ARCHANA TAMANG
Regional Alliance Programme Coordinator,
International Save the Children Alliance, South and Central Asia Region
Résumé
L’approche de Save the Children et la mise sur pied de ses programmes de lutte contre le trafic des enfants sont basées sur les droits, l’intérêt supérieur et la participation. Les enfants et leurs répondants directs participent à identifier les solutions et à les faire durer.
Les défis principaux à l’action sont : faiblesse des mécanismes de protection des enfants dans les zones concernées, manque de ressources, échec des gouvernements à prendre en compte la dimension structurelle et les causes sous- jacentes, ainsi les contextes de conflit armé.
L’impact physique et psychologique négatif qu’a le trafic sur les enfants est souvent accentué par des opérations de libération sans précautions, ainsi que la stigmatisation des communautés d’origine. C’est pourquoi les activités de réintégration doivent encourager l’enfant à prendre la responsabilité de sa propre vie, ce qui en retour l’aide à avoir confiance en lui : contrairement à l’expérience d’impuissance totale vécue lors du trafic.
Zusammenfassung
Das Konzept von Save the Children und die Schaffung seiner Programme zur Bekämpfung des Kinderhandels fußen auf den Rechten, dem höheren Interesse und der Partizipation. Die Kinder und ihre direkten Bezugspersonen helfen, dauerhafte Lösungen zu finden.
Die Herausforderungen an die Tätigkeit von Save the Children sind zur Hauptsache die schwachen Schutzmechanismen der Kinder in den betreffenden Gebieten, die fehlenden Mittel und die Hilflosigkeit der Regierungen, sich über das strukturelle Ausmaß des bewaffneten Konflikts und über die zugrunde liegenden Ursachen und Zusammenhänge klar zu werden.
Der Menschenhandel hat auf die Kinder negative physische und psychologische Auswirkungen. Diese werden oft durch unvorsichtige Befreiungsaktionen sowie durch Stigmatisierung der Ursprungsgemeinschaften verstärkt. Aus diesem Grund müssen die Wiedereingliederungsmaßnahmen das Kind ermutigen, die Verantwortung für sein eigenes Leben selber zu übernehmen. Das hilft ihm im Gegenzug, nach der völligen Machtlosigkeit, die es durch den Menschenhandel erlebt hat, wieder Selbstvertrauen zu bekommen.
Resumen
La particularidad del Salvar a los Niños y la puesta en marcha de sus programas de lucha contra el tráfico de niños están basados en los derechos, el interés superior y la participación. Los niños y sus fiadores directos participan en identificar las soluciones y hacer que duren.
Los desafíos principales a la acción son : la fragilidad de los mecanismos de protección de los niños en las zonas concernidas, la falta de recursos, el fracaso de los gobiernos a tener en cuenta la dimensión estructural y las causas subyacentes, así como los contextos del conflicto armado.
El impacto físico y sicológico negativo que tiene el tráfico de niños está a menudo acentuado por las operaciones de liberación sin precauciones, así como por la estigmatización de las comunidades de origen. Es por esta razón que las actividades de reintegración deben alentar al niño a tomar la responsabilidad se su propia vida, lo que a la vez le ayuda a tener confianza en sí mismo contrariamente a la experiencia de impotencia total vivida en el momento del tráfico.
Summary
Save the Children approach and programming in the fight against child trafficking are based on rights, best interests and participation. Children and their immediate duty bearers participate in identifying and sustaining solutions.
The main challenges to action are: weak child protection mechanisms in the concerned areas, lack of resources, general failure of governments to address the structural dimension and underlying root causes, and armed conflict context.
The negative physical and psychological impact of trafficking is often aggravated by ruthless rescue operations and social stigma in the communities of origin. Therefore, reintegration activities must encourage the child to take responsibility for his/her own life, which in turn helps build his/her confidence, unlike the powerlessness experience of being trafficked.
“I asked them to let me go home. I was crying. They watched me while I was speaking on the phone………my mother realized that something was very wrong.”
- Adolescent girl, trafficking survivor, Bucharest, Romania
Pimps, traffickers, employers, clients, and in several cases law enforcement agents subject trafficked children to all sorts of violence and torture including beating, rape, sodomy, emotional abuse, black mail, enslavement and sexual exploitation. There are some reported cases of children trafficked for begging being disfigured and maimed to garner sympathy and generosity from the rich.
The exploitation and abuse suffered by trafficked children constitute a severe violation of their human rights and puts a question mark on the accountability of States as Primary Duty bearers, Governments and the global community; and the responsibility and accountability of others, including the immediate duty bearers.
The overall aim of Save the Children’s programme interventions and responses has been to reduce the incidence of child trafficking and all forms of abuse and exploitation arising from it-through the use of rights based programming approaches, strengthened protection mechanisms and increased capacity of stakeholders, girl and boy children and their immediate duty bearers to participate in identifying and sustaining solutions.
Save the Children approaches the problem by taking into account the children’s right to participate in all processes affecting their lives (CRC Art 12), taking into account the voices of trafficking survivors and those vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and using their input to develop sustainable programmes generated from the ideas of children themselves. Save the Children further focuses on the fundamental principle that all actions must be taken in the best interest of
the child.
CHALLENGES
Despite positive increases in responses to child trafficking over the past several years amongst key actors, the capacity of State actors and other duty bearers (and the deterrence caused due to the lack of access to areas with presence of non -State actors in many “in-conflict” parts of the world), to take effective measures to protect children from being trafficked remains limited by weak/weakened child protection mechanisms, lack of resources, limited understanding about both the vulnerability factors of children-at-risk and what interventions are effective, and a general failure of governments to address the structural dimensions and underlying root causes1 of
child trafficking. Armed conflict in several parts of the world has been a key factor causing forced migration. In Nepal there is growing evidence “that in response to the insurgency, children have been forced to flee to the neighbouring countries and others have been ‘internally displaced’ from the hill villages to the urban centres in Nepal and beyond" with or without family members. "The insurgency resulted crisis, the threat of coming into cross fire, suspicion of fighting groups and resulting actions and compulsion to inform the government in the one hand and to join the armed rebellion forces"2 on the other hand causes children and young people to flee their homes for what they perceive as safer havens. The children thus displaced are seen to be in need of priority attention due to their need for protection from exposure to situations of abuse, exploitation and trafficking especially as it has been noticed that demand and supply vis trafficking are being created in transit and destination locales. “At a crucial and vulnerable time in their lives, these children are brutally uprooted and exposed to danger and insecurity. A recent research paper estimates the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nepal “somewhere between 100’000 and 150’000.”3 A recent report suggests that the number of IDPs in Nepal is around 200’000 and is still growing.
“Save the Children’s study with migrant children and youth along the borders in China, Myanmar and Thailand indicated that about 70 to 80% of children trafficked, exploited or abused while migrating were girls. The younger girls are likely to be free of HIV and thus are in demand in the commercial sex industry; young brides are in demand in countries such as China, which has a skewed sex ratio as a result of the one-child policy and male preference. Trafficking of girls and young women into marriage is also frequently reported, by girls and young women from minority communities, who often are forced into marriages deeper into China. Trafficking of young children and babies was also reported from Myanmar into China.”
-Mapping and Analysis of SC UK’s Work on Trafficking, April 2003
Most trafficked children suffer under harsh living and working conditions and have little access to health care and education, and many are at high-risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. Living in a foreign city or country where foreign language is spoken, and separated from their community, they may have little access to support networks and can find themselves isolated and alone. Threats against trafficked children or their families by pimps or traffickers, mistrust of authorities, lack of legal status, and not knowing where to turn for help keep them from trying to escape. Trafficked children who return home face many difficulties. Oftentimes, they return to the same environment from where they were trafficked in the first place – yet conditions there remain unchanged. Abusive home
environments, endemic poverty, lack of job opportunities, limited access to education, little or no social welfare support mechanisms, and traffickers at large present some of the many challenges.4
“Often the traumas suffered by girls trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation are multiple and stem from a lifelong history of mental and physical abuse.
Effectively supporting their reintegration/recovery is a long-term process that requires ongoing interventions addressing the experience of trafficking, as well as the root causes, and personal background and history of the individual girls.” Psychologist, Save the Children Romania