Challenge Overview
Over 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide, with women and children disproportionately affected. One in three human trafficking victims are children under the age of 18. While survivors include individuals of all ages and backgrounds, exploitation is more prevalent among migrants and those with lower socioeconomic status. Eighty percent of survivors are re-victimized if they do not have a safe place to go. While many groups are working to educate about and mitigate the risks of modern slavery and forced labor, improved solutions to provide resources and access to support are needed for survivors to thrive in society.
Survivors of modern slavery face tremendous challenges in their efforts to rebuild their lives including alienation, lack of basic documents, and limited access to financial resources, shelter, and viable employment opportunities. Ethically designed and deployed technology, such as AI, has the potential to enable greater efficiencies, increase impact, and drive better solutions to the world’s most complex challenges. Yet, there is still a lack of support for scalable and tech-focused solutions and the organizations that provide services to survivors of modern slavery.
Organizations across the world are innovatively leveraging technology and scaling resources to support survivors of modern slavery as they rebuild their lives and reintegrate into society – resources such as bank accounts and credit, affordable housing, childcare, trauma-informed health care, and career placement. We know that effective change requires not just support for individual solutions, but support for a thriving ecosystem of innovators united in a common purpose.