Trafficking of children

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Trafficking of children, also known as child trafficking, is a form of human trafficking and is defined by the United Nations as the "recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of a child" for the purpose of slavery, forced labour, and exploitation.^{[1]: Article 3(c)} This definition is substantially broader than the same document's definition of "trafficking in persons".^{[1]: Article 3(a)} Children may also be trafficked for illegal adoption. Illegal adoptions violate multiple child rights norms and principles, including the best interests of the child, the principle of subsidiarity and the prohibition of improper financial gain.^[2] According to the anti-trafficking organization Love146, it is estimated that over three million children worldwide are being victimized in sex trafficking and child labour.^[3]

In 2012, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported the percentage of child victims had risen in 3 years from 20 percent to 27 percent.^[4][5] In 2014, research conducted by the anti-human trafficking organization Thorn reported that internet sites like Craigslist are often used as tools for conducting business within the industry and that 70 percent of child sex trafficking survivors surveyed were at some point sold online.^[6] In 2016 NGO ERASE Child Trafficking estimated 300,000 children are taken from all around the world and sold by human traffickers as slaves.^[7]

In 2020, the United Nations noted that between 18,000 and 20,000 children were identified as trafficked globally (with regional variations); however, the challenges of lax reporting and accurate detection means this number is certainly a bare minimum.^[8][9] Children in North and Sub-Saharan Africa make up the majority of trafficked victims with forced labour most common in Sub-Saharan Africa.^[9] Most child traffick victims in Central America and the Caribbean are girls, primarily consisting of teenagers trafficked for sexual exploitation, while in South Asia, nearly half of the victims are children, where the victims are exploited for labour or forced into marriage.^[9]

In 2022, the European Commission noted that just over 10,000 people were identified as being trafficked into the European Union in one year; of these 15% were children (approximately 75% are girls).^[10] This number represents a 41% increase from 2021, perhaps because of efforts to increase awareness of vulnerability to trafficking of those fleeing military aggression against Ukraine.^[10]

In 2022, the USA issued Certification letters and Assistance letters to 2,264 non-US children (a significant increase from 1,143 in FY 2021 and 672 in FY 2020 which may have been impacted by COVID); it noted that all of them had experienced labor trafficking, sex trafficking or both.^[11]

The trafficking of children has been internationally recognized as a serious crime that exists in every region of the world and which often has human rights implications. Yet, it is only since 2002 that the prevalence and ramifications of this practice have risen to international prominence, due to a dramatic increase in research and public action. Limited research has not yet identified all causes of child trafficking, however, it appears that poverty, humanitarian crisis, and lack of education contribute to high rates. A variety of potential solutions have accordingly been suggested and implemented, which can be categorized into four types of action: broad protection, prevention, law enforcement, and victim assistance.^[12][13]

The main international documents dealing with the trafficking of children are the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 1999 ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, and the 2000 UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.