An elderly man is walking through a slum market in Thailand carrying a clean, well dressed baby in his arms. The child has a red ribbon around its wrist. This child is for sale.
Child trafficking is rampant throughout the world, but particularly in India, southeast Asia and southern Europe. The US Justice Department (2004) reports that at least 300,000 children are traded across international borders each year.
Child trafficking is the enslavement of children for the purpose of exploitation. Child trafficking takes many forms such as:
- forced labour, including dangerous labour
- various forms of sexual exploitation
- military conscription
- illicit adoption
- forced child marriage
All children who are trafficked are at a heightened risk of being abused sexually, physically and emotionally.
Children are more at risk of being trafficked if they are female (70%, ibid), come from rural, poor, sick or dysfunctional households, have ethnic minority status, are between the ages of 12-16 or good looking, or lack education or vocational training.
Children are sold like commodities into trafficking by family members, neighbours or community members. The networks into which the children are sold represent a multibillion dollar industry that operates with virtual impunity within and across international borders.
Hope for the Nations takes the view that all child trafficking is preventable. To that end, we work with local partners towards the prevention of child trafficking through interventions that support families and communities to recognize threats, create alternative sources of income, and protect children. We also work in the area of rehabilitating children who have been trafficked. We welcome you to become informed and get involved in one of our many projects!