OVC Support Toolkit  >  Children's rights 

Protection from abuse, exploitation, neglect and trafficking

This section looks at issues relating to the protection of children and young people from abuse, exploitation, neglect and trafficking. This is part of children's rights. Other sections look in detail at participation, stigma and discrimination and legal issues.

Key points about abuse, exploitation, neglect and trafficking are:

1. Abuse takes many forms including verbal abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse. Children and young people may be abused as part of domestic violence, that is, violence directed by one family member against another, such as a father against a mother.

2. Child sexual abuse is defined as involvement of a child in any sexual activity before the legally-recognised age of consent. It includes forms of commercial sexual exploitation, including child prostitution and pornography.

3. Exploitation of children and young people includes harmful forms of child labour, various forms of commercial sexual exploitation and early marriage. Organisations working with children and young people can also exploit them. For example, use of their identities to promote projects without their full understanding can be considered a form of exploitation.

4. Child neglect occurs widely in developing countries as a result of poverty. It may be difficult to separate deliberate neglect from poverty-related problems.

5. Trafficking is the sale of children for any purpose. It is closely linked to commercial sexual exploitation in most cases.

Many actions have been identified which will protect children and young people from these things. These include:

• Tackling the root causes of exploitation and trafficking, such as poverty.
• Recognising that children and young people are the victims of these practices and that they need support not punishment.
• Support that may be provided to children and young people in these circumstances includes counselling, provision of temporary residential permits and protection to testify in legal proceedings.
• Protecting children and young people from these practices until they reach age 18. In some countries, young people can legally consent to sex before they reach 18. This should not be taken to mean that young people under the age of 18 can consent to exploitative practices including prostitution and pornography.
• Allowing children and young people to participate in finding solutions to these problems.
• Actions which tackle the negative side of Internet use.
• Legal provisions which allow sexual exploitation in one country to be prosecuted in another.
• Ongoing research and investigation into these issues.

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