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What is Child Trafficking?
Child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. This definition is based on the United Nations Palermo Protocol (2000) and is widely accepted by countries around the world, including the UK.
Sex Trafficking
Children are forced, coerced, or deceived into engaging in commercial sexual activities, such as prostitution or pornography.
Child Soldiers
Children are recruited, often by force or deception, to participate in armed conflict or terrorist activities.
Labor Trafficking
Children are exploited for labor, including domestic servitude, agricultural work, factory work, mining, or other forms of forced labor.
Organ Trafficking
Children’s organs are removed without their consent or full understanding of the consequences, often for commercial gain.
Forced Marriage
Children are forced into marriage, often with much older individuals, without their consent or full understanding of the consequences.
Familial Trafficking
Children are exploited by family members or caregivers, who may use physical or emotional abuse to control them.
Human trafficking is a billion-dollar industry, garnering more than $150 billion annually.
It has been estimated that as often as every two minutes around the world, a life is being bought and sold as if it were merely a commodity to be traded. Human beings – image-bearers of God – are being captured and exploited. The exact numbers are hard to track, often inconsistent, and presumably underreported, yet they are a global reality steadily trending higher at an alarming pace.
Fight Human Trafficking + Child Exploitation
WHAT DO I DO IF I SUSPECT HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
If someone is in immediate danger, please call your local authorities at 911.
To request a child welfare check in non-emergent situations, please call 311. If you suspect human trafficking, call the human trafficking hotline: 1-888-373-7888 (TTY:711) or text 233-7333. Or join in the web chat: Click HERE.
Key Characteristics
Child trafficking often involves:
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Force, fraud, or coercion: Children are manipulated, threatened, or physically harmed to ensure their compliance.
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Exploitation: Children are used for labor, sex, or other forms of exploitation, often without their consent or full understanding of the consequences. Then, after being sold for sex thousands of times, the kids are then near death so their handlers sell them for organ harvesting. 91% of these children are never found. The most common country that purchases children for organ harvesting is Africa, albeit, many other countries purchase them for the same reasons.
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Illegality: Child trafficking violates national and international laws, including human rights and child protection conventions.
Prevalence
Child trafficking is a significant global problem, with an estimated 27% of all human trafficking victims being children (Save the Children).
Girls are disproportionately affected, accounting for two out of every three child victims. Children from marginalized communities, refugees, and migrants are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.
Consequences
Child trafficking has severe and long-lasting consequences for victims, including:
Physical and emotional abuse
Sexual exploitation and STIs
Loss of education and social opportunities
Mental health issues
Labor exploitation and physical harm
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
91% of child trafficking victims die.
Kids that are sex trafficked are raped between 5 and 20+ times per day as they are sold for sex, then when they complain of pain, they are drugged. Once they are near death, they are sold to people in Africa (the most common destination) for organ harvesting, and they die.
It is essential to recognize child trafficking as a serious violation of children’s rights and to work towards preventing it, protecting victims, and prosecuting perpetrators. Prevention is key since many children are never seen again.
