Shillong: In observance of the World Day Against Human Trafficking, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in collaboration with the Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) and the District Administration of East Khasi Hills District, conducted a sensitization workshop titled “Prevention and Combating Child Trafficking 2.0 in 100 Bordering and Adjoining Districts in India.”
D. Kharshiing, ADC, East Khasi Hills, focused her speech on the theme for 2024: “World Day Against Trafficking Persons, Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking.”
She emphasized that child trafficking is a heinous crime requiring immediate and continuous intervention. This year’s global campaign urges accelerated action to end child trafficking, highlighting that girls are disproportionately affected. One in three victims of human trafficking globally is a child.
Factors contributing to children’s vulnerability to trafficking include:
- Inadequate support for unaccompanied children amidst migration and refugee flows in war-affected areas.
- Economic hardships faced by victims and their families.
- The proliferation of online platforms, social media, and the dark web to recruit and exploit children, using technology to evade detection.
- Exploitative media content encouraging crimes against women and children.
- Dysfunctional families and lack of parental care.
- Forced child labor and their use in criminal activities and begging.
- Trafficking for illegal adoption and using adoption as a means to exploit children.
- Recruitment into armed forces.
- Online and sexual abuse.
To effectively combat this problem, combined efforts are needed at local, national, and international levels:
- States must prioritize child protection, strengthen legislation, and improve law enforcement.
- More financial resources should be allocated to combat child trafficking.
- Efforts should target root causes like poverty and inequality to reduce children’s vulnerability.
- Special attention should be given to trafficking children on the move.
- Holding perpetrators accountable is crucial.
- Victim support systems, child protection systems, and a child-sensitive justice system are required.
- Collaboration between technical companies, law enforcement, legal frameworks, civil society organizations, the private sector, and communities, alongside innovative strategies, will address online child exploitation.
The workshop stressed the importance of recognizing every individual’s dignity, as human trafficking dehumanizes people, turning them into objects and commodities. The hope of administrators and law enforcers is to see people restored to their full potential.
