CHILD TRAFFICKING

Submitted By:
CHARADE KIMBERLY B. DY
CE 154
AUGUST 29, 2019
Submitted to:
MS. SUNDAE CORTEZ
INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, child trafficking is a serious crime not only in the Philippines but also around the

world. Child trafficking is where the children are being trade from different people with different interests.

It is a crime that exploits girls and boys for numerous purposes including forced labor and sex. The

information is gathered from different sources such as e-books, journals, internet, and other relevant

studies.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

According to NSPCC, Trafficking is where children and young people tricked, forced or persuaded to leave

their homes and are moved or transported and then exploited, forced to work or sold. Children are trafficked for

sexual exploitation, benefit fraud, forced marriage, domestic slavery like cleaning, cooking and childcare, forced

labor in factories or agriculture, committing crimes, like begging, theft, working on cannabis farms or moving drugs.

Trafficked children experience many types of abuse and neglect. Traffickers use physical, sexual and emotional

abuse as a form of control. Children and young people are also likely to be physically and emotionally neglected and

may be sexually exploited.

The high demand for children for sexual purposes has generated such high profits that many organized

crime groups are turning away from other illicit activities to devote their resources to the trafficking of minors.12

Human trafficking appeals to criminal organizations as “it is becoming increasingly easy and inexpensive to procure,

move and exploit vulnerable girls.”13 Additionally, the relatively low risk of detection and prosecution of

technology-facilitated child sex trafficking compared to the risk associated with traditional, “in-person” forms of

trafficking makes online sex trafficking an attractive illegal activity in which to engage.14 One child can generate a

profit of several thousand dollars a day for traffickers and can be abused and sold repeatedly, unlike other forms of

illicit trade like drug trafficking.15 The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that “globally, two-thirds
of the profits from forced labour are generated by forced sexual exploitation, amounting to an estimated US$99

billion per year.”16 Approximately 5.5 million children under the age of 18 are forced.(ICMEC, 2018)

Nearly two million children are victims of sex trafficking worldwide; every day, five additional

children are sexually abused on the internet. In this study, “sex trafficking,” refers to the exploitation of

children involving any form of sexual abuse for the purposes of economic gain. Exploited children are at

increased risk of experiencing violence, sexually transmitted infections, depression, and suicide.

International organizations report that the Philippines has one of the highest rates of child exploitation

for sex tourism worldwide. The Philippine province of Cebu is a popular tourist destination, and

reportedly experiences a higher prevalence of sex trafficking cases. (Petko, Jones, Nguyen, Enrile,

Sepulveda, and Javier, 2018)

Women and children are typically the types of victims that traffickers seek because of their vulnerability.

The Philippine culture encourages sexual exploitation of children and females because young girls and women are

sexualized and objectified in the Philippines. Their negative societal image and role as a domestic caregiver,

servant, and sex object is portrayed through mass media outlets. Combine their image and social status with

poverty, globalization, foreign military presence, labor exportation, mail bride orders, online pornography and

chat-rooms, and it results in a flourishing sex tourism industry in the Philippines. (Graycar & McCusker, 2007)

DISCUSSION

Child trafficking won’t exist if there are no traffickers. Base on my research, there are a few reasons why

child trading existed these are the following, poverty, humanitarian crises, lack of education, absence of birth

registration, international adoption and use of children. First is poverty, is one of the main causes of child

trafficking. Poor families sometimes have no choice but to abandon their children, leaving them in the

hands of traffickers. Poverty also causes a large increase in the number of children and orphans.
Humanitarian Crises, child trafficking is particularly prominent in areas struck by natural disasters.

Traffickers profited from the situation by kidnapping numerous children. It can be observed that child

trafficking is more frequent in countries where human rights are being violated.

Lack of Education, illiteracy and the lack of education make families more vulnerable to

traffickers. Absence of birth registration, the most threatened children are those whose births were never

registered. Each year, 40 million children are born without being officially declared, which constitutes a

violation of the Right to Identity. International Adoption is more and more solicited by couples.

Traffickers and dishonest adoption agencies don’t have much trouble finding potential clients. Use of

children, are sold for the purposes of sexual exploitation, begging, soliciting, or for forced marriages.

They risk themselves in construction work, working in factories, or are employed as domestic servants.

Children are given for a substantial sum of money to parents waiting to adopt.

Who are the buyers? To think about the question, we can say that any age can be the buyer. But

according to my research, Buyers average about age 30 with a wide range of ages from 18 to 84 years old. Most

buyers purchased sex for the first time before the age of 21. Sex is typically purchased from both indoor and

outdoor locations, with many instances occurring when men are traveling with fellow employees, going to a sports

event or in the military. These buyers are not lonely—over half are married or with a partner. While some buyers

experienced positive emotions after purchasing sex, many also experienced negative feelings including shame and

guilt. (PACT CITY, 2017)

How can we prevent child trafficking? This question is very tricky but actually there are ways to

stop this issue. Education, the more knowledge one has about what child sex trafficking is, the better

prepared and equipped one is to stop it. Educate yourself about child sex trafficking. Raise awareness,

with those you know, whether it is within your circle of friends and family, local churches and faith-based

groups, your work environment, and even with your local politicians and legislators. Ensure that schools

in your area are also aware of child sex trafficking, and how children within their own schools may be
potential victims. Take action, become an advocate about child sex trafficking. Speak out about the issue

to others within the circles you are associated with.(DeGarmo, 2018)

REFERENCES

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/

https://www.humanium.org/en/child-trafficking/

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/

https://news.mb.com.ph/tag/human-trafficking/

https://www.semanticscholar.org/

https://www.huffpost.com/

https://pact.city/child-sex-trafficking-buyers/