Over the last few weeks, you may have seen more people using the hashtag #SaveTheChildren. This is because child trafficking has been brought into the public eye more and more over the last few months and people are wanting to work together to stop it.
Recently, there have been several protests that have also taken place in major cities, as well as scrutiny because Facebook blocked the hashtag for a short time. The question still remains, how informed are ‘we the people’ on child trafficking? The sad truth is at any given time there is an estimated 1.2 million children around the world affected by trafficking, according to savethechildren.org. A majority of these children are used for forced labor, most of which includes hazardous work, but some are also used for sexual exploitation. These children make up 27% of the world’s human trafficking issue and two out of every three of these children are little girls – some as young as 10 years old.
Many parents think that this is something that doesn’t happen often in the U.S. or that their child has no chance to become a victim, but the hard truth is trafficking is something affects every country in the world. Shockingly, the victims are often sold by a family member or an acquaintance. If this is not the case, usually the person trying to traffic the child has promised them a better life and tries to target runaways or foster children. This does not mean your child is not at risk, however. With today’s technology, predators use the internet to begin grooming the children and convince them their family does not love them or to try and convince them to run away with them.
So, what can we do to prevent and reduce the number of children being trafficked? Mathukutty P. V. has a few tips for parents to help combat trafficking. He suggests:
- Stay on top of your kids social media and activities– As I stated above, predators use social media and other activities to prey on kids and try to groom them into being trafficked. Look through their phones and monitor all other activities to make sure they are not talking to people they shouldn’t.
- Check your temper/relationship with children– Runaways are a big target of trafficking. Try to make sure you are not losing your temper when disciplining children and remind your kids they can come to you with anything they need. If they don’t feel the need to runaway, they have a less chance of being trafficked.
- Teach self-protection– There will be times you not be around your children; teaching them how to be around strangers and what to do if they are in trouble is important so they will not be confused if there is an emergency or someone trying to take them.
- Talk as a family– Sometimes children are scared to talk to their parents if they think they have done something wrong (like talking to someone they shouldn’t), so remind your kids they can talk to you about anything so they will continue to come to you if there is an issue and not try to hide it.
- Work on mental strength– Whether it is trafficking or something else there will always be challenges your children will face. If you work on making them mentally strong, it can combat not only trafficking, but other problems as well.
Child trafficking is a very scary thing to think about and something that no parent wants their child to go through. Together, we can help end child trafficking and these tips are a good start.
If you or anyone you know needs more information on this or domestic violence please call us at 501-354-1884, our crisis line at 1-888-554-2501, or our Perryville office at 501-889-2030.
Sources:
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/child-trafficking-awareness#questions
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