Unfortunately trafficking in people, and in children, is still big business, all around the world. There are practically no countries that are not a source, destination or transit country for child trafficking. This is something that needs to be tackled, and in order to be able to tackle it, we need to be aware of the problem. As well as of the fact that child trafficking is closely related to institutionalisation of children.
In 2018 Australia officially recognised the recruitment of children for ‘orphanages’ as child trafficking to orphanages, and recognised child trafficking to orphanages as a form or modern slavery. This is a big and important step. And one that looks like it is being followed by other countries. In early 2019 government of The Netherlands organised hearings to get more information on the effects of volunteering in ‘orphanages’, and of providing financial support to orphanages, as well as on what can be done to prevent negative outcomes.
Children are trafficked into ‘orphanages’ to serve as ‘toys’ for volunteers to play with when they come over, and the money brought by the volunteers is mostly pocketed by those running the institution. But that is not the only form of child trafficking connected to institutionalisation.
In, for example, Nepal and Romania parents would leave their children in institutions temporarily, either because they were unable to feed them, or to make sure they got an education. Then when they came to collect the child again, once their financial situation had improved, they would find the child gone, without any sign of where they might be.
Illegal adoption, whether through institutions or outside of them, is a form of child trafficking that is still very lucrative and very much alive. And as long as there are prospective parents who are willing to by-pass the official adoption system – which is cumbersome, but there for the protection of the children – people will continue to remove children from their own families to sell them to other families.
And aside from being trafficked into institutions, children living in institutions are also at a far greater risk of being trafficked out of them. Whether they are trafficked for forced labour, forced begging, sexual exploitation or whatever other purpose, children in institutions are more likely to be targeted than children in families, because there is less supervision and the children are more vulnerable.
So for those thinking: what could I possibly do to prevent child trafficking? There are actually things you can do. You can decide to support family strengthening and community service projects, rather than those aimed at institutionalising children. You can stay aware – and raise awareness – about the fact that adoption is about finding the right family for a child, rather than about finding a child for a family (because the latter will stimulate trafficking). And you can help raise awareness about the fact that child trafficking is not a thing of the past, that it is something we need to be vigilant about right now.
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