Child Exploitation

Child trafficking is a form of child abuse. It is the exploitation of children for economic or sexual purposes, and includes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a child for exploitation. Children may be sold, illegally adopted, forced into early marriage, recruited into the armed forces, pushed into prostitution, or trafficked to work in mines, factories, or homes. In such environments they are exposed to extreme forms of abuse and are denied access to basic services and the meeting of their fundamental human rights. Trafficked children often lack basic legal status and support networks, making their condition virtually "invisible."

Children without parental care, living in poverty, and those in high risk environments such as war affected regions, are all highly vulnerable to trafficking. Conflict and post conflict environments pose the greatest risk to children since the breakdown in family and social systems, the increase in poverty, and large numbers of troops present, are all factors which make sexual and economic exploitation of children more common.

Prevention is crucial to reduce the incidence of children affected and includes the registering of all displaced children, and their temporary care until verification and family reunification activities can take place. All children, caretakers, and communities should be educated on the risks to children and protective steps to ensure children do not become separated and exposed to abuse and exploitation. Where possible, unaccompanied children should be placed in regulated and protective family environments such as kinship or foster care.

Governments, the police, border controls, teachers, and all organizations responsible for protection must work together to prevent trafficking, identify those children at risk, advocate for their safety, and prosecute those responsible. This includes awareness raising for communities, institutions, and personnel working with vulnerable groups, such as armed forces, peacekeepers, and humanitarian workers.

Support services for children who have been trafficked should include medical, psychosocial, family reunification, and legal elements, to facilitate the reintegration of the child into the community and to enable educational and economic opportunities which are in the child’s best interests.

This section of documents examines the nature of trafficking in more detail, and includes policy and practical information to prevent and respond to child exploitation.

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Residential instability, running away, and juvenile detention characterizes commercially sexually exploited youth involved in Washington State’s child welfare system

Michael D. Pullmann, Norene Roberts, Elizabeth M. Parker, Kelly J. Mangiaracina, Leslie Briner, Morgan Silverman, Jeremy R. Becker - Child Abuse & Neglect, 15 Feb 2020

The purpose of this study was to describe the demographics, state-dependent living situations, and juvenile detention usage of state-dependent commercially sexually exploited youth.

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Country Care Review: Rwanda

Better Care Network, 10 Feb 2020

This Country Care Review includes the care-related concluding observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Sexual Exploitation of Children in Nepal: Briefing Paper

ECPAT International, 28 Jan 2020

This briefing paper has been compiled using information included in the Out of the Shadows Index - which measures a country’s response to child sexual exploitation and abuse - and the ECPAT Country Overview for Nepal. The brief highlights the risk of sexual exploitation resulting from voluntourism practices, including volunteering in or visiting orphanages.

Partnerships with Overseas ‘Orphanages’: Implications of the Modern Slavery Act 2018

ReThink Orphanages Australia and the ACFID Child Rights Community of Practice, 2020

This briefing note was developed by ReThink Orphanages Australia and the ACFID Child Rights Community of Practice to assist entities in Australia and abroad who have orphanages in their supply chains and/or operations to understand the implications of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018.

"Internett er et Stort Mørkt Rom": Håndtering av risiko for seksuell utnytting over internett på barnevernsinstitusjon

Save the Children Norway, 2020

This report from Save the Children Norway explores what child welfare institutions in Norway are doing to protect children in their care from the risk of online sexual offences.

Stop the War on Children 2020: Gender matters

Alvhild Strømme, Ewa Sapiezynska, Gunvor Knag Fylkesnes, Keyan Salarkia and Jess Edwards - Save the Children, 2020

This report delves into the differences between boys’ and girls’ experiences through a gendered analysis of the six grave violations of children in conflict, including recruitment of children by armed forces and child abduction. The report makes reference to the vulnerabilities faced by girl heads of household or unaccompanied and separated girls on the move and calls for interventions such as family tracing and reunification, the provision of alternative care for unaccompanied and separated children, and the release and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups.

The Link Between Tourism and Child Abuse in Cambodian ‘Orphanages’

Madison Bingle - American University Washington College of Law Human Rights Brief, 2020

This column from Volume 23 of the American University Washington College of Law Human Rights Brief explores the links between child abuse in Cambodian orphanages and tourism.

Stop the War on Children 2020 Gender Matters: The West and Central Africa brief

Save the Children, 2020

This brief - a supplement to the Stop the War on Children 2020: Gender matters report - highlights the situation of children in conflict zones in West and Central Africa with a focus on gender.

Indonesia’s Orphanage Trade: Islamic Philanthropy’s Good Intentions, Some Not So Good Outcomes

Helen McLaren and Nismah Qonita - Religions, 18 Dec 2019

This paper uses selective quotes from a larger study of social workers interviewed to assist with theorizing the high potential of Islamic philanthropy in supporting Indonesia’s growing orphan trade.

Children in Care: Exploitation, Offending and the Denial of Victimhood in a Prosecution-led Culture of Practice

Julie Shaw, Sarah Greenhow - The British Journal of Social Work, 02 Dec 2019

The following article reports upon recent research, which explored the perceptions of professionals of the issues that affect the sexual and criminal exploitation of children in care, along with a discussion of the effectiveness of current responses to these issues and the challenges that professionals face.

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