Millions of children worldwide are
subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse including the worst forms of child
labor in communities, schools and institutions; during armed conflict; and to
harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage.
Millions more, not yet victims, also remain without adequate protection.
More people are slaves today than ever
before and the numbers are soaring. Men, women and children are enslaved for
many purposes including sex, pornography, forced labor and indentured servitude.
Among slaves, children are the most vulnerable and their rights are the least
recognized. Each year, the global sex slavery market generates $32
billion in profits. More than one million women and children are
trafficked across international borders every year. In just the United States,
between 150,000 and 300,000 children are enslaved and sold for
sex. The sex slavery industry has become an increasingly important revenue
source for organized crime because each young girl can earn between $150,000
and $200,000 each year for her pimp.
Child trafficking is lucrative and linked
with criminal activity and corruption. It is often hidden and hard to address.
Trafficking always violates the child's right to grow up in a family
environment. In addition, children who have been trafficked face a range of
dangers, including violence and sexual abuse. Trafficked children are even
arrested and detained as illegal aliens.
Some facts:
UNICEF estimates that 1,000 to 1,500
Guatemalan babies and children are trafficked each year for adoption by
couples in North America and Europe.
Girls as young as 13 (mainly from Asia
and Eastern Europe) are trafficked as "mail-order brides." In most
cases these girls and women are powerless and isolated and at great risk of
violence.
Large numbers of children are being
trafficked in West and Central Africa, mainly for domestic work but also for
sexual exploitation and to work in shops or on farms. Nearly 90 per cent of
these trafficked domestic workers are girls.
Children from Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso
and Ghana are trafficked to Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Gabon.
Children are trafficked both in and out of Benin and Nigeria. Some children
are sent as far away as the Middle East and Europe.
Sexual
exploitation
Sexual activity is often seen as
a private matter, making communities reluctant to act and intervene in cases of
sexual exploitation. These attitudes make children more vulnerable to sexual
exploitation. Myths, such as the belief that HIV/AIDS can be cured through sex
with a virgin, technological advances such as the Internet which has facilitated
child pornography, and sex tourism targeting children, all add to their
vulnerability.
Surveys indicate that 30 to 35
per cent of all sex workers in the Mekong sub-region of Southeast Asia are
between 12 and 17 years of age.
Mexico's social service
agency reports that there are more than 16,000 children engaged in
prostitution, with tourist destinations being among those areas with the
highest number.
In Lithuania, 20 to 50 percent
of prostitutes are believed to be minors. Children as young as age 11 are
known to work as prostitutes. Children from children's homes, some 10 to
12 years old, have been used to make pornographic movies.
Child Labor
An estimated 158 million children
aged 5-14 are engaged in child labor - one in six children in the world.
Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as
working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or
working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as
domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from
view in plantations.
In Sub-Saharan Africa around
one in three children are engaged in child labour, representing 69 million
children.
In South Asia, another 44
million are engaged in child labor.
The latest national estimates
for this indicator are reported in Table 9 (Child Protection) of UNICEF's
annual publication The State of the World's Children.
Children living in the poorest
households and in rural areas are most likely to be engaged in child labor.
Those burdened with household chores are overwhelmingly girls. Millions of girls
who work as domestic servants are especially vulnerable to exploitation and
abuse.
Labour often interferes with
children's education. Ensuring that all children go to school and that their
education is of good quality are keys topreventing child labor.
Children in Conflict and
Emergencies
In recent decades, the proportion of
civilian casualties in armed conflicts has increased dramatically and is now
estimated at more than 90 per cent. About half of the victims are children.
An estimated 20 million children
have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and human rights
violations and are living as refugees in neighbouring countries or are
internally displaced within their own national borders.
More than 2 million children have
died as a direct result of armed conflict over the last decade.
More than three times that number, at least 6 million children, have been
permanently disabled or seriously injured.
More than 1 million have been orphaned or separated from their families.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 children are killed or maimed by landmines every year.
An estimated 300,000 child
soldiers - boys and girls under the age of 18 - are involved in more than 30
conflicts worldwide. Child soldiers are used as combatants, messengers, porters,
cooks and to provide sexual services. Some are forcibly recruited or abducted,
others are driven to join by poverty, abuse and discrimination, or to seek
revenge for violence enacted against themselves and their families.
During armed conflict, girls and
women are threatened by rape, domestic violence, sexual exploitation,
trafficking, sexual humiliation and mutilation. Use of rape and other forms of
violence against women has become a strategy in wars for all sides.
Investigative reports following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda concluded that
nearly every female over the age of 12 who survived the genocide was raped.
During the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, more than 20,000 were estimated to
have been sexually assaulted. Conflict also breaks up families, placing
additional economic and emotional burdens on women.
Of the 25 countries with the
highest proportion of children orphaned by AIDS, about one-third have been
affected by armed conflict in recent years. Of the 10 countries with the highest
rates of under-five deaths, seven are affected by armed conflict.
Children in armed conflict also
routinely experience emotionally and psychologically painful events such as the
violent death of a parent or close relative; separation from family; witnessing
loved ones being killed or tortured; displacement from home and community;
exposure to combat, shelling and other life-threatening situations; acts of
abuse such as being abducted, arrested, held in detention, raped, tortured;
disruption of school routines and community life; destitution and an uncertain
future. Some even participate in violent acts. Children of all ages are also
strongly affected by the stress levels and situation of their adult caregivers.
FACT
SHEET: CHILD VICTIMS
What does the human
trafficking of children look like in the United States?
Across the globe, traffickers buy
and sell children, exploiting them for sex and forced labor, and moving them
across international borders. Child victims are trafficked into the United
States from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe. In the
United States, children are subjected to human trafficking in many different
sectors. Examples include prostitution on the streets or in a private residence,
club, hotel, spa, or massage parlor; online commercial sexual exploitation;
exotic dancing/stripping; agricultural, factory, or meatpacking work;
construction; domestic labor in a home; restaurant/bar work; illegal drug trade;
door-to-door sales, street peddling, or begging; or hair, nail, and beauty
salons. Family members, acquaintances, pimps, employers, smugglers, and
strangers traffic children. They often prey upon the children's
vulnerabilities - their hopes for an education, a job, or a better life in
another country - and may use psychological intimidation or violence to
control the children and gain financial benefits from their exploitation.
Trafficked children may show signs of shame or disorientation; be hungry and
malnourished; experience traumatic bonding (Stockholm syndrome) and fear
government officials, such as police and immigration officers.
What is the definition
of human trafficking under U.S. federal law?
The Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines "severe forms of human trafficking"
as:
The recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for
sex trafficking
in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud,
or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has
not attained 18 years of age; or
labor or services,
through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the
purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or
slavery.
Coercion includes threats of
physical or psychological harm to children and/or their families. Any
child (under the age of 18) engaged in commercial sex is a victim of trafficking.
How do I report human
trafficking?
If a child is in urgent need of
assistance, contact law enforcement or child protective services to report
abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child. The Childhelp® National Child Abuse
Hotline professional crisis counselors can connect a caller with a local number
to report abuse. Contact Childhelp at 1.800.4.A.CHILD. (1.800.422.4453).
The National Center for Missing
& Exploited Children® (NCMEC) aims to prevent child abduction and sexual
exploitation; help find missing children; and assist victims of child abduction
and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.
Contact NCMEC at 1.800.THE.LOST (1.800.843.5678).
The HHS-funded National Human
Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) operates a hotline 24 hours a day, every
day. The NHTRC will help callers identify and coordinate with local
organizations that protect and serve victims of trafficking. Contact the NHTRC
at 1.888.3737.888.
What are my reporting
responsibilities if I am a government official?
The TVPA, as amended, requires
Federal, State, or local officials to notify HHS within 24 hours of discovering
a child who may be a foreign victim of trafficking, to facilitate the
provision of assistance.Federal, State, or local officials should notify a Child
Protection Specialist in the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at ChildTrafficking@acf.hhs.gov
or call202.205.4582. An HHS/ORR Child Protection Specialist will
respond to notifications to facilitate eligibility for assistance and provide
technical assistance as appropriate.
How do I obtain
assistance for a foreign child victim of human trafficking?
To become eligible for
federally-funded benefits and services that would not be available to a child
without a legal immigration status, a child victim must have an Eligibility
Letter or an Interim Assistance Letter from HHS/ORR. An individual may request
these letters from HHS/ORR on behalf of a child when credible information
indicates the child may be a victim of trafficking.Submission of a Request
for Assistance for Child Victims of Human Trafficking form can facilitate a
determination of the child's eligibility for assistance. Obtain a form at
www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking. Submit requests by e-mail to
ChildTrafficking@acf.hhs.gov or by fax to 202.401.5487.An HHS/ORR Child
Protection Specialist will respond to requests and may be reached by phone at 202.205.4582.
HHS/ORR issues an Eligibility
Letter to assist a foreign child trafficking victim to become eligible for
benefits and services without regard to the child's immigration status. HHS/ORR
issues an Interim Assistance Letter to a foreign child who may have been
subjected to trafficking to make the child eligible to receive benefits and
services for a 90-day period. After issuing an Interim Assistance Letter, HHS/ORR
will consult with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and
nongovernmental organizations with expertise in trafficking before determining
the child's continued eligibility as a victim of trafficking.
Children are not required to cooperate with law enforcement or to have been
granted Continued Presence or a T nonimmigrant visa by the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security to receive assistance.
Who provides care for
unaccompanied or separated child victims of trafficking?
A child victim of trafficking
with an Eligibility Letter who has no available parent or legal guardian in the
United States is eligible for ORR's Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM)
program. Children are placed in licensed foster homes or other care
settings according to individual needs. An appropriate court awards legal
responsibility to the State, county, or private agency providing services, to
act in place of the child's unavailable parents. Children in the URM program
receive the full range of services available to other foster children in the
State, as well as special services to help them adapt to life in the United
States and recover from their trafficking experience. Safe reunification with
parents or other appropriate relatives is encouraged. To access the URM program
for a child victim of trafficking, call an HHS/ORR Child Protection Specialist
at 202.205.4582.
What assistance is
available to child victims of human trafficking?
Victims of trafficking who meet
State eligibility requirements may access medical screenings, Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, State Children's Health
Insurance Programs (SCHIP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) Programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC), and public housing programs.
For More Information visit the
following websites-
National
Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1.888.3737.888
