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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Practitioner Briefing #1: What is peer-on-peer abuse?

Carlene Firmin and George Curtis, MsUnderstood Partnership (2015), 2015

This briefing outlines what current research tells us about the nature of peer-on-peer abuse, and considers what this might mean for building a response.

Case Study: D’s Story - Indonesia

Global Study Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism, 2015

The case study, which accompanies ECPAT's Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism, tells the story of Dahlia, a 15 year-old girl from Indonesia who is a survivor of child sexual exploitation.

Orphanage Tourism in Cambodia: The Complexities of ‘Doing Good’ in Popular Humanitarianism

Tess Catherine Guiney - Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Otago, 2015

This thesis explores orphanage tourism within the context of Cambodia, adopting a critical geography approach to investigate the intricate and contentious aspects of tourism within this space.

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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.

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Potential Short-Term International Volunteers’ Perceptions of Children’s Residential Care in Cambodia

James Farley - Friends International, 2015

The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions of potential short-term international tourists concerning children’s residential care in Cambodia.

Protect children, screen your employees

Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice , 2015

The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice has developed this flyer, along with ECPAT Netherlands, Better Care Network Netherlands and Terre des Hommes Netherlands, to motivate foreign organizations working with children to ask for a Certificate of Conduct when recruiting Dutch volunteers or employees.

Case Study: Kate’s Story - USA

Kate Price, 2015

The case study, which accompanies the Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism, tells the story of Kate, a woman from the US who was sexually exploited as a child.

Missing Children, State Care, and Child Sex Trafficking: Engaging the Judiciary in Building a Collaborative Response

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2015

This technical assistance brief answers the question “What steps can a judge take when a child runs away or goes missing from care?” The brief is intended to educate juvenile and family court judges in the United States on the steps to be taken to assist in in locating and recovering children who go missing from care.

ASEAN Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

ASEAN, 2015

This ASEAN Plan of Action, which complements the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP), aims to provide specific action plans within ASEAN Member States’ domestic laws and policies, as well as relevant international obligations, to effectively address regional challenges common to all ASEAN Member States in the identified major concerns.