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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Beyond Orphanages: Family and Community-Based Orphan Care Webinar

Child Family Health International (CFHI), 19 Aug 2015

In August 2015, Child Family Health International (CFHI) held a webinar reviewing the situation of children living in residential care facilities around the world.

View Webinar Recording

Volunteering in Orphanages: Official Position Statement of IAIM Australia Inc.

The International Association of Infant Massage Australia, 01 Jul 2015

The International Association of Infant Massage in Australia has launched a position paper on volunteering in orphanages in order to address the problem of untrained volunteers being encouraged to conduct child care and infant massage practice in residential care centres, particularly in developing countries.

Child Victims of Human Trafficking: Outcomes and Service Adaptation within the U.S. Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Programs

Hilary Chester, Nathalie Lummert, and Anne Mullooly, 01 Jul 2015

This paper presents the features of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) program model that most effectively meets the specialized needs of foreign-born child victims of human trafficking.

AMT Position Statement: Orphanage Volunteering

Association of Massage Therapists, 01 Jul 2015

In this position statement, the Association of Massage Therapists (AMT) of Australia clearly states that it does not endorse orphanage volunteering, referring to the positions of the Better Care Network, UNICEF, Save the Children and the ChildSafe network.

UNICEF Child Protection Earthquake Response April-May 2015

UNICEF, 01 May 2015

This document reviews UNICEF’s achievements in ensuring children’s protection in the 6 weeks following the devastating earthquakes in Nepal in 2015.

No Way Home: The Exploitation and Abuse of Children in Ukraine’s Orphanages

Eric Mathews, Eric Rosenthal, Laurie Ahern, Halyna Kurylo - Disability Rights International , 16 Apr 2015

This report is a product of a three-year investigation by Disability Rights International (DRI) into the abuses experienced by children - both with and without disabilities - in large-scale institutions, psychiatric facilities, and boarding schools in Ukraine, of whom there are nearly 100,000, according to the report.

The Northamptonshire Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Toolkit: A Toolkit to Raise Awareness and Share Strategies to Ensure Early Help is Provided to Children and Young People at Risk of Child Sexual Exploitation

Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB), 04 Apr 2015

The 'Tackling CSE Toolkit' is designed to assist frontline practitioners working with children in identifying Child Sexual Exploitation and taking appropriate action.

From Volunteering to Voluntourism: Challenges for the Responsible Development of a Growing Travel Trend

ECPAT Germany, Tourism Watch, Bread for the World, Working Group - Tourism & Development (akte) , 01 Mar 2015

This publication serves as a guide for responsible voluntourism, both for volunteers and volunteer tour operators.

Reintegration Guidelines for Trafficked and Displaced Children Living in Institutions

Julien Lovera and Martin Punaks - Next Generation Nepal , 2015

This document provides guidelines to reintegrating trafficked and displaced children in Nepal, based on the approach and methodology developed and utilized by Next Generation Nepal (NGN) and The Himalayan Innovative Society (THIS).

Don’t Create More Orphans (Video)

Child Safe Network, 2015

This video was produced as part of the “Don’t Create More Orphans” Campaign, developed by Child Safe Network, Friends International, and partners.

View Video