Child Trafficking in Europe

person or group of persons to another for remunera-
tion or any other consideration.” Article 2(b) defines
child prostitution as “the use of a child in sexual
activities for remuneration or any other form of con-
sideration.” Article 2(c) specifies that child pornography
means “any representation, by whatever means, of
a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual
activities or any representation of the sexual parts of
a child for primarily sexual purposes.”
The Optional Protocol requires States, at a minimum,
to criminalize the sale of children, child prostitution
and pornography whether committed domestically or
transnationally (article 3). In the context of the ‘sale
of children,’ the scope of the Optional Protocol goes
beyond the purpose of sexual exploitation. It mentions
specifically “offering, delivering or accepting, by what-
ever means, a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation
of the child;...transfer of organs of the child for
profit;...engagement of the child in forced labour;
...improperly inducing consent, as an intermediary, for
the adoption of a child in violation of applicable inter-
national legal instruments on adoption.” (Article 3.)
‘palermo protocol’
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing
the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime, also known as the ‘Palermo
Protocol’, is the first legal instrument to provide an
internationally agreed on definition of trafficking in
human beings and child trafficking. 37
Adopted in 2000, the Palermo Protocol defines trafficking
in human beings as “the recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons,
by means of the threat or use of force or other forms
of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of
the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability
or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits
to achieve the consent of a person having control
over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation
of the prostitution of others or other forms of
sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery
or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal
of organs.” (Article 3 (a).)
On child trafficking, the Palermo Protocol is clear that
no violence, deception or coercion is required; it is
sufficient to know that a person under 18 years of age
has been recruited and moved for the purpose of exploitation
for that person to be considered a victim of
trafficking. Article 3(c) states: “The recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for
the purpose of exploitation shall be considered ‘trafficking
in persons’ even if this does not involve any of
the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article.”
This definition implies the understanding that a child
cannot consent to being trafficked and a child’s
‘consent’ is not recognized as a justification for any
form of child exploitation or abuse.
The Palermo Protocol is intended “to prevent and com-
bat trafficking in persons, especially women and
children” through “a comprehensive international
approach in the countries of origin, transit and destination
that includes measures to prevent such trafficking,
to punish the traffickers and to protect the
victims.” 38 One of its stated purposes is to “protect
and assist the victims...of trafficking, with full respect
for their human rights.” 39 Articles 9(a) and 9(b) require
States parties to establish comprehensive policies
that specifically prevent children from revictimization.
The Palermo Protocol focuses much more on aspects
of criminal law than on the protection of victims. 40 It
emphasizes border control and security of documents,
while vague language is used on the types of measures
that States must “endeavour to undertake” to assist trafficked
persons. 41 In order to protect the human rights
of trafficked children, the Palermo Protocol should be
applied along with other international standards, in
particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and its Optional Protocols. 42
The CRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography contains
more explicit measures to protect the rights and
interests of child victims. Its provisions are mandatory.
Both protocols complement one another, each
approaching the issue of child trafficking and child
exploitation from a different perspective. Ratification
and implementation of both instruments is therefore
essential to provide broad protection for children
who have been trafficked or sold into exploitation.
As of 8 November 2007, 37 countries had ratified the
CRC Optional Protocol, and 42 European countries
and the European Community had ratified the Palermo
Protocol. Only 35 European countries have ratified
both the Palermo Protocol and the CRC Optional
Protocol. Both protocols have been ratified in more
than half of the countries in the subregion European
Union and other Western European countries and in
eight countries in CIS. In South Eastern Europe, nine
countries have ratified both Protocols.
The process of ratification varies from one subregion
to another. In the European Union and other Western
European countries, it is more usual to sign international
legal instruments soon after their adoption,
with some years often passing before conclusion of
the national process of ratification. In South Eastern
Europe and CIS, the signature is more often delayed
but the ratification process is completed quickly.
Legislation on child trafficking 17