A child’s right to be free from exploitation is violated in many ways through child trafficking:
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| Produced By: Mr. Benno Neeleman |
- girls and boys are trafficked into the world’s commercial sex trade
- children are trafficked into labour exploitation in agriculture and other jobs in manufacturing, including large-scale sweatshops
- girls in particular are trafficked into domestic child labour
Criminal networks and individuals exploit children in begging, street hawking, car window cleaning and other street-based activities. Some children are exploited as drug couriers or dealers or in petty crime such as pick-pocketing or burglary.
The crime of trafficking in human beings is essentially defined as the transport of persons, by means of coercion, deception or consent for the purpose of exploitation such as forced or consensual labour or prostitution.
Child are likely to become vulnerable to being trafficked when they are transient, particularly at times of political crisis or in the face of social or economic pressures.
Some children may willingly consent to being smuggled in order to escape a desperate situation or to seek better opportunities. However, once they are a part of the smuggling network, they may find themselves trapped and without protection.
Many trafficked children are linked to the commercial sex trade. Commerical sexual exploitation of children constitutes a contemporary form of slavery. Girl’s represent 80 to 90% of the victims of child sex tourism.