Introduction: Trafficking in children takes many different forms worldwide, from child soldiers to child sex tourism to forced child labor in brick factories to child camel jockeys to child sex slaves to child pornography to child domestic slaves to forced child begging. Ending child slavery and child exploitation will take committed, strategic effort based on understandings of the myriad forms of child trafficking and their interconnections.
Elise: Before the TVPA was ever enacted in the U.S., a case out of Texas showed the complexity that is often overlooked when we talk about children and trafficking. Given Kachepa, along with other boys from Zambia were brought to the U.S. under false pretenses offered to them by a Baptist minister claiming the young boys would come to the U.S. to perform in a boys choir and earn money for themselves and for a new school in Zambia. The reality the boys faced included forced performances, the withholding food and medical care if the boys resisted and the constant threat of deportation among other coercive and traumatic tactics used by Keith Grimes to keep the boys in their trafficking situation. A more detailed account of the case is given in The Slave Next Door by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter. Years after his trafficking situation ended, Given has taken to advocating on behalf of trafficking victims. He has appeared on national TV and print media delivering his message and his story, and has contributed to the development of state-level legislation.
Youngbee: Among the many different forms of child trafficking, a particularly terrible kind is child trafficking involving child pornography. In Japan, for instance, Jake Adelstein, a public relations representative in Polaris Project in Japan, describes child pornography as "evidence that a crime has been committed[;] that people can derive sexual pleasure from that or profit on that is horrifying." These children are not only sexually exploited but also their humiliation is likely to be publicized on the internet forever. What is worse is that the internet access makes this evil an average Joe's concern in the United States. In fact, a British internet watchdog says that over the past ten years, 51% of such illegal child pornography websites were hosted in the United States. Currently, in Japan, possession of child pornography is not illegal though distribution and production are criminalized. As Japanese government is sensitive to its reputation before the international world, perhaps, US citizens calling their state representatives would pressure the country to fix its legislative loophole further.
Meg: One child trafficking topic that seems to have received a lot of attention recently is trafficking and international adoptions. The issue came to the forefront after the Haiti disaster, when it became suspected that children disappearing from hospitals were being taken by traffickers and sold off as orphans. Learning about this form of trafficking was disheartening to me, because apparently even those trying to do something positive can inadvertently contribute to child exploitation and human trafficking. Although there does not appear to be much in the way of statistics on this issue yet, it is easy to see how traffickers could exploit situations such as the disaster in Haiti to make a profit off of vulnerable children, not only through international adoption, but for sex trafficking and other forms of trafficking as well. One interesting potential solution to the adoption problem is the idea of using DNA databases to reunify parents with missing children, which is something that has begun to be implemented in Haiti. If the Haiti situation prompts development of an international adoption DNA system that can be used to prevent future trafficking, this may be one positive result of a tragic disaster.
Jenn K.: According to the 2009 Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking report by Shared Hope International, over 100,000 US children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation each year. The Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice reports that the average age for entering commercial sex in the US is 12-14. Despite progress in addressing this aspect of the United State's trafficking problem, such as programs targeting demand and increased attention to the issue, much remains to be done particularly in terms of services for victims and survivors. According to Gracehaven House, which will be opening a group home for child sex trafficking survivors in Ohio, there are only 39 shelter beds dedicated to minor sex trafficking victims in the US. Other organizations, such as Courtney's House in Washington DC, are also in the process of opening group homes for child victims. Both Gracehaven House and Courtney's House were founded by survivors of sex trafficking as minors, and plan to offer comprehensive services for survivors. Still, the shelter need greatly exceeds and is likely to continue to greatly exceed resources.
By Kasuba MulengaFrom the Zambia Daily Mail:
Forty-two Congolese nationals on a human trafficking mission to South Africa have been intercepted and detained by the Immigration Department in Lusaka.
Immigration Department public relations officer, Mulako Mbangweta, said in Lusaka yesterday that 26 of those arrested in Lusaka last week were yesterday repatriated to the Democratic Republic of Congo while 16 were still in detention in Kabwe.
“We could not detain the Congolese nationals who were arrested in Lusaka because most of them are women with children as young as six months old,” Ms Mbangweta said.
She said the ones in Kabwe would remain in detention until the department completed its investigations. Those repatriated were arrested in Lusaka’s Kanyama Township some five days ago.“
From the interviews we have conducted so far, they look like they were being trafficked to South Africa. When people are being trafficked, they do not know where they are going and where they are,” she said.
Immigration officers arrested 16 Congolose nationals in Kabwe last week and picked up leads from them that another larger group had proceeded to Lusaka.
An unknown group of human traffickers is behind the scheme to move the Congolese nationals to South Africa.
Read the full article
More info on human trafficking law in Zambia from the U.S. Department of State:There were reports that persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country. The law prohibits the trafficking of any person for any purpose, but it does not define trafficking. Persons convicted of trafficking were subject to a term of imprisonment from 20 years to life. The law had not been used to prosecute a case of trafficking at year's end. Convictions of the crimes of abduction, assault, or seeking to have sex with a minor could be punished with sentences up to life imprisonment with hard labor.
The government did not collect or maintain data on the extent or nature of trafficking in the country; however, trafficking, particularly in the form of child prostitution was believed to be significant. Female citizens were trafficked within the country and to other parts of Africa and to Europe, and the country was used as a transit point for regional trafficking of women for prostitution. Traffickers fraudulently obtained Zambian travel documents for their victims before proceeding to other destinations. During the year there were reliable reports that women were trafficked to the country for commercial sex work.
Through its social welfare agencies, the government provided counseling, shelter, and protection to victims of child prostitution or referred victims to NGOs that provided such services. There was no formal screening or referral process. In some cases victims have been placed in protective custody at rehabilitation centers or victim support shelters operated by NGOs.
When government officials understand that individuals are victims of trafficking, they do not treat victims as criminals. In identified cases, victims have not been detained, jailed, deported, or prosecuted for violations of other laws. When trafficking investigations have substantiated allegations, the government has encouraged victims to assist with investigation and prosecution. The government did not have its own means of protecting victims and witnesses; however, it arranged for protective custody and security protection through facilities operated by NGOs.
I wonder why in the above article the journalist reports that the trafficking victims being "detained"? Will they be charged with violating other laws as seems possible from the Department of State's report? In what cases does the Zambian government prosecute trafficking victims and does this make sense within the scope of how other countries have structured their human trafficking law? Because one of the underlying factors of trafficking is coercion and deceit, is it just to charge trafficking victims for a crime they did not necessarily intend to commit? I think not.
And lastly, how can you effectively prosecute traffickers if the law doesn't define what trafficking is? That having been said, there has been one conviction since the human trafficking law and the government is making efforts to combat trafficking, but there is clearly a long way to go.
From the Department of State 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report:
Zambia's government sustained a weak anti-trafficking law enforcement effort over the reporting period. Zambia prohibits all forms of trafficking through a 2005 amendment to its penal code, which prescribes penalties of 20 years to life in prison - penalties that are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for rape.
The statute does not, however, define trafficking or set out the elements of the offense, thus limiting its utility. The government obtained its first conviction under this statute during the reporting period, but it took minimal additional law enforcement action against traffickers exploiting Zambian children.
During the year, the government, with outside technical help, began drafting a comprehensive anti-trafficking law and policy. In March, police in Serenje arrested a man for attempting to sell his 10-year old son for the equivalent of $215. In January 2007, the High Court found him guilty of trafficking under the 2005 penal code amendment, and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
In April 2006, immigration officials detained two Chinese women suspected to be trafficking victims as they attempted to board a flight to London using forged travel documents; their handler escaped before he could be taken into custody.
Introduction: Trafficking in children takes many different forms worldwide, from child soldiers to child sex tourism to forced child labor in brick factories to child camel jockeys to child sex slaves to child pornography to child domestic slaves to forced child begging. Ending child slavery and child exploitation will take committed, strategic effort based on understandings of the myriad forms of child trafficking and their interconnections.
Elise: Before the TVPA was ever enacted in the U.S., a case out of Texas showed the complexity that is often overlooked when we talk about children and trafficking. Given Kachepa, along with other boys from Zambia were brought to the U.S. under false pretenses offered to them by a Baptist minister claiming the young boys would come to the U.S. to perform in a boys choir and earn money for themselves and for a new school in Zambia. The reality the boys faced included forced performances, the withholding food and medical care if the boys resisted and the constant threat of deportation among other coercive and traumatic tactics used by Keith Grimes to keep the boys in their trafficking situation. A more detailed account of the case is given in The Slave Next Door by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter. Years after his trafficking situation ended, Given has taken to advocating on behalf of trafficking victims. He has appeared on national TV and print media delivering his message and his story, and has contributed to the development of state-level legislation. 
Youngbee: Among the many different forms of child trafficking, a particularly terrible kind is child trafficking involving child pornography. In Japan, for instance, Jake Adelstein, a public relations representative in Polaris Project in Japan, describes child pornography as "evidence that a crime has been committed[;] that people can derive sexual pleasure from that or profit on that is horrifying." These children are not only sexually exploited but also their humiliation is likely to be publicized on the internet forever. What is worse is that the internet access makes this evil an average Joe's concern in the United States. In fact, a British internet watchdog says that over the past ten years, 51% of such illegal child pornography websites were hosted in the United States. Currently, in Japan, possession of child pornography is not illegal though distribution and production are criminalized. As Japanese government is sensitive to its reputation before the international world, perhaps, US citizens calling their state representatives would pressure the country to fix its legislative loophole further. 
Meg: One child trafficking topic that seems to have received a lot of attention recently is trafficking and international adoptions. The issue came to the forefront after the Haiti disaster, when it became suspected that children disappearing from hospitals were being taken by traffickers and sold off as orphans. Learning about this form of trafficking was disheartening to me, because apparently even those trying to do something positive can inadvertently contribute to child exploitation and human trafficking. Although there does not appear to be much in the way of statistics on this issue yet, it is easy to see how traffickers could exploit situations such as the disaster in Haiti to make a profit off of vulnerable children, not only through international adoption, but for sex trafficking and other forms of trafficking as well. One interesting potential solution to the adoption problem is the idea of using DNA databases to reunify parents with missing children, which is something that has begun to be implemented in Haiti. If the Haiti situation prompts development of an international adoption DNA system that can be used to prevent future trafficking, this may be one positive result of a tragic disaster. 
Jenn K.: According to the 2009 Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking report by Shared Hope International, over 100,000 US children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation each year. The Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice reports that the average age for entering commercial sex in the US is 12-14. Despite progress in addressing this aspect of the United State's trafficking problem, such as programs targeting demand and increased attention to the issue, much remains to be done particularly in terms of services for victims and survivors. According to Gracehaven House, which will be opening a group home for child sex trafficking survivors in Ohio, there are only 39 shelter beds dedicated to minor sex trafficking victims in the US. Other organizations, such as Courtney's House in Washington DC, are also in the process of opening group homes for child victims. Both Gracehaven House and Courtney's House were founded by survivors of sex trafficking as minors, and plan to offer comprehensive services for survivors. Still, the shelter need greatly exceeds and is likely to continue to greatly exceed resources.
