Child Trafficking and Baby Farming in Sri Lanka

Abstract

People under the legal age of eighteen are called "children" nationally and internationally. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes reports that child trafficking has significantly increased on a global scale. One in three victims of human trafficking are children, and they are the victims of trafficking are recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received for exploitation. They may be forced to work in sweatshops, on construction sites or in houses as domestic servants; on the streets as child beggars; in wars as child soldiers; on farms, in travelling sales crews or in restaurants, hotels, and brothels and strip clubs or for escort and massage services. They are the worst abuses of children's rights; child trafficking is a violent crime that targets children and is a terrible practice that keeps growing both domestically and internationally. Child trafficking is an international issue that affects all nations - a global phenomenon. Baby Farms were the centres operated as businesses, arranging babies for adoption; mothers would stay there until giving birth, and then the babies were sold. The broker facilitated adoptions for foreign parents. Coercion and financial desperation led some mothers to give up their children through legal or illegal adoptions. Efforts are ongoing to uncover the truth and address the trauma caused by baby farming. While not all cases directly involve trafficking, the sale of babies for adoption can intersect with human trafficking, and vulnerable mothers, financial pressures, and lack of options contribute to this complex issue. The main objective of the study is to explore the pattern of child trafficking in Sri Lanka through qualitative secondary data collection. The current economic condition has drastically affected the living standards of many Sri Lankans and has enhanced the threat of child trafficking