Training Manual to Fight Trafficking in Children

ILO, UNICEF and the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) came up with a ‘Training manual to fight trafficking in children for labour, sexual and other forms of exploitation'. It is one of few manuals on trafficking that specifically focuses on children, includes a focus on labour issues, and is geared towards training. It is comprised of textbooks for self study and an exercise book with a menu of assignment options that trainers can choose from for tailor-made training courses. It also includes a facilitators’ guide for use by those facilitating training. The manual ddresses the needs of governments; workers’ and employers’ organizations; and NGOs and international agencies working at the policy and outreach level. Given the dynamic and evolving nature of child trafficking (and its responses), the manual would be updated regularly. Please send your suggestions to childtrafficking@ilo.org or write to the Child Protection Section, Programme Division, UNICEF.

Trafficking is a violation of fundamental rights.

Trafficking in children is a global problem affecting large numbers of children. Some estimates have as many as 1.2 million children being trafficked every year. There is a demand for trafficked children as cheap labour or for sexual exploitation. Children and their families are often unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that better employment and lives lie in other countries.

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.