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| © UNICEF/2008/Alert |
| In Kathmandu, Nepal, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Dan Toole speaks at the launch of the Innocenti Research Centre’s report on child trafficking in South Asia. |
By Allyson Alert-Atterbury
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 27 August 2008 – Children in South Asia are being trafficked for sexual exploitation, labour, begging, early marriage, forced military recruitment, to work on camel farms, and for several other harmful purposes. This grave violation of children’s rights is occurring in the region and throughout the world, but precise and reliable numbers are lacking.
A UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre report launched today, ‘South Asia in Action: Preventing and responding to child trafficking’, issues a call for a stronger legal framework and effective child protection systems. This will result in better protection of children and strengthened data collection, more reliable, systematic and comparable data, and improved information-sharing.
Legal commitments are insufficient
South Asian governments have made several national and regional commitments to protect children from trafficking. However, these commitments are insufficient. For example, the ‘Palermo Protocol’ – international legislation that provides the first global definition of trafficking in human beings and specifically addresses trafficking of children – has not been ratified by any of the countries in the region.
Not all of the countries in South Asia have laws that criminalize child trafficking. Often, children who have been trafficked are prosecuted, rather than receiving care and support as survivors of a crime.
“We have a long way to go to understand the problem, and we have an even further distance to go before we can deal with the problem,” says UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Dan Toole.
Many factors to track
The trafficking industry is hidden, and often illicit interactions with children are even more underground. The South Asia report calls for increased analysis of the links between child trafficking and other protection violations, such as violence, abuse and exploitation.
It also stresses that collaboration among many sectors – health, education, social services, the legal system and others – is required to effectively address trafficking of children.
Girls who have not yet reached puberty may be married off to older men so that their parents have one less mouth to feed. Children are often sent to the capital city or an urban area to ‘have a better life’, which often involves deprivation of food, sleep and shelter, restriction of movement and severed contacts with their families. The unprepared child who lacks awareness of the risks may voluntarily leave the home to migrate to another country and increase her or his vulnerability to trafficking.
“Poverty is well recognized as a factor that increases children’s vulnerability to trafficking,” says Lena Karlsson, the UNICEF child trafficking specialist who presented the report. An in-depth analysis of the other forces that make children vulnerable – including broken families, lack of opportunities, domestic abuse and exploitation, gender discrimination and armed conflict – will refine the analysis of risk.
‘Governments must do more’
The report calls for strengthened legislation, as well as:
‘South Asia in Action’ issues a broad call on governments to increase their efforts to protect children from trafficking. “The primary response is for governments," said Mr. Toole. “Governments must do more."
Related links
News note: Trapped and neglected – trafficked children in South Asia need the law on their side
South Asia in Action: Preventing and Responding to Child Trafficking [PDF]
UNICEF joins call to end impunity for violators against children in armed conflict
Ishmael Beah appointed UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War
with video
At ‘Machel plus 10’ launch, children have their say about conflict
