Press Centre
Press Release
To end worst forms of child labour, nations must fight
trafficking of children, UNICEF says
On World Day Against Child Labour, UNICEF Highlights Link With Child
Trafficking
GENEVA / NEW YORK, 12 June 2003 – UNICEF said today that efforts
to end the worst forms of child labour would not succeed without effective
cooperative efforts to fight the trafficking of children and women within
and across national borders. On World Day Against Child Labour, UNICEF
pointed to estimates that the global trade in human beings is beginning
to rival the illicit trafficking of arms and drugs.
“How can we put an end to the most abhorrent forms of child labour
when the trafficking of children and women continues unabated?”
asked Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. “Children are
increasingly treated as commodities by organized crime networks, where
the profit derives from these children being sold into servitude or
forced labour. We can no longer simply look at the worst forms of child
labour as a shame. We have to see it as one part of an inhuman and criminal
trade that must be stopped.”
Trafficking in humans beings is beginning to rival the illegal trade
in drugs and arms, with an estimated revenue of $12 billion a year,
according to a 2003 International Labour Organization report.
Bellamy said children are seen by traffickers as commodities since
they are more easily manipulated, on high demand and can be exploited
over a longer period. Hidden from view and often from legal protection,
children are lured by promises of a good education or a “better
job” and smuggled across borders. Far from home or in a foreign
country, trafficked children – disoriented, without papers, and
excluded from any protective environment – can be forced to endure
prostitution, domestic servitude, early and involuntary marriage, or
hazardous and punishing labour.
Although no definitive data exists on child trafficking, some estimate
that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. Girls as young as
13 (mainly from Asia and Eastern Europe) are trafficked as ”mail-order
brides.” Girls used as domestic servants are denied access to
education and often sexually abused within the homes of their “employers.”
In Fiji, for example, a UNICEF survey revealed that eight out of ten
domestic workers reported sexual abuse by their employers. In Africa,
child trafficking is recognized as a major concern in at least half
of the countries, according to a study conducted by UNICEF Innocenti
Research Centre.
“Courageous leadership is needed from governments, who are primarily
accountable for ensuring that child trafficking is criminalized and
children are effectively protected from this form of exploitation.”
Bellamy noted that no country is free from the trade in human beings,
and that efforts to stop it must be also regional and global in nature.
“Many governments are already signatories to the Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child
Trafficking and Child Pornography” Bellamy observed. “But
much more needs to be done to ensure its effective implementation, including
ample awareness campaigns, required legal reform, universal birth registration
for children and strong international cooperation. Another important
measure is granting humanitarian visas or according refugee status to
trafficked children. And there is no better time to start making such
commitments than today, World Day Against Child Labour.”
UNICEF is committed to preventing and eliminating child trafficking.
Its approach focuses on helping countries to build a protective environment
for children – one which safeguards them from exploitation and
abuse before it happens. Such a “protective environment”
is based on eight common sense actions:
Governments need to show a strong political commitment to combat child
trafficking: This includes ensuring that the necessary legislation is
in place to outlaw trafficking and punish traffickers. Necessary resources
need to be made available to ensure effective action is always guided
by the best interests of the child.
Laws need to be rigorously and reliably enforced, including international
agreements to help prevent trafficking and facilitate the safe return
of trafficked children.
Attitudes and practices need to change: Getting and keeping all children
in school –especially girls – would dramatically improve
their protection, but 120 million children still never go to school,
the majority of them girls. Awareness campaigns need to empower communities,
families and children themselves to prevent trafficking.
Children need to be aware of the dangers of trafficking so that they
can protect themselves: Children are often lured with promises of money
and a ‘better life.’ To counter this, at-risk children need
to be given practical skills that allow them to avoid being ensnared.
This could include vocational training or income-generating activities
at the community level to keep them from falling prey to false offers
from traffickers.
All those who interact and spend time with children need to be able
to recognize the risks of trafficking and respond accordingly: Teachers
need to recognize the warning signs of a troubled home. Police raiding
brothels need to know to search for girls who have come from other countries
and avoid stigmatizing and victimizing them further. A border guard
with limited awareness of trafficking may not react when seeing young
children crossing a border without their parents.
Media attention is a crucial advocacy and awareness element in the
fight against trafficking and in calling for the effective and systematic
protection of the child victim.
Reintegration and rehabilitation for vicims of trafficking: Children
who have been trafficked need services to help them escape their situation,
and to return home to a safe environment. Services for child victims
of trafficking need to be guided by the best interests of the child,
including the child’s return to a safe environment.
* * *
For further information, please contact:
Jehane Sedky-Lavandero, UNICEF Media, New York (212) 326-7269, jsedky@unicef.org
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