Child Trafficking in the Digital Age

The Role of the Dark Web, Crptocurrencies and Online Sexual Exploitation in West Africa

Abstract

This study explores how the dark web, anonymous payment options, and technological advances aid in the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), online grooming, and livestreamed abuse. It discusses how socioeconomic factors and COVID-19 restrictions have increased children's vulnerability, especially in West Africa. Using a qualitative approach, the research reviews documents, scholarly articles, and investigative media and employs snowball sampling to identify relevant sources on cyber-enabled child exploitation. Insights from Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory help explain how traffickers adopt new technologies in promoting child exploitation. The results show that the dark web’s encryption, unindexed sites, real-time platforms, and anonymity tools provide a low-risk environment for traffickers to share CSAM, using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Monero for transactions, benefiting from their pseudonymous features. The paper identifies structural issues, such as weak online safety policies, along with systemic impediments like socio-economic inequality, as significant factors that increase children's risk of falling prey to trafficking networks. The study concludes that fighting digital child trafficking effectively requires all hands on deck, including strong digital governance and comprehensive educational programmes to safeguard the innocent children from predators.