Children and Trafficking

Leading international agencies currently apply some very broad definitions of child trafficking. Comparing those definitions to a Bales-inspired definition of slavery would indicate some important overlaps, but not all child trafficking would qualify as slavery. The three points discussed in the previous sub-section are crucial here: children considered trafficked may be remunerated, they do not always work under threats or use of violence and they may in some situations be in a position to choose and change employers.

As this book explores, definitions of human trafficking are elaborate.2 According to the UN, a trafficker is someone who is part of the act of recruiting, transporting or receiving of a person, through criminal means ranging from brute force and purchase of a person to taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable situation, and whose purpose is gross exploitation. The trafficking term in popular discourse tends to refer to criminally organized groups moving people across borders against their will, often women for sexual exploitation. The UN, however, stresses that trafficking also may take place within countries, organized crime groups need not be involved, and that there are many types of exploitation that qualify as trafficking beyond sexual exploitation.