Tag: THB

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News Projects VANGUARD

Vanguard Project Shares Groundbreaking Anti-Trafficking Research at KU Leuven Workshop

On 16the June, researchers from the Vanguard project convened a hybrid workshop at KU Leuven University presenting the latest findings from their academic research on the prestigious Horizon Europe anti-trafficking initiative.

The workshop featured a presentation by Karen Hough from the Euro-Arab Foundation and Teresa Forlitti from Hart and Stand in the United States about their collaborative paper, “Creating sustainable models for the inclusion of lived experience experts in anti-trafficking preventative measures and policy making: insights from the Vanguard project”.

Attended by a diverse group of experts, including representatives from the European Commission, academia, and NGOs, the workshop fostered a highly productive and formative discussion. The research results were very well received, highlighting the project’s impact in the fight against human trafficking.

The Vanguard project, a European-financed initiative, is dedicated to strengthening the combat against human trafficking (THB). It achieves this by providing an improved intelligence picture, delivering an advanced and trustworthy suite of tools, and implementing innovative training activities.

Further workshops are planned in the coming months to continue sharing the project’s vital research and foster ongoing collaboration.

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News Projects VANGUARD

The Euro-Arab Foundation Highlights the Role of Ethical AI in the Fight Against Human Trafficking at High-Level Conference in Malta

The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies participated in the “Empowering Change: Technology and AI in the Fight Against Human Trafficking” Conference, held on June 11, 2025, in Malta. The event, organized under the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, brought together experts and global leaders to explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in eradicating this heinous crime.

During the conference, Karen Latricia Hough, researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation, presented the innovative Horizon Europe Vanguard project in a crucial panel titled “AI and Human Rights.” Hough’s intervention underscored Vanguard’s commitment to developing technological tools that, in addition to being highly effective, strictly adhere to legal and ethical principles.

The conference served as a vital platform for dialogue among governments, international organizations, law enforcement agencies, academia, and civil society. Key topics addressed included the use of innovative technologies to dismantle trafficking networks, the human rights implications of AI use, and the need to foster intersectoral partnerships for a more robust global response.

Among the invited speakers were Professor Siobhán Mullally, UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights; the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking; and Petya Nestorova, Executive Secretary of GRETA. The conference was attended by law enforcement agents, academics, experts, and representatives from NGOs. In particular, Dr. Hough discussed how the research team is ensuring that the technological tools created in the Vanguard project align with legal and ethical requirements.

The date coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, reaffirming the commitment of member states to innovative, rights-based responses in the evolving digital environment. This landmark instrument aims to ensure that AI technologies are developed and deployed in ways that fully respect democratic values, protect human rights, and uphold the rule of law – including in the crucial fight against trafficking in human beings.

VANGUARD Consortium Meeting

Researchers from the Euro-Arab Foundation attended the fourth VANGUARD consortium meeting in Lisbon to discuss the results of the Horizon Europe Vanguard project. The event took place at the judicial police office in Lisbon, where technological tools, including facial recognition and emotion recognition tools, were showcased. Researchers also discussed in depth the next steps for the project, which include policy roundtables and publications.

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News Projects VANGUARD

Euro-Arab Foundation at EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training Scientific Conference

The CEPOL (The EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training) Scientific Conference, a crucial platform for disseminating cutting-edge research and fostering collaboration among key stakeholders in the European security landscape, took place in Ostia, Rome, from March 25th to 27th.

The conference attracted a distinguished audience comprising prominent figures from law enforcement agencies, academic institutions, and international organizations. Notably, the event witnessed the participation of Julia Viedma, the Head of the Operational and Analysis Centre at Europol, who demonstrated a keen interest in the project’s practical applications for enhancing operational effectiveness. Magnus Brunner, the Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration at the European Commission, also attended, underscoring the project’s strategic importance in shaping EU policy on migration and security.

Karen Hough, a researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies presented the results of the Horizon Europe VANGUARD, a project which aims to enhance the understanding and response to the complex challenges posed by human trafficking networks. With a Consortium of seven Police and Border Guard Authorities (including from countries of origin and transit of THB networks and countries neighbouring Ukraine), one Police Academy, eight research/academic institutions, four industry partners (including two SMEs), two CSOs, and one International Organisation, VANGUARD delivers a strong representation of the challenges, requirements, and tools to meet its objectives.

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Intercepted News Projects

INTERCEPTED launches a campaign on Human Rights Day

The 10th Intercepted online campaign has been launched on Human Rights Day to enhance the visibility of a human rights-based approach to combating Trafficking in Human Beings. This approach is enshrined in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, which mandates obligations to prevent trafficking, establish a comprehensive framework for the protection and assistance of victims and witnesses, and ensure effective investigation and prosecution.

The campaign emphasizes the crucial need to prioritize human rights, dignity, and safety when developing technologies that track human identity and location, particularly those utilizing biometric data. It also underscores the importance of a gender-sensitive perspective in creating safe online spaces that facilitate the reporting of violence against trafficked individuals and the development of effective policies to combat this crime.

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Intercepted News Projects

2nd INTERCEPTED Seminar

As part of the INTERCEPTED Project’s Online Seminar Series, together with the ASIT Project, an online meeting focusing on Strengthening Digital Capabilities to Counter Human Trafficking, will be held on November 13, 2024 from 14:00 to 16:30 (CET). The seminar will delve into current trends in online human trafficking  and the digital business model.  It will subsequently  present OSINT and forensic technology for trafficking investigations. Additionally, the practical aspects of multi-agency model and public-private collaboration will be addressed. Finally, the ways of developing a common domestic-foreign investigation scenario will be discussed.

Registration survey:

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/46db3235-39c1-6965-1e88-899f4575ff1d
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Intercepted News Projects

Multi-agency work and cross-border cooperation: keys to the fight against trafficking in persons

On Thursday 19 September, the INTERCEPTED and OSINT-RADAR projects jointly organised a seminar for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), judiciary and prosecutors. The event, held physically in Tirana (Albania), but in a hybrid format, discussed key aspects of human trafficking, such as public-private cooperation in the fight against trafficking and other crimes such as smuggling of migrants or drug trafficking. The professionals and experts participating in this event placed special emphasis on the analysis of the phenomenon in the Balkans and Eastern Europe and its relationship with the European Union, although experiences located on other routes, such as those of the Central Mediterranean, were also analysed. The access routes from the Balkans to the EU were also analysed, highlighting the geographical value of Trieste (Giulia-Venice-Julia), Bari (Apulia), Slovenia and Albania as key points. In this context, different experiences of cooperation between EU countries and the Balkans, especially between Albania, Italy and Slovenia and, to a lesser extent, France and Spain, were presented and discussed.

In the presentations and discussions, the possible interrelation of the phenomenon of trafficking with other crimes, both online and offline, was analysed. The key role of multi-agency work, cross-border cooperation between different bodies (LEAs, prosecution and judiciary) and the desirability of establishing cooperation agreements between them, both nationally and internationally, was also highlighted.  Many of the interventions underlined the benefits of transferring experiences and techniques from the investigation of other crimes, as is the case of the follow-the-money-approach. The key role of digital tools in the fight against this phenomenon and other criminal activities in which organised crime operates was also discussed.

The next INTERCEPTED seminar on digital trafficking, co-organised by the ASIT project, also of a hybrid nature, will be held on 13 November and will mainly target internet providers and experts in digital tools.

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News Projects VANGUARD

FUNDEA’s researchers present VANGUARD in Laurea University in Helsinki

On the 12th September 2024, researchers from the Euro-Arab Foundation in Granada, Spain presented Vanguard, an EU funded Horizon Europe focused on the prevention and detection of Trafficking inhuman beings as part of the crime prevention module at Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki. Over 25 students and stakeholders attended the three-hour hybrid session, which focused on both online and offline cases and detection methods. The researchers presented the unique approach of Vanguard, which encompasses the state of art creation of artificial intelligence to be used at land, sea and air borders, coupled with societal awareness.

Researchers also presented statistics and case studies from Spain, outlining how often national citizens are victims of this heinous crime. They also highlighted the need for the inclusion of survivors in both preventative measures and policy making.

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Intercepted News Projects

INTERCEPTED and OSINT-RADAR Co-Host Seminar on Trafficking in Human Beings this September

The OSINT-RADAR and INTERCEPTED Projects are jointly organizing a seminar on Trafficking in Human Beings which will take place on September 19th and will be offered in a blended format, allowing for both in-person attendance in Tirana, Albania, and virtual participation online.

Trafficking in Human Beings remains a persistent global challenge, significantly hindering the effectiveness of criminal justice and social systems. This complexity arises from the inherent nature of the crime itself, the growing digitalization of trafficking networks, heightened social and economic vulnerabilities, and mass displacement leading to humanitarian crises.

This seminar will equip participants with essential knowledge and tools to combat THB. The agenda will focus on:

  • Community of Practices for Scenario Awareness and Identification of DaaS (Digital as a Service)
  • Focus on Financial Transactions and Money Laundering: An Analysis of the modus operandi of different criminal groups specialized in different scenarios and how they operate. Introduction to the ‘Follow the Money’ approach
  • The financial component of THB: the perspective of the investigators and prosecutors
  • Strengthening Alliances – Guidelines for Effective Public-Private Cooperation in Countering Human Trafficking

The seminar will be conducted in English and adhere to the Chatham House Rule. This rule ensures all information shared during closed-door discussions remains confidential regarding its source.

Please register for the Seminar using the following EU Survey: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/InterceptedOnlineSeminar

The meeting link will be provided prior to the event*

ABOUT INTERCEPTED programme

INTERCEPTED is a project funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs. Developed by a consortium of six partners, it includes the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies, Agenfor International Foundation, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Trieste, the Institute of Police and Security Research at Hochschule für, the Hellenic Police, and the Center for Security Studies-Kentro Meleton Asfaleias-KEMEA.

The project aims to disrupt the digital model of THB by improving the digital capabilities of law enforcement and judicial authorities, focusing on two points for the disruption: recruitment and advertisement, considering that the methods used in terms of language, platforms, targets, and strategies vary according to the profiles of the victims and the type of exploitation.

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Intercepted News Projects

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 and observed annually on July 30th, the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons aims to raise awareness of this heinous crime.In alignment with this year’s global campaign focused on accelerating action to end child trafficking, INTERCEPTED is launching its second targeted campaign with a firsthand account from a leading expert in child protection who works together with victims, NGOs, and government institutions.

📹 Watch here the video of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons subtitled in different languages:

https://intercepted-project.eu/campaign-2/

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News Projects VANGUARD

VANGUARD consortium meets to share results

On April 22nd and 23rd, the entities associated in the VANGUARD project, financed by the Horizon Europe – Cluster 3 program “Civil security for society” whose objective is to strengthen the fight against Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) and in which the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies participates, meet in Milan (Italy).

The Euro-Arab Foundation’s researcher Karen L. Hough participates in the meeting with the paper VANGUARD Road Ahead: Good practices for engagement of relevant actors and THB survivors: status, main activities and next steps, a discussion on cooperation with Civil Society Organizations and THB survivors, and the inclusion of their voices for three purposes: understanding, dismantling and raising awareness.

This second meeting of VANGUARD consortium also addresses aspects such as the current situation of online and offline THB crime and the next steps to be taken, the legal and ethical framework of VANGUARD and the validation of the project tools through pilot. Artificial Intelligence will serve as a tool for detection, identification, investigation and prevention of THB online and offline (e.g. at border checkpoints), applying computer vision and multimodal analysis.

The twenty-two members of VANGUARD consortium are expected to complete in 2026 this project that will enable to tackle one of the most serious transnational crimes, Trafficking in Human Beings, whose most predominant purpose within the European Union is sexual exploitation, followed by labour exploitation1.

  1. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/internal-security/organised-crime-and-human-trafficking/together-against-trafficking-human-beings_en ↩︎