Child Trafficking

Child trafficking…

is defined as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt” of a child for the purpose of exploitation. The trafficking of children is a process comprised of two distinct stages: the Act and the Purpose.

The Means stage is not required for the definition of child trafficking. This is because the definition recognizes that a child cannot give informed consent to his or her own exploitation, even if he or she agrees to travel or understands what has happened.

Children are trafficked for:

• sexual exploitation

• forced marriage

• domestic slavery like cleaning, cooking and childcare

• forced labour in factories or agriculture

• committing crimes, like begging, theft, working on cannabis farms or moving drugs.

Traffickers can already be known to the child, however they may also often groom children, families and communities to gain their trust. They may also threaten families with violence or threats. Traffickers often promise children and families that they'll have a better future elsewhere.

Trafficking is also an economic crime. Traffickers may ask families for money for providing documents or transport and they'll make a profit from money a child "earns" through exploitation, forced labour or crime.

Is this a problem in Ireland?

In 2019, 9 child victims of trafficking were detected in Ireland which represents 21% of all trafficking victims that year. That’s 9 children trafficked for sexual and/or labour exploitation. Think about that for a moment. In the previous 5 years (2015-2019), there were 25 child victims of trafficking detected in Ireland, and these were the ones detected. Given the hidden nature of human trafficking, and the way children can be groomed and controlled, it can be difficult to determine the scale of the problem. But one child is one child too many.