Young People’s Voices on Child Trafficking: Experiences from South Eastern Europe

This UNICEF Innocenti Working Paper by Mike Dottridge is based on interviews with 31 children from Albania, Kosovo, Moldova and Romania who experienced trafficking while under 18 years of age. The children decribe their lives before recruitment, their experiences during exploitation, as well as how the managed to escape the traffickers.

The study:

• Illustrates the complexity and dynamics of child trafficking.
• Provides insight into how the children and young people perceived the assistance they were offered.
• Identifies the extent to which the participating children and young people, at the time they received assistance, had been questioned about their views and given the   opportunity to participate in decisions regarding their situation.
• Provides an understanding of the importance of listening to children and young people and involving them in the design and implementation of actions to prevent child trafficking.

Most of all, the study demonstrates that when children who have been trafficked are given the opportunity to express their views, they provide important insights, as they are ‘experts' on the factors that make children vulnerable, their reasons for leaving home, and their special needs regarding prevention, assistance and protection.

You download the report here.