Cyber Grooming, Online Sexual Exploitation, and Economic Gain: Rethinking Human Trafficking Law for Women and Children in Indonesia

Abstract

The advancement of digital technology has transformed the modalities of exploitation of women and children from traditional forms to those perpetrated in cyberspace. Cyber grooming is a growing approach that involves cultivating emotional bonds, establishing trust, and manipulating victims via digital media for exploitation. In practice, cyber grooming extends beyond mere communication or psychological manipulation, frequently escalating into diverse forms of online sexual exploitation, including compensated sexual video calls, sexual live streaming, the creation and dissemination of sexually explicit content, and other forms of digital sexual exploitation that yield financial profit for the offenders. This phenomena presents legal challenges as most cases continue to be interpreted and addressed via the lenses of cybercrime, pornography, child protection, or sexual violence, while its connection to human trafficking has not been sufficiently acknowledged. This study seeks to examine the correlation between cyber grooming, online sexual exploitation, and economic profit within the context of human trafficking, while also proposing a reformation of the legal framework for human trafficking that addresses these forms of digital exploitation of women and children. The study utilised normative legal methodologies incorporating legislative, conceptual, and comparative techniques. The examined legal materials comprised Law Number 21 of 2007 on the Eradication of Human Trafficking, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, the Sexual Violence Crime Law, the Child Protection Law, and various international legal instruments about human trafficking and the safeguarding of victims of sexual exploitation. The research findings reveal that the emergence of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation has established a pattern of exploitation that eschews physical control or movement of victims, instead employing digital control, psychological manipulation, and cyberspace to derive economic benefit from the victim's sexual activities. Although the traits of exploitation correspond with the fundamental aim of human trafficking, the relevant legal regulations are disjointed across multiple legal systems, hindering a comprehensive understanding of the role of online sexual exploitation within the context of human trafficking. This study contends that cybergrooming, aimed at obtaining access and dominance over victims for commercial sexual exploitation, constitutes a segment of the human trafficking continuum in the digital age. Consequently, legal change is necessary to prioritise exploitation and economic profit as fundamental criteria in the identification of human trafficking, thereby enhancing protection for women and children in the digital realm.