitation or being treated as a commodity. Inconsistent law among States and their lack of cooperation across borders makes combatting this issue increasingly difficult. Therefore, it is crucial to establish legal and policy frameworks that can be used to fight practices of online child sexual exploitation and increase the effectiveness of States' responses. This book offers alternative solutions using a human rights approach and promotes multi-stakeholder collaboration in the context of corporate social responsibility to prevent and combat these offenses. This book explores the intersection of children's human rights, cybersex trafficking, and international legislation. It provides helpful insights for lawmakers, legal practitioners, scholars, law enforcement officers, child advocates, and students interested in human rights law, criminal law, and child protection.
Dr. Beatriz Susana Uitts is a human rights lawyer and researcher. She earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) and a Doctorate of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) degree in Intercultural Human Rights at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, Florida, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree obtained in the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota D.C., Colombia. She is the founder and director of the Human Trafficking Front Inc., an organization dedicated to studying and preventing issues related to human trafficking and modern slavery through education, research, and community engagement.
Chapter 1: Slavery in the Twenty-First Century Chapter 2: Cybersex Trafficking - Indicia of Slavery on the Internet Chapter 3: Human Rights in Cyberspace Chapter 4: Cyberspace, Nexus of Child Sexual Slavery Chapter 5: Internet-Facilitated Grooming of Children Chapter 6: Child Victims and Offenders Chapter 7: Trending Now: Technological Innovations and Public-Private Partnerships Chapter 8: An Appraisal of Human Dignity in Cyberspace Chapter 9: Recommending and Expanding the International Policy for Cyberspace
Dr. Uitts' book reflects an impressive degree of mastery of the subject-matter, exhaustiveness of research, an excellent command of research methods, analytical depth, good writing style, cohesion in arguments, novelty and creativity in approaching one of the most challenging problems of our time, the social phenomenon and the crime of human trafficking. The fruit of her labor is particularly important, because it focuses on human trafficking of children in the era of galloping developments in technology and communications, a risk that our society cannot afford to ignore. It advances knowledge in this new field of law -cyber trafficking of children--, and it will undoubtedly carry a significant impact in the work of multiple professionals that address human trafficking both in the physical world and in cyberspace.--Roza Pati, St. Thomas University College of Law Sex Trafficking of Children Online: Modern Slavery in Cyberspace is a timely and groundbreaking book. It is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary reference on the links between human trafficking, modern slavery, and online child sexual exploitation. The book presents the significant legal challenges for the international protection framework and national legislation for combating these new and continuously evolving criminal activities. Based on a holistic human rights approach, it provides recommendations for investigating and prosecuting offenders and ensuring child victims' protection and support. I recommend it to academics, policy-makers, practitioners, and undergraduate and graduate students interested in international law, criminal justice, and child protection.--Chief Ivon Mesa, Targeted Services Bureau An impressive, scholarly, and meticulously researched book that enriches the discourse on online offenses of children for sexual exploitation. This in-depth analysis covers online practices in the context of non-commercial exploitation that make this book intriguing, and such discussions cannot be found in other reference works. This well-written book presents, inter alia, the need to enhance the legal protection of children against these new offenses, the standard of due diligence, new challenges for law enforcement, including the illegal use of the Darknet and anonymity tools, the vulnerability of children, and a wide range of types of cybercrimes. Therefore, it provides guidance and strategy to address cyber trafficking at national and international levels. This book is an invaluable resource for scholars, policy-makers, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, law enforcement, social services, and students engaged in the areas of human rights law, sex trafficking, and cybercrime. It will provide invaluable insight and information for anyone with an interest in the area.--Hortensia Nunez, Florida International University The book Sex Trafficking of Children Online: Modern Slavery in Cyberspace by Beatriz Uitts is a must-read to all interested in understanding one of the calamities of our time and the positive efforts to resolve the problem. The idea of people enslaving others in modern times is mindboggling. The chapters of the book masterfully present the human trafficking problem concerning cyberspace. Beatriz Uitts ventures into the difficult terrain of child exploitation in cyberspace, seeking a solution. In this case, the Internet user is the center of the story and the author offers advice for the security of the world's children. The largely unprecedented nature of the problem means that new legal standards are necessary to provide a comprehensive framework to protect children from the otherwise disastrous consequences of abuses online and offline. The author suggests a solution based on a new treaty. This approach is practical when considering the evolving nature of new technologies. Educators, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, students, parents, and the general public will find this book engaging and thought-provoking. The content of this book is not merely about crimes online; it is, in essence, a call to awareness and further action at the intersection of cyberspace and human rights. Beatriz Uitts has become one of the leading authorities on the subject of online sex trafficking of minors, and no doubt, her book will offer a valuable vehicle for its suppression.--Roy Balleste, Stetson University College of Law
