Author: Vassilia Orfanou
Editors: LUDCI.eu Editorial team
Human trafficking is a global and domestic human rights problem characterised by economic exploitation through coercion, force, and fraud. People are trafficked for different reasons, such as sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced marriages, and criminal activity.
According to the UNODC’s global report on trafficking in persons 2020, it is indicated that women comprise 46% and girls 19% of all trafficking victims. On top of that, 50% of detected victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation and 38% for forced labor.
According to the data released by The Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC), more than half of children (54%) are trafficked for sexual exploitation, while only a third are trafficked for forced labor. Children who are victims of labor are normally forced to beg (19%), carry out domestic work (18%), or work in the hospitality sector (8%). Girls are more commonly forced into domestic work, while boys are usually forced to beg or peddle.
Every child, regardless of their gender identity or expression, should be safeguarded, and have equal access to support services, care, and equal rights. On the contrary, trafficking denies them this right. Nonetheless, no form of trafficking is more serious or dangerous than the other. All forms of trafficking disempower the people who are subjected to it and can leave calamitous physiological and psychological effects.
The Impact of human and child trafficking on women and girls
Human trafficking disproportionately affects women, girls, and children. Comprehending that this problem is at the intersection of various kinds of discrimination, like gender norms, poor economic conditions, and race, it also means that there is a big impact on the dynamics behind child trafficking.
Trafficking for sexual exploitation is one of the most lucrative criminal businesses in the world. As reported by the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons carried out by the UNODC in 2020, worldwide, one in every three victims of human trafficking is a kid, mainly girls. Therefore, female victims continue to be the main targets of human and child trafficking.
“Women and girls represent 72 percent of all trafficking victims globally, and 77 percent of detected female victims are trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation. While it should have been safe to assume that restrictions on movement and closed borders would prove to be a barrier for traffickers, it has only provided them with the opportunity to innovate.” Asa Regner, UN Women Deputy Executive Director.
In rural Peruvian communities, indigenous girls and their families can be coerced with the promise of money, work, or even a place to stay. Girls can also be moved around the country, where they are instead forced into sexual exploitation, often around mining sites.
Financial difficulties usually push families into letting down their guard and allowing supposed opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t. Furthermore, food security and poverty can position child marriage as a potential way out as the bride’s dowry can relieve the family’s financial struggle. This is common practice in Africa and in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is a crisis emanating from the conflict they have.
Gabriel Kuhn, ECPAT International – Head of Programme: Child Protection in Travel and Tourism, said, “Human trafficking is one of the most serious human rights violations, often targeting people and children from marginalized communities, regardless of age, ethnicity or gender identity. ECPAT strongly condemns this crime, and calls for governments to implement stronger legislation that aims to prevent trafficking, and provide better support for child victims.”
In India, poverty, and gender and caste discrimination can make children vulnerable to domestic trafficking and sexual exploitation. Besides, financial constraints force kids onto the streets to beg for food and money, where they can fall victim to offenders.
Whether kids are trafficked to beg, exploited for sex, or forced into early marriage, all of these situations have negative impacts on kids, women, and girls. For instance, once married, some girls are sexually exploited. Child marriage often leads to early pregnancy, health issues, and discontinued education. These things can limit the future opportunities of children.
Trafficking children is a serious crime. It doesn’t matter if it’s for sexual exploitation, criminal activities, or labor. However, tackling the socio-economic factors promoting exploitation is required to stop families from falling victim to, or even being, offenders.
This has to change. Every individual has a role to play in child trafficking.
Conclusion
Child trafficking should be stopped by all means. Not only does child trafficking negatively impacts women and children, but it also limits their future opportunities to receive education; to follow their dreams; to work and have a normal family life; bear children of their own. Therefore, organisations working to stop child trafficking should work with children, their families, communities, and governments to stop this vice.
Some of the ways that can help to prevent child trafficking are by offering safe havens for trafficked children, providing counseling and vocational training to assist kids in recovery, building community awareness, reuniting trafficked kids with their families, empowering children with knowledge on safe migration practices, and strengthen the overall protective environment for kids in the local community.
Last but not least, every individual should be vigilant, test their instincts, and raise concerns over what they see and report anything that seems off, even if they are mistaken in the end. Sometimes being a parent may also mean to protect another child in need, even if this child is not their own. Usually, the instincts of a parent are at a much different level when compared to a non-parent. Someone that happens to be an aunt or an uncle equally has similar instincts. These instincts should be heard and acted upon at all times.
Featured photo by Alexander Dummer, Pexels
