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.

Displaying 1 - 10 of 337

Browse Other Topics

International Organizations and the Question of Child Labor in the Iranian Carpet Industry

Sivan Balslev, 18 Feb 2024

This article uses the lens of childhood history to shed light on some of the intricacies of the attempts to regulate child labor in Iran and to analyze Western observers’ views on this issue.

Advocacy Brief: End Immigration Detention of Children

United Nations Task Force on Children Deprived of Liberty, 01 Feb 2024

This advocacy brief provides an overview of promising practices and lessons learned to end child immigration detention in the U.S. and sets out a range of policy actions needed to scale up efforts to end this form of violence.

Research Brief: Child Marriage and Early Unions in the Caribbean

UNICEF, Maestral International, 10 Dec 2023

This research brief summarizes what is already known about child marriage and early unions (CMEUs) in the Caribbean, complemented by the findings of research commissioned by UNICEF in the framework of the Spotlight Initiative Caribbean Regional Programme and conducted in six Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Description of Indicators of Orphanage Trafficking: Cambodia

Better Care Network, Griffith University - Law Futures Centre, 21 Aug 2023

This is a list of indicators of acts: Unlawful Removal, Recruitment, and Transfer of a Child into a Residential Care Institution

Description of Indicators of Orphanage Trafficking

Better Care Network, Griffith University - Law Futures Centre, 21 Aug 2023

This is a list of indicators of acts: Unlawful Removal, Recruitment, and Transfer of a Child into a Residential Care Institution

About Orphanage Trafficking: Description and Indicators

Better Care Network, Griffith University - Law Futures Centre, 21 Aug 2023

This document provides clear definitions of what orphanage trafficking is and how to detect this kind of exploitation.

10 Years of Counter Trafficking in Persons Act in Kenya 2010-2020: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities

Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART), Leeds Becket University, 01 Jul 2023

This publication evaluates the progress of implementing the 2010 Counter Trafficking in Persons Act in Kenya from its inception until now (2010-2020).

Anti-Child Marriage Legal Guide: End Violence Against Children Program (Asia Pacific)

World Vision, 26 Jun 2023

This Anti-Child Marriage Guide produced by World Vision aims to empower and educate users as how to best navigate regulatory hurdles that may arise when assisting children affected by child marriage. This fourth legal guide addresses frequently asked questions relating to protecting victims of child marriage in Australia, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Asia Pacific Legal Guide: Child Trafficking

World Vision, 26 Jun 2023

This Child Trafficking Legal Guide produced by Baker McKenzie, World Vision, State Street and 3M aims to empower and educate users on how to best navigate regulatory hurdles that may arise when assisting children affected by human trafficking.

Protecting Against Predators: A Scoping Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Ireland

Mary Canning, Marie Keenan, Ruth Breslin, 15 Jun 2023

This scoping study explores forms of sexual exploitation of children and young people in Ireland, including those whose life experiences make them more vulnerable including being in care, going ‘missing’ or running away from home or a care placement.