Child trafficking affects every country in the world. Children make up 27 per cent of all human trafficking victims worldwide, and two out of every three identified child victims are girls (Save the Children, n.d.).

Child victims of trafficking are recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received for the purpose of exploitation.

The international definition of trafficking in persons includes an act, a means and a purpose. However, when the victim is a child, the “means” element is not required to establish that the trafficking crime has been committed. Read more in Chapter Trafficking in persons and associated forms of exploitation and abuse.

Image / Video
Figure 1. Elements of the crime of trafficking when the victim is a child
Example
Trafficking in children
  • Children may be pushed to rely on smugglers to seek safety or opportunities, or to reunify with family members abroad, due to the absence of safe and legal pathways to move. Under these circumstances, a smuggler may turn out to be a trafficker and the journey may end in exploitation.
  • Trafficked children may be forced to work or provide services, often in hazardous, exploitative or extremely abusive conditions.
  • Trafficked children may be recruited into armed groups or armed forces to combat, porter, cook or for other duties.
  • Children are trafficked into sexual exploitation, or into child marriage.
  • Traffickers can remove children’s organs for organ trafficking.

 

With today’s technology, children from all walks of life are vulnerable to people who pose online as friendly teenagers to lure them into a conversation, eventually meeting them in person for the purpose of exploitation.

In 2017, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2388, emphasizing the heightened vulnerability of women and children to exploitation, sexual violence and abuse, and the unlawful recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. The resolution also made recommendations to United Nations Member States to address child trafficking.

Addressing child trafficking
  • Work towards offering more safe and legal pathways for children and families to move, seek safety and reunify with family members, without having to rely on smugglers and exposing themselves to the risk of being trafficked.
  • Develop and use early screening frameworks to proactively detect victims of trafficking, and persons vulnerable to trafficking, with special attention to children, especially unaccompanied children.
  • In the case of child victims of trafficking, ensure that legislation does not require the element of “means” to establish the crime.
  • Develop the capacity of national child protection authorities and child protection actors to assist survivors of trafficking.
  • Engage specialized support to assist vulnerable child victims with particular health needs, or those who have suffered from torture and may exhibit signs of trauma. Local service providers (including social workers, shelter workers, education workers and health-care workers) are integral to providing specialized and individualized responses to the protection and assistance needs of victims.
  • Never put child survivors of trafficking into any form of detention.
Source

United Nations Security Council, 2017.

Children who have been exposed to the abuse, trauma and deprivation of trafficking are likely to have a wide range of care needs. They may have been physically and sexually abused; they may have experienced or witnessed traumatic events; they may have been forced into forms of labour exploitation subjecting them to dangerous or life-threatening health hazards. In child trafficking cases, a young person’s mental and emotional health is of particular concern. Severe and prolonged stress can cause cognitive and emotional developmental delays and developmental regression. If forced to participate in adult activities, young persons may also have adopted behaviours, perceptions or language beyond their age.

Good Practice
Standard operating procedures to combat human trafficking in Ghana

The Government of Ghana developed a manual, the Standard operating procedures to combat human trafficking in Ghana, with an emphasis on child trafficking (2017). It aims to improve the efficiency of all stakeholders to protect victims of human trafficking within Ghana, and especially children. The development of the standard operation procedures (SOP) was informed by existing data that highlighted the prevalence and patterns of transitional and internal trafficking in Ghana. Research revealed that internal trafficking predominantly affects boys and girls who come from the Central, Volta and Western regions and who are involved in the fishing industry, or who are exploited sexually or in the context of domestic servitude. For example, Trokosi is the practice of forcing virgins to be “married” to male religious leaders in ritual servitude to atone for the sins of a family member. Throughout the manual, particular attention is paid to the specific protection needs of children who are victims of trafficking, and the best way to implement a coordinated response to address their needs in a timely manner.

The manual demonstrates how the development of key procedures is informed by the analysis of factual evidence, aiming to ensure better prevention and more timely responses to the exploitation of girls and boys who are victims of trafficking in Ghana.

PreviousSafeguarding and protecting migrant childrenNextCross-border coordination and management