The Simple Equation: A and B Are Alone

The child mobility described in the previous sections may or may not qualify as trafficking. If we are to apply the going definitions of child trafficking as a combination of mobility and exploitation, the key to assessing the situation of relocated children in the region becomes the concept of exploitation. The basic definition of exploitation stated that A is exploiting B when the benefits that A gets from the relationship appear unreasonable compared to those of B. The idea of exploitation as an equation measuring the benefits and the costs of A versus B is suggested by Kielland and Bjørkhaug. In the equation “The cons are subtracted from the pros on each side of the equation symbol, and, ideally, there is a cut-off point where the benefit/compensation ratio between the parties must be deemed to be unreasonable”.

A striking feature in the international trafficking debate has been the isolation of A and B from their social and familial embeddedness. This again reflects a Western, individualistic approach to human rights—an ideological perspective that contrasts the strongly collectivist social norms of West Africa, as described in the first part of this chapter. The equation picturing the balance between A and B thus becomes very simple with clear demarcation in both time and space: the costs and benefits included on each side are those borne or enjoyed by A and B alone. Others, with which their lives are intertwined, remain in the obscure outskirts of the picture. The image is static: it ignores the fact that the situation in question may be a springboard to future opportunities, or to the contrary, put constraints on such future possibilities. The equation reads: (benefits of A) – (costs of A) = (benefits of B) – (costs of B) + X. The X term expresses the absolute size of the difference in net benefit. The ratio ((benefits of A) – (costs of A)) ÷ ((benefits of B) – (costs of B)) may express the degree of unfairness. Exploitation requires this equation to be strikingly imbalanced; that is, X is substantial, or the ratio is much larger than 1.