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Child Trafficking: The Construction of a Social Problem

Submitted: February 25th, 2019 Reviewed: October 13th, 2019 Published: January 6th, 2020

DOI: ten.5772/intechopen.90118

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Abstract

Kid trafficking is a public health problem and a serious violation of man rights. However, information technology is not a product of modern times; rather, it is a phenomenon observed across history. Nevertheless, information technology is not viewed equally a social problem considering information technology only affects a limited number of individuals, and these individuals are children. In fact, the social condition of children and the importance attached to their difficulties, the social exclusion of trouble children (the children of others), and the double negativity attributed to kid victims might explain why this crime is not generally recognized as a trouble that must be addressed. Equally a topic of high consensus and low intensity, its increasing presence in the political discourse and in kid protection practices is not accompanied by the agile involvement of the full general population in its prevention or combat. In this chapter, nosotros discuss the ambivalent presence of child trafficking in Portugal and within Europe, considering the official information on the phenomenon with regard to the aspects of criminal offence and victimization.

Keywords

• child trafficking
• social problem
• victims
• child protection
• trafficking in human beings

• Paula Cristina Martins*

  • Research Eye on Child Studies (CIEC), University of Minho (UM), Braga, Portugal

*Address all correspondence to: pcmartins@psi.uminho.pt

1. Is kid trafficking perceived equally a social problem in Portugal?

Nosotros live in a time in which claims proliferate almost a multitude of issues regarding social reality and people's lives. Considering some of these issues are understood every bit adversely affecting a meaning function of the population, they create a collective discourse and demands for action. When important societal groups (e.g. politicians, social change groups, the news media and numerous citizens) recognize these claims equally legitimate and valid, they get social problems. As such, from a social constructionist perspective, the emergence and recognition of social problems are based on both the empirical evidence of their existence and affect as well as on the perceptions of their implications and need to exist solved [one].

As Best [2] mentioned, social progress paradoxically creates social problems for different reasons. On the one manus, it generates a general expectation of perfectibility, which fosters a growing intolerance towards social difficulties and shortcomings. On the other hand, as the biggest challenges of humanity are within our reach (due east.grand. increased life expectancy, control of diseases), those that once were considered pocket-size now seem bigger and more serious (e.g. quality of life, lifelong learning). Moreover, the growing exigence of societies, together with the multiplication of relationships and advice networks, lowers the tolerance threshold of the population. Finally, because social progress improves life expectancy and standards of living, information technology fosters fears of loss as well as inflates perceived risks and defensive postures [two].

At given times and in relation to sure phenomena, a discrepancy exists non simply betwixt social perceptions and the available data on the issues but also among the perceptions of different social groups. For instance, policymakers might be circumspect to a sure subject based on their knowledge, and this view might not be shared or valued in the same manner past social club as a whole. We believe that child trafficking meets this standard worldwide and, specifically, in Portugal.

Regarding Portugal, the following reasons (some general, others land-specific) are put forwards to contend that child trafficking is not perceived every bit a social problem as previously defined: (i) it is relatively unknown amid most of the population, (ii) it involves children as victims, (iii) it involves children who are often from disadvantaged backgrounds and/or foreign origins, (iv) information technology is a police matter and (5) it involves a small group of the population.

Permit us hash out each aspect briefly.

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2. A foreign social phenomenon: the role of media and research

Research on the public awareness of trafficking in human beings (THB) is scarce. Nonetheless, equally Sharapov [3] asserts, it is a distant subject for virtually of the population. Various European countries (eastward.g. Scotland, Belgium, Czech republic, Finland and Romania) generally view it as having piffling relevance to their daily lives. This sense of detachment is not so much due to the lack of data on the subject area, as to how this data is framed (i.e. primarily as a legal and criminal issue on the margins of normal everyday life) [four]. Portuguese reports on people's awareness of human trafficking are in line with this full general trend. In a written report conducted by Sani, Nunes and Caridade [5], the authors used a convenience sample to find that almost respondents showed a poor understanding of THB and recognized the lack of information apropos this phenomenon in Portugal. Most participants viewed THB every bit the exploitation of immigrants and socially disadvantaged people in search of work. More than than one-half (58.5%) had not heard any information about it over the last ii years. Amongst those who had heard information, social media stood out as the privileged method of communication regarding this phenomenon.

Although the relationships among public opinion, the media and public policies are circuitous and controversial, the available testify shows that political and media discourses on man trafficking significantly influence public opinion, and (conversely) public opinion affects media and policymaking [3, 4].

With regard to Portugal, the function the media plays in framing the public discourse on man trafficking has received specific attending. Inquiry examining the written press between 2001 and 2004 [half dozen] substantiated the media representation of human trafficking equally infrequent, superficial and stereotyped. News on this topic was poor, barely visible and associated with criminal activity and deviant people from other countries and minorities. In a second study focusing on the news published in a tabloid newspaper in 2008, despite the increased visibility of the miracle, Couto, Machado, Martins, and Gonçalves [7] identified similar trends in the coverage: it was framed every bit a criminal problem, substantially involving deviant groups, and is generally related to illegal immigration. This representation facilitates the adoption of a passive and moralizing attitude of devaluation regarding the phenomena and depreciates the people involved. As has been indicated with regard to kid trafficking in other European countries [eight], a cross-border problem that affects almost only asylum seekers and immigrants or particular cases is unlikely to bear on the general community. This assumption leads to the underestimation of the risks of child trafficking and to the weakening of the social relevance of prevention and protection strategies.

Enquiry on human trafficking and, in particular, child trafficking, is critical. Producing and disseminating knowledge helps sensitize people in full general. Moreover, it substantiates more effective processes of identification, prevention, and protection, too equally helps back up victims and prosecute criminals [9].

Every bit Clemente [10] stated, the Portuguese investigation concerning human trafficking has adult more slowly and inconsistently than that in other countries (the showtime publications date dorsum to 2000) [11]. Driven past the increasing attention of the national authorities to the phenomenon, within the framework of international agreements, the bookish research made its greatest evolution beginning in 2007 onwards. As in other European countries, where the empirical literature on child trafficking is deficient [12], the scientific arroyo to this trouble in Portugal since the beginning consisted primarily of secondary research manufactures on the sexual exploitation of women based on official statistics. For various reasons, this inquiry appears to report merely one-third of the referrals per year [11]. Reports on the prevalence of the phenomenon to monitor and evaluate prevention, protection and rehabilitation programmes have been more than systematic and frequent than that regarding trafficked victims, the circumstances of their victimization or the trafficking process, its rationale, dynamics and other people involved. Nevertheless, the study of the social representations of homo trafficking, in particular those of specific groups including practitioners, has been a significant office of the investigation undertaken in Portugal in this field, yet with sampling limitations. In these types of scholarly papers, kid trafficking is frequently referred to in connection with the characterization of the age of the victims. Nonetheless, research specifically focusing on kid trafficking is scarcer. In this regard, the RCAAP^one portal is a privileged source of access to Portuguese academic production. From 2006 to 2016, 12 papers on human trafficking were registered from Portuguese repositories [13]. However, only eight titles include the keywords "child trafficking" equally of 2019: a working paper and seven principal's theses.

In short, the still incipient scientific production and media coverage focusing on criminal cases reinforce the lack of information associated with public opinion and, to that extent, create a distance with regard to this phenomenon.

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3. The status of victims: children

As has been elaborated elsewhere [14], a widespread social consensus exists regarding kid welfare matters. Although these matters are ofttimes used by politicians and the media as rhetorical devices and emotional avails [xv], this discursive intensity is non ever consistently translated into policies or practices. On the other mitt, this unanimity, fifty-fifty if it arouses ethical daze and emotional indignation, does non induce social pressure or collectively persistent action in relation to children's issues.

If children whose parents fail to protect their best interest are socially vulnerable, relatively invisible and voiceless, child victims are viewed even as more helpless. This issue is specially relevant because, as Gearon [16] argued, kid trafficking narratives are pervaded by the notion of victimhood, conveying representations of helplessness, vulnerability and lack of agency. This convergent negativity (those of children and victims) [14] easily evokes empathic social responses but does not necessarily make the victim a priority.

Furthermore, the formal requirements for eligibility to the protection arrangement, which are understood in calorie-free of the social representations of victimhood, create a paradox. On the one hand, the confirmation of the status of a victim is a mandatory requirement for accessing aid. On the other hand, when victims do not comply with the social expectations of powerlessness and passivity, the question of their responsibility oftentimes arises regarding the situation in which they find themselves. Although they are children, if their participation in trafficking is understood as agile and voluntary, so their status as kid victims gives style to that of the criminal children: those who should exist blamed, convicted and punished, rather than protected [16]. Although the victim is viewed as an object of behaviors and situations across their control or ability to self-determine, the circumstances of children allegedly involved in criminal activities are dimmed, and their behaviors and status tend to exist abstracted and decontextualized [14]. In curt, whether they match the stereotype of a victim or not, children who are victims of trafficking have no vocalization or do not deserve to be heard. Either case applies to what Clemente [ten] called "the deafening silence of trafficked people" (p. 663).

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4. The status of victims: poor, deviant and from away

Public opinion is an indication of societal attitudes towards sure phenomena. With regard to human trafficking, if public stance expresses the culture of gild, then it might reverberate the social discrimination of women and children also as a social tolerance towards violence and exploitation [8], which would enable an understanding of the symbolic construction of this phenomenon. On the other manus, because public opinion influences policymaking, if well-formed and informed, it can also help reduce the structural factors that underlie trafficking [3].

Victims of child trafficking and exploitation often come up from abroad and the margins of club. According to the final report of the written report of groups at high run a risk for homo trafficking in the European Union [eight], the chance of child trafficking is significantly higher for children with disabilities or who engage in risky behaviors, from dysfunctional, disadvantaged and/or social excluded families, communities or neighborhoods in areas of conflict or crisis. Generally, they might be viewed every bit problem children . This characterization reinforces their inherent negativity [14], social invisibility and exclusion [17]; they are the children of others . As such, instead of a positive arroyo to the phenomenon based on a human rights perspective, they might evoke attitudes of socially organized denial [18], rejection, disinterest or criticism.

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five. Framing the phenomenon: a justice system problem

Thus, the genesis of trafficking is essentially sociopolitical, culminating in a legal phenomenon. Experts [16] have criticized the criminal perspective that has dominated kid trafficking "as immigration-led and prosecution-focused" (p. 497) and every bit a threat to human and state security [19]. This simplistic view overshadows the broader dimension of the phenomenon, which as Gearon [16] asserted is non limited to international movements (legal or illegal) or migrant children. In fact, as Palmer [xx] claimed, child trafficking is a complex, multidimensional and dynamic procedure; it is a shape-shifting phenomenon characterized past different patterns across countries. It involves national citizens, migrants (i.e. other EU citizens), immigrants from third world countries, children with their families and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. It might begin long before it is detected, with or without family involvement, for a variety of purposes, and every bit part of more or less sophisticated networks. Even so, according to Crawley's research in the Uk [21], even the intervention of health and welfare professionals is permeated by the logic of immigration command [22], where the business concern with the protection of the territory overrides that of children. In the aforementioned vein, Clemente [10] characterized the Portuguese back up system for victims of trafficking every bit victim-oriented in theory but equally focused on internal security objectives in do. This feature corresponds to the current trend of protection systems, which are increasingly focused on command rather than care [23].

This partial viewpoint hinders interventions focused on the rights and needs of children and their protection [16]. Every bit experts accept argued, the bulk of children who eventually become victims of exploitation and/or trafficking have previously been deprived of their rights [24]. In this sense, they contend that the criminal matrix of the definition of child trafficking oft overshadows its true nature and origin: kid trafficking is primarily a thing of rights and protection, and, as such, it reveals the shortcomings of protection and welfare systems [24, 25]. Therefore, the priority or almost exclusive emphasis on legal and procedural aspects and the subsequent production of penal legislation, national action plans and support measures for victims at the expense of action towards the structural conditions that underlie trafficking are criticized. Enforcing the Un Convention on the Rights of the Kid is the most constructive mode to prevent the exploitation and trafficking of children and youth besides as safeguard their rights and respond to their needs.

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six. The extent of the problem: statistics and relevance

Data available on homo trafficking and, specifically, child trafficking provide only an approximation of the reality. In addition to being a subconscious phenomenon [19], illegal and clandestine [26], concepts of trafficking differ across countries as various reports have highlighted. Because trafficking is usually closely continued to crimes such as illegal clearing, aid to illegal clearing, forgery and criminal clan, the distinction amongst these phenomena is non clear [24]. Consequently, defining these terms involves a wide range of legislation [27] and a variety of mechanisms to identify phenomena. Furthermore, even at the national level, experts accept identified many discrepancies in the data reported across dissimilar sources, equally in the case of Portugal [11]. These findings support the idea of numerous unreported cases (the night figures of trafficking). Therefore the depression numbers of kid trafficking represent the tip of the iceberg [19, 28].

Additionally, the eligibility criteria for acquiring the condition of trafficking victim and receiving assistance significantly modify the available data on this phenomenon.

Particularly with regard to kid trafficking, the benchmark used to set the historic period of the victim, whether at the time of referral or at the commencement of trafficking, remains a sensitive issue. Neves and Pedra [11] drew attending to the fact that many victims have been subjected to exploitation for several years, fifty-fifty though their identification in the system occurred during adulthood. This consideration provides a different basis for calculating the number of child trafficking victims every bit well as targets and adjusts the interventions made available to people in these conditions inside the legal and protection systems. In fact, according to Catch and Sustain [29], trafficked children (especially those with a long history of being exploited) tend to be treated by the legal and the protection systems according to their immigration status or the crimes in which they might take been involved, rather than the crimes that they have suffered along the way. This process is contrary to Directive 2011/36/European union, which recommends the development of comprehensive kid-sensitive protection systems and the mobilization of recovery processes every bit soon equally children are identified as victims of trafficking.

Another eligibility criterion concerns the distinction between the child trafficking statistics and the risk of child trafficking (i.east. trafficked children and those vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking). In line with this view, researchers take claimed that the groups of children targeted to forestall and combat trafficking (currently unaccompanied aviary-seeking children, kid victims of trafficking and child victims of sexual exploitation) should be revised to include accompanied kid migrants, undocumented children and homeless children [24]. According to scholars and practitioners, inside the logic of prevention and constructive interventions, regime should expand their focus to include children at take chances of existence trafficked, favoring more than comprehensive interventions in addition to focused responses. This option would imply overcoming a segmented view of the intervention, based on children's status, to adopt an ecological, systemic, multidimensional and dynamic perspective of children'southward vulnerability [24].

For the reasons outlined higher up and given the absence of reliable and disaggregated data [29], comparisons of national data are far from linear [24].

Nevertheless, despite the scarcity of consequent data, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [30], human trafficking could likely reach upwards to 4 million victims. Most are female (72%) and trafficked for sexual exploitation, although significant regional variations are observed [30]. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) estimates that children account for over xxx% of the world's human being trafficking [31]. According to the 2018 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, in 2016, 23% of these children were girls, which is more than double than that identified in 2004 [32]. As the International Labour Organization (ILO) specified, 26% of the 20.9 million people who were victims of forced labour between 2002 and 2011 were children [33].

Equally noted in the study of Catch and Sustain [29], child trafficking occurs in all European countries, without a clear division among countries of origin, destination or transit. In the European Union (European union) in 2015–2016, approximately 56% of the victims identified were from not-EU countries. The majority were female (68%), and the dominant forms of exploitation were for sexual and labour purposes (56 and 26%, respectively); relevant geographical variations were also observed. Children accounted for 23% of the victims detected and for 23% of all victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation [34]. However, considering the cases reported to/by NGOs and official agencies, experts in this field estimate that the dark figures might be v times college than official statistics study [35].

The "official data on human being trafficking (TSH) in Portugal point a balance phenomenon, with approximately 80 cases reported each year on boilerplate, with a full of 250 victims in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Of these cases, less than 25% were confirmed (58)" ([11], p. 23). Regarding child trafficking, prior to 2010, national information were subsumed under the general information of human trafficking. Nonetheless, since national data on human trafficking began being collected, reports indicate that few children were victims of this type of crime (e.grand. in 2008, the minimum age of the reported cases was 1 year old; in 2009, the minimum age was 12 years sometime). In accord with the Report of the Group of Experts on Activity confronting Trafficking in Human Beings [35], betwixt 2008 and 2011, 17 children met this condition, the majority of whom were female (median age = fourteen years erstwhile). Sexual exploitation, labour exploitation (n = 3) and attempted adoption (north = 3) were the identified purposes of trafficking.

Table one details the number of child trafficking referrals considering the total number of human trafficking referrals in Portugal from 2010 to 2017. Data, compiled from different sources, correspond cases reported before investigation and substantiation. Accented figures are relatively low, both in relation to human trafficking in general and to child trafficking specifically; however, notable variations have been found over time. The percent of kid trafficking referrals varied from 8.i% in 2010 to 31.2% in 2012.

Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
No. of child trafficking referrals	71	102	393	49	27	184	26	455
Full no. of homo trafficking referrals	866	717	1258	308	197	1939	261	175
% of child trafficking referrals	eight.i%	14.one%	31.2%	xv.9%	13.7%	9.3%	9.9%	25.7%

Tabular array 1.

Kid trafficking referrals in Portugal (2010–2017).

^one

Ref. [36] (starting time report with disaggregated statistics for children).

²

Ref. [37].

ⁱⁱⁱ

Ref. [38].

⁴

Ref. [39].

⁵

Ref. [forty].

^six

Ref. [36].

⁷

Ref. [41].

^viii

Ref. [38].

⁹

Ref. [39].

According to Neves and Pedra [11], 82.4% of the trafficked children in Portugal are fifteen years or older. In addition, those who began to be trafficked in babyhood tend to be exploited for longer periods than those who outset the process in machismo. In fact, 44% of trafficked children take been exploited longer than 4 years. According to these authors, if the criterion used to set the age of the victim is the beginning of trafficking, and then this number would exist approximately thirty% of all cases of trafficking.

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vii. An outline of the problem

As Clemente [10] asserted, the introduction of the upshot of homo trafficking in Portugal was prompted by the need to transpose the international directives issued past the Un and the European Commission into national constabulary. When Portugal adopted the Un Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the additional Protocol to Foreclose, Suppress and Punish Human Trafficking (especially with regard to women and children) in 2004, all legislative changes that followed take given rising to the definition and evolution of specific policies and procedures. National Plans confronting Human Trafficking have played a decisive role in the adoption of an integrated intervention strategy, combining interventions at different levels and multiple actors.

In 2007, the Portuguese authorities developed the commencement National Programme against Homo Trafficking (2007–2010) (I PNCTSH) [31], which had four strategic domains: (i) to understand the phenomenon and disseminate information; (2) to prevent, elucidate and railroad train; (3) to protect, support and integrate; and (4) to comport criminal investigation and prosecute traffickers [31]. With regard to children, (i) they are recognized equally being among the virtually vulnerable populations to man trafficking (forth with women), particularly those living in poverty; (ii) trafficking is considered equally a violation of their right to be free and protected; and (three) victims trafficked for reasons of sexual and/or labour exploitation require special assistance and protection. Considering children's and youths' vulnerability, the I PNCTSH considers the following specific areas of intervention: (i) to educate children past promoting artistic debates and activities in schools most human rights, children'south rights and human being trafficking and (ii) to support trafficked children by providing special measures to promote their rights and protection aiming at their global development.

This Program led to the cosmos of the Observatory on Human Trafficking (OTSH) in 2008, which was established by Prescript-police no. 229 on November 27, 2008. It is responsible for collecting, producing, processing and analyzing information on human trafficking, including child trafficking.

In 2009, 2 initiatives stood out in this domain [27]: (a) the certification of documents for strange children attending Portuguese schools (Immigration and Borders Service [SEF] goes to school) and (b) the creation of the first temporary shelter for six- to 18-year-old refugee children and (CACR). This centre is expected to provide specialized assistance to children and youth in the asylum process (i.due east. legal, social and psychological support).

The 2d National Plan against Man Trafficking (2011–2013) (II PNCTSH) [42] defined the same areas of intervention as the I PNCTSH. Nonetheless, the special situation of children was not differentiated in this Plan, neither conceptually nor in terms of specific measures.

In 2013, Portugal joined (a) the "European Cantankerous-Actors Exchange Platform for Trafficked Children on Methodology Edifice for Prevention and Sustainable Inclusion", which aimed to develop an testify-based intervention model targeting children who are vulnerable to trafficking and promote cognition almost criminal procedures concerning THB in the EU, and (b) the "Improving and Monitoring Protection Systems against Child Trafficking and Exploitation" (IMPACT) Project, which aimed to improve kid protection and welfare policies to prevent and protect children, particularly those vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation [24].

The 3rd National Programme (2014–2017) (Iii PNCTSH) [43] had five strategic areas: (1) forestall, inform, sympathize and investigate; (two) educate, train and capacitate; (3) protect, intervene and empower; (4) investigate criminality; and (5) cooperate. Regarding children, it included actions such equally the development of instruction for children, adolescents and adults, as well as the evolution of protocols for the prevention, detection and protection of kid victims of trafficking. The implementation of standardized care protocols for the identification, referral and intervention of victims of trafficking, amongst others, and for child victims of trafficking, in particular, by the National Health Service (NHS), was particularly important.

The quaternary National Plan (2018–2021) (IV PNCTSH) [forty] defined 3 strategic objectives: (i) to develop knowledge and enhance awareness on THB, (ii) to improve the quality of interventions for trafficking victims, and (iii) to strengthen the fight against organized crime networks. With regard to children, an emphasis was put on the development of guidelines and protocols for intervening with children across different services every bit well as on reinforcing networking within different services, including the NHS and the National Network for the Support and Protection of Trafficking Victims.

As the four national plans against man trafficking bear witness, children are included equally victims of trafficking and are occasionally specifically targeted. However, none of the plans address the specificity of child trafficking.

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8. The specificities of child trafficking

The Portuguese Penal Code (Law no. 59/2007) defines kid trafficking as enticing, transporting, harboring or housing a kid or transferring, offering or accepting the child for the purpose of sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, begging, slavery, the removal of organs or adoption, amidst other criminal activities (Article 160) [24]. In fact, enquiry shows that, most of the time, children are trafficked for labour exploitation (due east.g. domestic servitude, agricultural labour, car washing, factory labour), sexual exploitation (e.m. prostitution, pornography and forced matrimony), illegal adoption and criminal exploitation (e.g. cannabis cultivation, robbery, begging) [44].

As detailed, this definition entails the intentional activeness of the offender to exploit a vulnerable person. In the case of children, the critical elements of the definition of human being trafficking do not utilize [34]: the means (compulsion, fraud or charade, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability) and the victim's consent. However, the issue of consent is not exempted from controversy because of the fence concerning the age of consent [19], an result related to the criterion used to set the age of the victim, as previously discussed.

Associated with age and the respective development level are, amid others, the issues of: a) chapters to consent to their interest in certain activities or relationships, especially those that are deviant or criminal; b) the responsibility inherent to this (in)chapters; c) the different developmental needs that children might exhibit depending on their age; d) their plasticity and vulnerability to the external world and the consequent and serious implications of their involvement in harmful relationships and activities; east) longer periods of exploitation than those of trafficked adults; and f) more than support needed, given the higher likelihood to develop trauma.

As Greenbaum, Yun and Todres ([45], p. 161) argued, "Given the often multiple vulnerabilities leading to trafficking, the complex trauma experienced during (and sometimes before) the trafficking catamenia, and the myriad agin effects of exploitation, the needs of the child victim may be extensive and multi-faceted". In fact, the exploitation and trafficking of children are often associated with adverse experiences of abuse, neglect and other forms of violence that damage their physical and mental health. Empirical evidence indicates that between approximately 1-fourth and one-half of all trafficked children are victims of physical or sexual corruption [26, 46]. These forms of maltreatment are associated with psychological disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, self-harming behaviour, suicide ideation/attempts, depression and various affective disorders and behavioral difficulties [26].

Thus, interventions must exist multidimensional and address different groups and levels of victims' needs, non only those that result from trafficking simply also those that are at its origin. Child trafficking shares with the other forms of human trafficking multiple, complex and systemic causes, especially specific structural features of the life contexts. Family dynamics are especially relevant for children: dysfunctional families, family abuse/neglect and violence are key variables [24]. Social and political factors such as poverty, social and economic exclusion, limited opportunities to pursue education, scarce and precarious employment, gender-based violence and social inequalities betwixt countries and regions are also important enabling factors. As well, more distal elements, such equally exploitative relationships, organized crime, illegal migration, abuse and armed conflict play key roles in this phenomenon [43].

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ix. Child trafficking as a matter of child protection

Child protection systems are the key framework for providing assistance to kid victims or those vulnerable to trafficking [20]. In Portugal, a victim of child trafficking is considered as at adventure, falling under Protection Law no. 23/2017 and subject to the same assistance as whatsoever national child, regardless of nationality or type of risk. Any person identified as a victim of child trafficking should be reported to a public prosecutor who activates a protection measure.

Based on a review of 20 multinational projects funded past the European Commission on child victims of trafficking, including Portugal, Palmer [xx] concluded that "trafficked children across Europe are not receiving the land care and protection that they, as children, are entitled to" (p. 7). This study showed the structural flaws in child protection services at 3 levels: victim detection, support and service coordination. In short, services fail to accommodate their level and blazon of support to the specific needs of these children and youth, either initially, when detecting and referring cases, or in the provision of advisable assistance. If in some cases a dominant concern exists with the kid'due south immigration status that overrides the response to their needs, in others the response to these children's needs is subsumed within the generic provision available to all children at risk. Solutions range from those that compromise children'due south freedom to those that practise non guarantee their protection or meet their needs, providing overly bureaucratic services. In these circumstances, child protection systems are more harmful than protective and tin can fifty-fifty facilitate the exploitation and trafficking of these children [47], actively compromising their rights.

Additionally, combating and preventing kid trafficking requires a systemic arroyo in which communication among the wellness, education, welfare and justice systems is critical [20]. Regarding Portugal, international reports accept mentioned the lack of standardized procedures and referral mechanisms [24].

Despite the recognition of the inclusive nature of wellness, pedagogy, welfare and justice sectoral policies, the status of children continues to decide the blazon of services and rights to which they have access. In accordance with experts, legislation is inclusive, but procedures are not, and the strategic planning and coordination of deportment have flaws. Still, others contend for the need for comprehensive laws to integrate the different policy domains, procedures and services [24].

Despite the axis of the child protection system regarding child victims or those at chance of being trafficked, referrals in Portugal are made through two types of entities: criminal agencies (OPC) and NGOs and the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT). Regarding the OPC, the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) is responsible for detecting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and for referring them to the Portuguese Refugee Council (CPR) [24] because it is assumed that they are vulnerable to trafficking [xix]. The identification of a case triggers its referral for criminal investigation and court proceedings [24]. After referral, the cases proceed through an assessment process during which they can be classified as confirmed, non confirmed or under investigation. This assessment is complex. Ordinarily a panoply of related offenses exist whose legal distinction is challenging, such as aid to illegal clearing, recruitment of illegal labour, kidnapping, slavery, sham marriages/marriages of convenience, apocryphal and false documents, criminal association, domestic violence or violation [36] and smuggling [12]. This process confirms, once once again, the police and security framing of an substantially sociopolitical phenomenon.

A common reference in the literature on this topic is the need for the specific training of practitioners who, at different levels, piece of work with and for children, especially those with child victims or children at risk of being trafficked to identify and provide the necessary and appropriate help. Immigration officers and other constabulary forces are the frontline staff in most of the national referral mechanisms in Europe. Experts contend that the adequate preparation of these professionals is critical to ensure that victims are correctly identified and receive appropriate back up [19], including cooperation with relevant agencies. In addition to these officials [24], from a comprehensive perspective, teachers [32] and healthcare professionals [48] would benefit from training to identify the signs of exploitation and effectively intervene.

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ten. Conclusion: what to do with a problem of human beings that is not perceived as a social trouble?

Post-obit Pinto et al. [13], child trafficking is not simply a "distant history" taught in school, but information technology is also geographically and sociologically distant, as portrayed by the media, and a distant interest for research. Law, politics/public administration, inquiry and didactics are central instruments for fostering the social appreciation of this problem.

The police force is a fundamental constituent of society; information technology is based on justice and is a driver of awareness. Retrospectively, it reflects social and cultural historicity. Looking forward, yet, the constabulary sets the standards for behaviour inside a culture and promotes psychosocial adjustment. In this sense, legal changes, under international agreements, build an ethical mindset based on human rights that is progressively shared by populations. Didactics, training and social didactics for the community, their organizations and the media must be an ongoing and relentless social task to create a relational culture that is inclusive, rights-based and culturally sensitive.

Child trafficking results from the failure to protect children and safeguard their rights. It is thus a failure towards all children. Protection should be a systemic and ecological feature of the contexts of children's lives. Additionally, the response to the various needs of each and every kid should be the primary business organisation of children'southward services and programmes. For this purpose, instead of a policymaking approach based on a patchwork of scattered and partial measures, we need effective and integrated public policies, particularly child and family unit policies, informed by rigorous and systematic inquiry. Moreover, the proliferation of plans with goals insufficiently developed and evaluated should give way to a cohesive national anti-child trafficking arroyo.

The identification of the kid victims of trafficking is a disquisitional status for the provision of the appropriate support. The gaps observed in nearly EU countries, including Portugal [20], led the experts to recommend the revision of the criteria and thresholds to be eligible for the child protection system. With respect to Portugal, the Protection Law, based on the distinction betwixt run a risk and danger, excludes from the threshold for referral children in low-hazard situations. In these weather, the probability of not detecting potential victims of trafficking is non negligible [20]. Therefore, within a broader perspective of the concept of child protection, we endorse the revision of these thresholds and the consideration of different levels of intervention according to the level of run a risk identified.

Some other crucial attribute of the intervention is the commencement service with which the child victims come into contact for the offset time considering it determines the subsequent provision made available to them. Regarding children at adventure, the interaction amid the services involved (due east.g. health, education, Immigration and Borders Service, criminal justice, labour), should occur, in any situation, under the coordination of the Child Protection Organisation, regardless of the specific condition of the child (e.thou. clearing condition).

These changes volition lead to the cultural shift [16] necessary to assign importance to the big and small-scale issues of our time, regardless of the condition of the people afflicted, their age or number, then that a problem that affects other people is, by definition, a social trouble.

Acknowledgments

This study had the fiscal back up of Enquiry Eye on Kid Studies (CIEC), by the Strategic Projection UID/CED/00317/2013, through the National Funds through the Foundation for Scientific discipline and Engineering science (FCT) and co-financed by European Regional Evolution Funds (FEDER) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Plan (POCI) with the reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007562.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of involvement.

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Paula Cristina Martins

Submitted: Feb 25th, 2019 Reviewed: October 13th, 2019 Published: January 6th, 2020

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