86
opportunities to express their views and wishes
with regard to their care arrangements They need
to be aware of their rights and helped to protect
themselves from exploitation, abuse and the dan-
gers of trafficking and HIV/AIDS
Capacity of families and communities
Community-based social services, such as day
care, parenting education and home support for
children with disabilities, are needed to strengthen
the capacity of families to care for their children
and of extended families and communities to pro-
vide alternative forms of care
monitoring, reporting and oversight
Mechanisms are needed to ensure oversight of in-
stitutions providing public and private care, as well
as foster care arrangements Data collection and
analysis on the situation of children without paren-
tal care is key to changing public attitudes, promot-
ing better practices and increasing accountability
examPleS of uniCef in aCtion
UnICEF is contributing to the development of a
continuum of social services to gradually replace
the system of residential care institutions in all
countries of the Cee/CiS Its strategies to this ef-
fect include upgrading or piloting essential ele-
ments in the continuum of services such as child
and family support services, social work functions
and foster care systems; developing standards for
service providers; upgrading competencies and
accountabilities for professionals working with
children; reforming the legal base for child care
systems; establishing independent monitoring
bodies; and transforming residential care institu-
tions into alternative care services
In malawi, UnICEF’s advocacy efforts have helped
secure high-level political commitment and re-
sources for the scale-up of the response to the
crisis of orphans and other vulnerable children In
2005, the national Plan of Action for orphans and
Vulnerable Children was launched by the President
on the Day of the African Child, 16 June Also,
UnICEF focused on enhancing the capacity of
families and communities to care for their orphans
and vulnerable children through supporting 611
community-based child care centres reaching out
to nearly 50,000 children under the age of 5
In the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake in
october 2005, UnICEF and its partners rushed to
provide psychosocial assistance to orphans, unac-
companied children and children who lost their
family members during the earthquake To protect
these children from trafficking and exploitation
UnICEF has taken the lead responsibility to regis-
ter all children in the relief camps
notes
1 United nations Children’s Fund, TransMonee 2005: Data,
Indicators and Features on the Situation of Children in CEE/CIS
and Baltic States, UnICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence,
2005, p 5
2 United nations Children’s Fund, Stop Violence against Children:
Act Now, Report of the Regional Consultation for the UN
Study on Violence against Children, 5-7 July 2005, Ljubljana,
Slovenia, UnICEF, 2005, p 9
3
Joint United nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, United nations
Children’s Fund and United States Agency for International
Development, Children on the Brink 2004: A Joint Report of
New Orphan Estimates and a Framework for Action, Popula-
tion, Health and nutrition Information Project under USAID,
Washington, DC, July 2004, pp 7–8
4 Ibid, p 3
millennium deVeloPment GoalS
When parents are struggling to overcome
poverty, AIDS or natural disaster, families may
be compelled to place their children in public
care institutions, where their access to quality
education is likely to be poor (thus thwarting
the aim of MDG 2, universal primary education)
Children separated from their mother at an early
age, especially if they remain in institutional set-
tings for a long time, may suffer from damaged
emotional and physical development and are at
greater risk of early death – diminishing reduc-
tions in child mortality (MDG 4)
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET: CHILDREn WITHoUT PAREnTAL CARE
22
82
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET
Commercial sexual exploitation of children is one of
the worst forms of child labour and a modern form
of slavery Sexually exploited children are often
treated as criminals As defined in the Declaration of
the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm in 1996,
commercial sexual exploitation of children is sexual
abuse by an adult accompanied by remuneration
in cash or in kind to the child or third person(s) The
commitments made in Stockholm were reaffirmed
in Yokohama, Japan, in 2001 at the Second World
Congress
faCtS and fiGureS
• According to a recent global estimate by the
International Labour organization, of the 123 mil-
lion people who are victims of forced labour, 139
million are involved in forced commercial sexual
exploitation and 40–50 per cent are children
1
• An estimated 12,000 nepalese children, mainly
girls, are trafficked for commercial sexual exploi-
tation each year within nepal or to brothels in
India and other countries
2
• From 28,000 to 30,000 children under the age of
18, approximately half of them 10–14 years old,
are used in prostitution in South Africa
3
BuildinG a ProteCtiVe enVironment for
Children
Government commitment and capacity
Recognition and acknowledgement by governments
of the existence of sexual exploitation is crucial
Response mechanisms, including creating, enforc-
ing and implementing appropriate legal frameworks
to protect children and punish the perpetrators, are
essential
legislation and enforcement
Police, judiciary, officials and service providers who
work with children should be aware of the problem
and equipped to address it neither the filing of a
complaint nor prosecution of an offence should
require the permission of the child’s parents Laws
must punish those who buy sex from children;
children who sell sex are victims and should not be
treated as criminals
attitudes, customs and practices
These often enable, normalize and condone the
demand for commercial sexual exploitation Com-
munities are often reluctant to intervene in cases of
sexual exploitation due to lack of knowledge, lack of
understanding about the harm to children, fear and
intimidation, or for economic reasons
open discussion
The media can help protect children by providing in-
formation on the dangers of sexual exploitation and
on penalties for exploiters While avoiding reporting
that violates children’s rights, the media can be a
valuable tool in mobilizing public opinion to partici-
pate in the struggle against sexual exploitation
Children’s life skills, knowledge and participation
Trafficked children often end up in situations of
sexual exploitation, and their knowledge of how to
avoid the risks, of strategies to protect themselves
and of where to obtain help is key to making them
less vulnerable Teachers, coaches and community
Commercial Sexual exploitation
human riGhtS
States Parties that recognize the Convention
on the rights of the Child (1989) undertake to
protect children from all forms of sexual exploi-
tation and abuse, including exploitative use in
prostitution and pornography (Article 34), which
the optional Protocol to the Convention on
the rights of the Child on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography (2000)
further refines
The international labour organization’s Conven-
tion 182 (1999) defines sexual exploitation as
one of the worst forms of child labour
23
85
leaders can help inform children about their rights
and how best to protect themselves Sexual health
education is important, because it enables children
to protect themselves against sexually transmit-
ted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, also reducing the
incidence of adolescent pregnancy
Capacity of families and communities
Parents, teachers, social workers and community
leaders should be able to provide information to
children and answer their questions Law enforce-
ment, including police, judges and lawyers, should
be trained and made aware that children who are
sexually exploited need assistance and should
never be criminalized and prosecuted The travel
and tourism industry can raise awareness about
the illegality of sexual exploitation of children, pro-
vide information on penalties, and train staff and
employers on where to report cases
essential services, including prevention, recovery
and reintegration
School attendance protects children and makes
them less exposed and vulnerable Children may
also need assistance in getting out of commercial
sexual exploitation, accessing appropriate medical
and psychosocial care, finding long-term solutions
and, whenever possible and safe, returning to their
families
monitoring, reporting and oversight
Tracking cases of sexual abuse, of arrests, or of
disappearances of girls or boys is essential since
sexual exploitation often thrives on secrecy
Measures that have proved useful include tele-
phone hotlines, easy access to confidential coun-
selling and recruitment of female police officers
examPleS of uniCef in aCtion
internationally, UnICEF, the World Tourism organi-
zation and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child
Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual
Purposes) International launched a Code of Conduct
for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploi-
tation in Travel and Tourism The project aims to
involve the tourism industry in actively combating
child sex tourism
In indonesia, pilot interventions on the sexual ex-
ploitation and trafficking of children carried out by
UnICEF in 2005 in two selected districts in West and
Central Java helped raise awareness of the risks
of sexual exploitation and trafficking The projects
helped build the capacities of parents, community
leaders, law enforcement officials, policy makers
and service providers to protect children
In South africa, UnICEF contributed to raising
awareness on child pornography by lending techni-
cal and financial support to the national Child Por-
nography Conference held in May 2005 The confer-
ence adopted an Action Plan for the Elimination of
Child Pornography
notes
1
International Labour organization, A Global Alliance against
Forced Labour: Global report under the follow-up to the ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
2005, Report I (B), International Labour Conference 93rd
session 2005, Geneva, 2005, pp 12, 15
2 International Labour organization, International Programme on
the Elimination of Child Labour, ‘Facts on Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children’, March 2003, available at
<wwwiloorg/childlabour>
3 International Labour organization, International Programme
on the Elimination of Child Labour, Unbearable to the Human
Heart: Child trafficking and action to eliminate it, ILo, Geneva,
2000, p 17
millennium deVeloPment GoalS
Sexual exploitation prevents a child from going
to school, might lead to infection with sexually
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and can
result in early and unwanted pregnancies, which
result in higher maternal mortality These factors
all hinder the achievement of development goals,
including MDG 1 (to eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger), MDG 2 (universal primary educa-
tion), MDG 5 (improve maternal health) and MDG
6 (halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS)
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET: CoMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLoITATIon
24
84
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) refers
to all procedures involving partial or total removal
of the external genitalia or other injuries to the
female genital organs for cultural or other reasons
that are not medical necessities FGM/C reinforces
the inequality suffered by girls and women and is
a violation of universally recognized human rights
– including the rights to bodily integrity and to the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health While health consequences vary, they com-
monly include failure to heal, inflammatory diseases
and urinary infections Gynecological complications
that result from female genital mutilation/cutting
can become particularly serious during and after
childbirth, and include fistula Increased suscepti-
bility to HIV infection is a concern The pain of the
procedure is known to cause shock and long-lasting
trauma, and severe bleeding and infection can lead
to death
The reasons for FGM/C are many and complex, but
the most significant seems to be the belief that a
girl who has not undergone the procedure will not
be considered suitable for marriage Traditionally,
FGM/C is performed by local practitioners, most of
whom are women In some countries, efforts have
been made to ’medicalize‘ the procedure by having
medical staff perform it in or outside of hospitals
This does not, however, make it less a violation of
human rights, and communities should be helped
to abandon the practice
faCtS and fiGureS
• FGM/C occurs mainly in countries along a belt
stretching from Senegal in West Africa to Somalia
in East Africa and to Yemen in the Middle East,
but it is also practised in some parts of south-east
Asia Reports from Europe, north America and
Australia indicate that it is practised among im-
migrant communities as well
1
• It is estimated that more than 130 million women
and girls alive today have been subjected to
female genital mutilation/cutting
• FGM/C is generally carried out on girls between
the ages of 4 and 14; it is also performed on in-
fants, women who are about to get married and,
sometimes, women who are pregnant with their
first child or who have just given birth
• Most recent Demographic Health Survey data for
Egypt indicate that the prevalence rate among
ever-married women aged 15–49 has shown a
slight decline from 97 per cent to 96 per cent
2
BuildinG a ProteCtiVe enVironment for
Children
Government commitment and capacity
Ratifying relevant international conventions, devel-
oping appropriate legislation prohibiting FGM/C and
supporting budget allocations are effective steps
governments can take to encourage the abandon-
ment of the practice These efforts can be reinforced
in national development plans, poverty-reduction
programmes and other state-led interventions
legislation and enforcement
Laws that ban FGM/C and penalize the practitioners
should be passed and enforced This will be most
effective in the context of a comprehensive aware-
ness-raising campaign, including in schools and
communities
female Genital mutilation/Cutting
human riGhtS
There are many international treaties and con-
ventions that condemn harmful practices They
include the Convention on the rights of the Child
(1989), the Convention on the elimination of all
forms of discrimination against Women (1979),
the african Charter on the rights and Welfare of
the Child (1990) A specific focus on female geni-
tal mutilation/cutting is found in Un General as-
sembly resolution 56/128 on traditional or Cus-
tomary Practices affecting the health of Women
and Girls (2001) and in the Protocol on the Rights
of Women in Africa, or maputo Protocol (2003)
25
84
attitudes, customs and practices
Support for FGM/C may be rapidly reversed and
abandoned if attitudes and customs are collectively
addressed by the practising communities Involve-
ment of religious or moral leaders who can explain
that there is no religious justification for the prac-
tice can help in accelerating the abandonment of
female genital mutilation
open discussion
This is particularly important for many child protec-
tion issues, including harmful traditional practices
Communities, parents, teachers and children all
need to feel able to discuss FGM/C
Children’s life skills, knowledge and participation
Young girls at risk are rarely in a position to avoid
or refuse the procedure However, education and
understanding of alternatives can help them to
address the issue more openly with their parents,
resist societal pressures, and protect themselves,
their sisters and daughters
Capacity of families and communities
As FGM/C prevalence follows ethnic lines and is
perpetuated among intra-marrying communities,
it is essential to coordinate the work done among
communities with such ties Grass-roots non-
governmental and community-based organizations
concerned with the protection of human rights
and human dignity need to be strengthened and
supported, as they play an important role in FGM/C
abandonment
essential services, including prevention, recovery
and reintegration
Support for women who oppose genital mutilation/
cutting and help for those who have undergone the
procedure include medical services to deal with the
health consequences of FGM/C – which tend to be
chronic and life-long – as well as educational and
awareness-raising activities that contribute to the
abandonment of the practice
monitoring, reporting and oversight
Analysis of data collected through the Demo-
graphic and Health Survey, for example, should be
widely disseminated and utilized Agreed indicators
should become a common monitoring tool Main
interventions should include baseline participatory
assessments and local ethnographic studies
examPleS of uniCef in aCtion
In egypt, in 2005, UnICEF and its partners ex-
panded awareness campaigns about female genital
mutilation to new communities in Upper Egypt,
including mobilizing village members as advocates
against the practice
In Senegal, UnICEF worked with ToSTAn interna-
tional non-governmental organization to establish
a village empowerment programme based on the
human rights-based approach to combat violence
against girls, in particular FGM/C and child mar-
riage In 2005, the programme was developed in
130 village communities and led to public declara-
tions of abandoning these practices in 114 villages
By the end of 2005, nearly 1,630 villages have
announced their decision to drop the practice of
female genital mutilation/cutting
notes
1 Unless otherwise indicated, data are from United nations
Children’s Fund, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical
exploration 2005, UnICEF, new York, 2005
2
UnICEF, <http://wwwchildinfoorg/areas/fgmc/profilesphp>
Data from preliminary report
millennium deVeloPment GoalS
FGM/C is a violation of the physical and psycho-
sexual integrity of girls and inherently contra-
dicts gender equality (MDG 3) one of the many
negative health implications is an increased
chance of death during childbirth, thus impeding
efforts to reduce maternal mortality (MDG 5)
Some studies also show a higher vulnerability to
HIV/AIDS among girls who have been subjected
to FGM/C, meaning that the practice hampers
efforts to halt and reverse the spread of AIDS
(MDG 6)
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET: FEMALE GEnITAL MUTILATIon/CUTTInG
26
83
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET
Child trafficking affects children throughout the
world, in both industrialized and developing coun-
tries Trafficked children are subjected to prostitu-
tion, forced into marriage or illegally adopted; they
provide cheap or unpaid labour, work as house serv-
ants or beggars, are recruited into armed groups
and are used for sports Trafficking exposes children
to violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection and
violates their rights to be protected, grow up in a
family environment and have access to education
A ‘child victim of trafficking’ is any person under
18 who is recruited, transported, transferred, har-
boured or received for the purpose of exploitation,
either within or outside a country The use of illicit
means, including violence or fraud, is irrelevant
Ending trafficking will require international, regional
and national cooperation Root causes – poverty,
discrimination, exclusion and violence – need to be
addressed along with the demand side
faCtS and fiGureS
• The invisible and clandestine nature of traffick-
ing and the lack of strong data collection make it
difficult to know the global number of child vic-
tims However, according to the latest estimates
available, some 12 million children are trafficked
worldwide every year
1
• In East Asia and the Pacific, most trafficking is into
child prostitution, though some children are also re-
cruited for agricultural and industrial work In South
Asia, trafficking is often related to debt bondage
2
• In Europe, children are mainly trafficked from east
to west, reflecting the demand for cheap labour
and child prostitution
BuildinG a ProteCtiVe enVironment for
Children
Government commitment and capacity
To protect child victims of trafficking, governments
must ratify international legal standards that
address all forms of exploitation, as well as de-
velop bilateral agreements to facilitate cross-border
cooperation Poverty-alleviation policies are critical
to a comprehensive anti-trafficking strategy And
non-discrimination, the best interest of the child and
equitable participation are the core principles for
establishing durable solutions
legislation and enforcement
Far too often, trafficked children are arrested and
detained as illegal aliens, rather than recognized as
the victims The prosecution of criminals needs to
be complemented with legislation that focuses on
protecting child victims Law enforcement needs to
ensure that children in custody have access to their
families and other support services
attitudes, customs and practices
Inequality between men and women, boys and girls
contributes to child trafficking Abuse will also flour-
ish if it is socially acceptable for men to purchase
sex with children, for families to use children as
domestic servants, or if sending children away
from their families becomes a survival strategy in
response to conflict and other crises
trafficking
human riGhtS
The Convention on the rights of the Child (1989)
asks States Parties to take “all appropriate nation-
al, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent
the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children
for any purpose or in any form” (Article 35) and
to “promote physical and psychological recovery
and reintegration of a child victim” (Article 39)
optional Protocol to the Convention on the
rights of the Child (2002) on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography further
defines these standards The optional protocol to
the un Convention against transnational organ-
ized Crime (2000), known as the Palermo Proto-
col, for the first time defines trafficking in human
beings ilo Convention 182 on the Worst forms
of Child labour (1999) includes child trafficking
27
83
open discussion
The participation of media and civil society can in-
form and educate communities about the dangers
of trafficking But the rights of the victims need to
be ensured at all times, and sensational reporting
should be avoided as counterproductive
Children’s life skills, knowledge and participation
The concept of ‘child agency’ defines children as
thinking individuals and decision-makers who
have the right to express opinions regarding
choices that affect them While adolescents need
to learn how to recognize false ‘employment’ of-
fers, they also need respect for their aspirations
towards legitimate and safe mobility
Capacity of families and communities
To protect and assist vulnerable children, parents,
teachers, police, health and social workers need
skills, capacity, knowledge, authority and motiva-
tion But increases in trafficking are most often as-
sociated with the breakdown of families’ abilities to
care for their children Strengthening existing wel-
fare systems and improving reliable access to these
services are the core of successful interventions
essential services, including prevention, recovery
and reintegration
Full access to child welfare services, health and ed-
ucation should be granted to children, regardless
of their legal status Specific services may range
from the immediate appointment of a guardian for
identified child victims to creating youth centres
that help exploited children re-enter society
monitoring, reporting and oversight activities
States should create effective monitoring and
oversight mechanisms to collect reliable data and
information These activities can be especially
effective when community-based once accurate
information has been collected, procedures should
be in place for sharing and analysis at the interna-
tional level
examPleS of uniCef in aCtion
UnICEF is part of the United nations Inter-Agency
Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater mekong
Subregion, established in June 2000 to facilitate a
stronger and more coordinated response to hu-
man trafficking in Cambodia, China, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet
nam The project aims to strengthen the regional
response to human trafficking through improved
knowledge, effective collaboration and better tar-
geted action
In 2005, UnICEF and the united arab emirates
signed an agreement to return children involved in
camel racing, many of them victims of trafficking,
back to their countries According to recent statis-
tics, more than 1,000 child camel jockeys – mostly
from Bangladesh, Mauritania, Pakistan and Sudan
– have been sent home and many have been re-
united with their families UnICEF provided techni-
cal assistance and expertise As follow-up to this
initiative, in 2006, UnICEF helped organize the first
ever workshop on combating child trafficking in the
arab world nine countries were represented at the
event: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qa-
tar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
notes
1
International Labour organization, A Future without Child
Labour, ILo, Geneva, 2002, p 32
2 United nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s
Children 2006: Excluded and invisible, UnICEF, new York, 2005,
p 50
millennium deVeloPment GoalS
Achieving MDG 1 – to eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger – will eliminate the conditions that
are a root cause of trafficking Because this dan-
gerous human rights violation prevents a child
from going to school and can lead to infection
with sexually transmitted diseases, protecting
children from trafficking will support universal
primary education (MDG 2) and help halt and
reverse the spread of AIDS (MDG 6)
CHILD PRoTECTIon InFoRMATIon SHEET: TRAFFICKInG
28
Documents you may be interested
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