Nukila Evanty: Gender Blind Spots Undermine Southeast Asia's Fight Against Human Trafficking - Independent Observer

Gender blind spots undermine Southeast Asia’s fight against human trafficking, activist Nukila Evanty warned at the 24 Hour Global Conference on Organized Crime held on November 4–5, 2026, according to ObserverID.

Criminal networks across the region are moving beyond traditional methods, increasingly using digital platforms, deceptive employment advertisements, and cross-border recruitment to target people seeking economic opportunities. At the same time, government institutions continue to struggle with identifying victims, documenting experiences, and investigating the financial structures powering these operations, ObserverID reported.

Speaking at the conference, Nukila highlighted the complex intersection of gender inequality, economic insecurity, migration, and digital technology in shaping criminal networks. Her analysis arrives ahead of the November 15 commemoration of Trafficking Crime Day, casting a spotlight on whether Indonesia and its neighbors possess the institutional tools necessary to confront these evolving tactics.

Traffickers now exploit social media, online employment boards, and messaging applications to promise high-paying overseas administrative or digital marketing roles. Victims instead find themselves trapped in forced labor, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, or forced criminality within cyber-scam operations, ObserverID stated.

While the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported in its Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 that women and girls accounted for approximately 61 percent of detected trafficking victims globally in 2022, Indonesian authorities lack granular data on how many individuals are approached through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Telegram.

Nukila pointed to an institutional accountability problem regarding the severe lack of comprehensive gender-disaggregated data. Authorities frequently struggle to answer basic demographic questions regarding victims’ educational backgrounds, specific forms of abuse suffered, and migration pathways.

A gender-sensitive approach requires acknowledging that women do not act solely as victims within these networks. Gender influences varying roles across criminal operations, including recruitment, transportation, supervision, and financial facilitation.

The International Labor Organization estimated in 2024 that forced labor in the private economy generates US$236 billion in illegal profits annually worldwide, underlining the massive economic scope of these enterprises. Nukila emphasized that combating the trade requires tracing suspicious transactions, identifying financial beneficiaries, and examining cross-border transfers.

However, investigations remain fragmented between police, prosecutors, financial intelligence institutions, and victim-protection agencies. Stronger cooperation involving the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center is essential for connecting trafficking probes with financial investigations.

Civil society organizations also face steep barriers, including limited funding and a lack of direct access to banking information.