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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Orphanage Trafficking and Orphanage Voluntourism - Frequently Asked Questions

Next Generation Nepal , 01 Apr 2014

To help answer commonly asked questions—and to provide an overview of an understandably confusing topic— Next Generation Nepal (NGN) has prepared this briefing paper in which NGN answers the most frequently asked questions we receive about orphanage trafficking and orphanage voluntourism.

Orphanage Tourism Video

LearningService.info , 25 Mar 2014

This video from Learningservice.info discusses issues around orphanage volunteering and tourism. The video is accompanied by a number of prompts for further discussion.

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Country Care Review: China

Better Care Network, 04 Mar 2014

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations for the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilites.

Children on the Run: Unaccompanied Children Leaving Central America And Mexico and the Need for International Protection

UNHCR, 01 Mar 2014

This report, issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, examines the situation and needs of unaccompanied children who emigrate from Central America and Mexico to the United States, and offers recommendations based on those needs.

Addicted to Orphans: Donor influence in Uganda's child protection system

Kristen E. Cheney, 21 Feb 2014

A presentation on the "Orphan Industrial Complex" at the Young Lives and Globalization in Africa workshop at the University of Liège, Belgium on 21st February 2014.

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Remittances and Child Labour in Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso

Olivier Bargain & Delphine Boutin - IZA, 01 Feb 2014

This paper explores the effects of remittance receipt on child labour in an African context.

Strategic Response Plan for the Emergency Response: Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), the Philippines

The Philippines Humanitarian Country Team, 05 Jan 2014

A Strategic Response Plan developed and designed to support the Government of the Philippines’ response to the immediate humanitarian needs of the people affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), and to complement the Government’s National Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan.

Nepal 2014 Human Rights Report

Embassy of the United States in Nepal, United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2014

This report, published by the US Embassy in Nepal, includes a segment on human rights issues related to orphanage voluntourism and donors, child abuse in child care homes, and a lack of Government regulation of institutions.

Better Volunteering Better Care Engagement Strategy

Better Volunteering, Better Care Initiative , 2014

This report presents the strategic thinking and proposed stages of development of the Better Volunteering Better Care initiative, as a result of its work during its first year.

Encountering Abusive Orphanages in Nepal: Advice for Members of the Public

Next Generation Nepal , 2014

This is a short paper produced by Next Generation Nepal (NGN) to advise members of the public and tourists who may encounter child trafficking or child abuse in children's homes or orphanages in Nepal.