Child labour and child trafficking

Child trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation. It entails removing children from protective environments and exposing them to serious harm. As defined in the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), trafficking in children is considered a form of slavery or practice similar to slavery, and is therefore one of the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) that must be eliminated as a matter of urgency, irrespective of a country’s level of development.

Child trafficking occurs both within and across borders and is driven by the demand for cheap, flexible, and easily controlled labour in sectors where working conditions violate children’s rights. These exploitative environments often involve unconditional worst forms of child labour and hazardous work that jeopardize children’s health, safety, and development. Exploitation may take many forms, including forced labour, bonded labour, child domestic work, commercial sexual exploitation, use of children in illicit activities, recruitment of child soldiers, and other slavery-like practices.

The ILO combats child trafficking as part of its broader mandate to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. It works in partnership with governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and civil society to strengthen legal frameworks, enhance prevention and protection systems, and support children at risk and victims of trafficking. Interventions are adapted to national, subregional, and regional contexts, addressing root causes of vulnerability, trafficking methods, and forms of exploitation.

The Durban Call to Action on the Elimination of Child Labour, adopted at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in May 2022, reaffirms the global commitment to end all forms of child labour, including child trafficking. It calls for stronger international cooperation, effective implementation of laws and policies, improved law enforcement and protection systems, and survivor-centred approaches such as risk assessment and reintegration.