Guarding the Next Generation: Child Trafficking, Victim Advocacy, and the Digital Age

The 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report delivers a sobering reminder: children remain at significant risk in the global fight against human trafficking. Whether trapped in forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation, or forced into criminal enterprises, young victims endure trauma that lasts a lifetime. For 25 years, this report has measured government efforts across the globe, and this year it highlights both the progress made and the serious gaps that remain. This year’s report makes clear: President Trump’s administration is prioritizing the needs of survivors to bring an end to modern day slavery.  

The Vulnerability of Children 

Children are disproportionately targeted by traffickers because of their vulnerability. Too often, they are misidentified, ignored, or even criminalized rather than recognized as victims. The 2025 report stresses that without strong systems to identify children early, in schools, hospitals, immigration processes, and the justice system, countless victims slip through the cracks. Advocates have made clear that governments must provide better victim services, child-friendly shelters, and trauma-informed care.  

Advocacy for Victims 

A critical theme in this year’s TIP Report is the importance of victim advocacy. Survivors and advocates emphasize that real progress cannot come from prosecutions alone. Rescued children need long-term support, safe housing, counseling, education, and pathways to independence. Far too often, victims are rescued only to be retraumatized by a system that doesn’t know how to help them heal. Faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and community groups play an essential role here, filling gaps where governments fall short. America must champion these efforts both at home and abroad, recognizing that healing victims is as important as punishing traffickers. 

Technology and the New Frontier of Trafficking 

Perhaps the most alarming development highlighted in the 2025 report is the rise of online trafficking and exploitation powered by digital platforms and artificial intelligence. Predators increasingly use social media to groom children, lure them with false opportunities, or coerce them into harmful situations. AI tools now make it easier for traffickers to create fake identities, manipulate images, and even generate exploitative content. This digital threat demands a new kind of vigilance. Parents must be educated, law enforcement must be equipped with cutting-edge tools, and Big Tech must be held accountable for the ways traffickers abuse their platforms. Protecting children in the digital age requires laws that are as innovative and adaptive as the criminals we face. 

America’s Responsibility to Lead 

We must secure our borders against traffickers, fund anti-trafficking efforts at every level, and strengthen the partnerships that connect government, law enforcement, churches, and community groups. The 2025 TIP Report ultimately calls us back to first principles. Children deserve protection. Families deserve safe communities. Traffickers deserve swift justice. As technology evolves, the threats may change shape, but the responsibility remains the same: we must defend the most vulnerable from exploitation.