Can Bitcoin Help Tackle Human Trafficking with Victor Boutros

 
 

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“When you look at the giving trends of the Bitcoin community, what’s interesting is they’re not like the traditional philanthropic community, they’re not really interested in Symphony tickets, or the art. They’re looking at ‘where are there game-changing impacts that if they were scaled would have world-changing effects, and have world-changing effects for human freedom?’”
— Victor Boutros

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Victor Boutros is CEO and co-founder of the Human Trafficking Institute. In this interview, we discuss the anger that drove him into tackling human trafficking in the US and then set out to prove it could be tackled across the globe. His work literally saves lives. He needs support.

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Human trafficking is a hidden scourge. Most of us would assume human slavery is a shameful historical relic. Yet, the market for trading humans is thriving. People are traded for labour and sex in huge numbers. It is estimated that there are at least 25 million victims of this brutal industry, but the true number could be much much higher. Both perpetrators and victims hide in the shadows.

Yet, statistics are just dry numbers. It is the stories of individual victims that evidence the evil that permeates human trafficking. Such stories display the cold heartless depravity that enables some to view others as tradable commodities to be exploited. It is these stories that have driven people such as Victor to dedicate themselves to trying to tackle this issue and save lives.

Victor learnt and honed the skills necessary to combat traffickers in the US. But, with the knowledge that the majority of human trafficking takes place across other countries, he set up the Human Trafficking Institute. This mission has successfully proved that through thorough investigation, and dedicated enforcement, it is possible to curtail this scourge anywhere it exists.

But, this work needs to be scaled, which needs funding. Bitcoiners have shown that they are a force for change, using their funds to help shape a better world in numerous ways. It is Victor's hope that the philanthropic zeal within the Bitcoin community could assist his mission.

Can Bitcoin become the driving force behind the effort to make trafficked people free at scale across the globe?

TIMESTAMPS

00:04:01: Introductions
00:04:42: Where Victor's story began
00:10:53: The scope of the trafficking problem
00:13:07: Trafficking vs smuggling
00:14:48: How trafficking remains so hidden
00:19:00: Labour trafficking and identifying the coercion
00:23:37: Investigations, prosecutions, and decriminalising sex work
00:38:29: The Human Trafficking Institute
00:45:54: Funding the Institute
00:52:12: Reaching out to the Bitcoin community
00:53:45: Solving the secondary effects of human trafficking
01:01:22: Traffickers using Bitcoin
01:04:18: Final comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack