Child Trafficking

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The Convention on the Rights of the Child’s Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography defines child prostitution as “the act of obtaining, procuring or offering the services of a child or inducing a child to perform sexual acts for any form of compensation or reward.” The prostitution of a child manifests itself in a form of human/sex trafficking. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (2000) defines child trafficking as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring and/or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation.” Many people refuse to recognize child trafficking as a real threat. But the reality of the situation is that every year, a total of millions of children are forced or duped into participating in these acts (I.L.O. 2005). The dangers the victims of this crime face are far beyond anything a normal citizen could imagine. But thankfully, there are people and organizations that are willing to demolish this business. There has been a range of proposed solutions that are currently being implemented. These are classified into four different types of action: protection, law enforcement, prevention, and victim assistance.
Mechanisms
In general, child trafficking takes place in three stages: “recruitment, movement, and exploitation” (UNICEF). Recruitment occurs when a recruiter approaches a child, or the child approaches a recruiter on his or her own accord. It is easy for an adult to prey on a child’s youth and vulnerability. They are promised things – like money, food, and shelter. In exchange for these basic essentials, they are forced to engage in sexual activities, hard labor, armed forces etc. On other occasions, “the childr...

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