A report conducted by International Organization for Migration and François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University revealed that more than half of child trafficking victims are trafficked within their own countries.

The report also found that in cases of international trafficking, children are mostly trafficked to neighbouring, wealthier countries.  

Close to half of the child victims of trafficking were being trafficked for forced labour (mainly boys), in a wide range of industries, such as domestic work, begging and agriculture. Sexual exploitation, including through prostitution, pornography, and sexual servitude, is also prominent — affecting 20 percent of trafficked children, predominantly girls.   

According to the report titled ‘From Evidence to Action: Twenty Years of IOM Child Trafficking Data to Inform Policy and Programming’, child victims trafficked for sexual exploitation were commonly trafficked internationally, while those trafficked for forced labour were more likely to be trafficked domestically. Involvement of family and friends in their recruitment, is a prominent trend with more than half of child victims experiencing this.

Irina Todorova, Head of IOM’s Core Protection Unit said, ‘The report shows that child trafficking is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon that continues to spread and evolve within and across borders. No age range, no gender, and no nationality is immune to child trafficking; it is a truly global phenomenon.’

For instance, boys were almost twice as likely to be trafficked as children than girls and had 39 percent less likelihood of being trafficked internationally than domestically, as compared to girls, it said.

The report further stated that victims with little or no education were more than 20 times more likely to be trafficked than victims who had attended high school while children from low-income countries were five times more likely to be trafficked as a child (rather than as an adult) when compared to victims from high-income countries.