The Trafficking of Children in West Africa

What human right or rights are discussed in the case study assigned to you?
Rights of child to play or education Deprivation of having adequate food, clothing or healthcare Physical and sexual abuse

Where can you find them in the International Bill of Rights? Specify the instrument and the article.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Article 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.

Article 4 No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 9 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

 Article 23 (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

 Article 24 Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25 Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Article 6 (1) The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.

 Article 7 The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work which ensure, in particular: (a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with: (i) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work; (ii) A decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant; (b) Safe and healthy working conditions; (d ) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays

 Article 10 (1)The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children. Marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the intending spouses. (2)Special measures of protection and assistance should be taken on behalf of all children and young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions. Children and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law. States should also set age limits below which the paid employment of child labour should be prohibited and punishable by law.

 Article 11 (1)The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent. (2)The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed: (a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources; (b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and foodexporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.

International covenant on civil and political rights

Article 7 of ICCPR No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

Article 8 of ICCPR (1) No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave-trade in all their forms shall be prohibited. (2) No one shall be held in servitude

Discuss and describe if the issue/s described in your case study is applicable to the Philippines.

September 2, 2009 Philippines is one of the seven countries in Asia that faces a serious child trafficking problem

Children are commonly trafficked for exploitation in the sex trade - an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines are involved in prostitution rings.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/283860,unicef-says-philippinesfaces-serious-child-trafficking-problem.html

The number of Philippine and foreign child victims in the Philippines range from 20,000 to 100,000.
Philippine men, women, and girls were trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Africa, North America, and Europe.

According to the government and NGO the number of women trafficked range from 300,000 to 400,000 and the number of children trafficked range from 60,000 to 100,000.
The Philippines has internal trafficking of women and children from rural areas, particularly the Visayas and Mindanao, to urban areas, such as Metro Manila and Cebu, for sexual exploitation or forced labor as domestic workers, factory workers, or in the drug trade.
http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/philippines

Statistics
The Philippines is the fourth country with the most number of prostituted children, and authorities have identified an increase in pedophiles travelling to the Philippines. There are estimated to be 375,000 women and girls in the sex trade in the Philippines, mostly between the ages of 15 and 20, though some are as young as 11.

Problematic areas in the Philippines

Puerto Galera The area is a favorite for foreign pedophiles seeking children. Has been described as one of the Philippines top five spots for child prostitution

Metro Manila Visayan Forum Foundation has established that most of the children and young women trafficked to Manila from rural areas in search of work are assured jobs as domestic workers, but in a significant number of cases end up in the sex trade.

Davao City Davao is one of the top five areas for child prostitution and sex tourism.

The Tambayan Center for Abused Street Girls reports more than 1,000 teenage girls have turned to prostitution in Davao City, charging as little as 50 cents.

Cebu It is estimated there are 10,000 young girls trafficked into sex slavery in Cebu. Cebu remains a destination, source and transit area for human trafficking, where women and children victims are brought to be processed. Cebu has been the destination of international and domestic trafficking of children, aged from 11 to 17 years old.

Discuss within your group how the issue/s can be resolved.

Strengthening data collection and monitoring systems to better track and document child trafficking Sensitizing parents and communities to change values, attitudes, practices and behavior that lead to child abuse and exploitation. Training social workers, police, prosecutors, judges, church workers and other extension workers on anti-trafficking law.

Educating communities on the dangers of trafficking. Increasing awareness through media and government-enforced activities Vigorously prosecuting those exploiting victims as well as making greater efforts to prosecute and convict public officials who profit from or are involved in trafficking. Strengthening the enforcement of laws within the country by conducting several activities that would lessen the occurrence of child trafficking.