Workshop

Responses to Trafficking to Scam Centres: Digital Accountability and , Women’s Human Rights and the Role of the Private Sector

ORGANIZED BY

Global Alliance against Traffic in Women, Immanuel Foundation Thailand, Stop Online Harm, York Law School

15-Sep

13:00-14:30

Meeting Room H

This workshop will explore how technology companies, civil society and affected communities can work together to strengthen digital justice for women and prevent trafficking to scam centres. Guided by individuals with lived experience of the scam centres and firsthand experience of supporting victims, participants will develop tech strategies to protect women from deceptive online recruitment.

What practical challenge will the workshop tackle

Participants will collaborate on a case study based on women’s real life experiences to identify practical digital interventions to prevent trafficking into scam centers.

Who should attend

We would particularly welcome the participation of private sector and technology stakeholders. We see this workshop as an important opportunity to foster dialogue, hear directly from private sector and technology representatives, and explore collaborative approaches to addressing the use of fraudulent online job advertisements in trafficking to scam centres.

Overview

Social media platforms, messaging applications, online recruitment advertisements, and other forms of digital infrastructure are being used to deceptively recruit individuals into situations of trafficking for forced criminality to scam centres. Despite expanding regional attention to scam centres, responses have often prioritised criminal enforcement measures. Limited attention has been given to prevention methods such as building women’s resilience to detect and resist fraudulent advertisements. There is an exciting opportunity for civil society and digital platforms to work together to prevent and protect persons at risk of being trafficked for forced criminality and this session aims to bring together civil society and tech companies to develop collaborative solutions and strategies.

Background

Trafficking to scam centres has become one of the fastest-growing forms of trafficking for forced criminality in the ASEAN region. Digital platforms and AI-enabled recruitment are increasingly used to deceive job seekers, yet prevention efforts have largely focused on criminal justice responses rather than addressing online recruitment or the gendered experiences of women.

Activities

Guided by facilitators and panelists from civil society, academia, and a woman who survived a scam centre, participants will analyse each stage of the trafficking process, identify practical intervention points, and develop collaborative, rights-based recommendations to strengthen prevention and protection of women trafficked to scam centres.

What participants will gain

Participants gain a deeper, gendered understanding of trafficking for forced criminality into scam centres in the Asia Pacific region, including how structural inequalities shape women’s exposure to harm and strengthen their understanding of how abuse is produced and sustained within scam centre operations, and the specific impacts on women.
Clearer understanding of how civil society organisations and private sector technology companies can work together in preventing and responding to trafficking for forced criminality.
Greater awareness of the responsibility of digital platforms to strengthen oversight and accountability in relation to fraudulent recruitment content.
Identification of practical, survivor-informed strategies to strengthen women’s digital literacy and support safer engagement with online recruitment processes, including improved ability to identify and respond to fraudulent advertisements.

Daisy-May Carty Cowling

Human Trafficking and Forced Labour Programme Officer, GAATW

Daisy-May Carty Cowling is an Australian human rights lawyer currently working with the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) in its Human Trafficking and Forced Labour Programme, where she focuses on developing intersectional feminist responses to trafficking for forced criminality and challenging misogynistic approaches to gendered forms of labour and exploitation. Daisy has a background in gender-based violence and has worked as a legal practitioner in various courts, representing people affected by domestic violence, while advocating for legal and policy reform and improvements in legal service delivery. She has worked as a human rights consultant for a range of civil society and international organisations and has written and contributed to policy papers and academic research on trafficking, gender, domestic violence and international human rights law. Her research on gender stereotyping in international human rights law has been published in the Griffith Journal of Human Rights Law. Daisy holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law. She is passionate about advancing the rights of women and marginalised communities through decolonial and feminist approaches to law, research, advocacy and policy.

Jaruwat Jinmonca

Vice Chairman, Immanuel Foundation Thailand

Jaruwat Jinmonca is a human rights professional specializing in the protection and assistance of victims of human trafficking, with extensive experience at both community and international levels. He is committed to advancing fair and accessible justice processes and strengthening protection mechanisms for individuals whose rights have been violated. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Immanuel Foundation (IMF), where he provides strategic direction and organizational leadership for programs focused on the protection and assistance of trafficking victims. His work includes developing victim screening systems grounded in human rights principles, promoting the Non-Punishment Principle for trafficking victims, and collaborating with government agencies, civil society, and international organizations to address gaps in the justice system and strengthen sustainable protection mechanisms. In recognition of his contributions to anti-human trafficking efforts, he received the Outstanding Anti-Human Trafficking Practitioner Award (Victim Protection and Assistance Category) in 2022. The Immanuel Foundation was subsequently recognized with the Outstanding Organization Award in Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention and Suppression in 2024 and the Outstanding Award in Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention and Suppression in 2026. With expertise spanning victim protection, justice-sector collaboration, and anti-human trafficking practice, he is dedicated to ensuring that survivors receive meaningful protection, appropriate assistance, and fair and accessible access to justice.

Tomoya Obokata

Professor of International Human Rights Law, York University

Tomoya Obokata is an expert on modern slavery with a number of internationally recognised publications on the subject. He has also acted as an independent expert for entities including the UK Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, the International Organisation for Migration, the European Union and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. More recently, he served as the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery for the United Nations Human Rights Council (2020-2026).

Saijai Liangpunsakul

Founder and CEO, Stop Online Harm

Saijai Liangpunsakul is the Founder and CEO of Stop Online Harm, a women-led organization ending technology-facilitated gender-based violence across Southeast Asia. Its groundbreaking initiative, the Online Ambulance, has supported over 1,000 survivors in the region and it has reached more than 7 million people with its online safety resources. Previously, Saijai founded the Myanmar Witness project, collecting evidence of human rights abuses. Saijai works at the intersection of human rights and technology. She received her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard Kennedy School and was awarded a Harvard Ash Democracy Fellowship.