La Strada Documentation Center

Reference Guide on Protecting the Rights of Child Victims of Trafficking in Europe

Document number
1408
Date
2006
Title
Reference Guide on Protecting the Rights of Child Victims of Trafficking in Europe
Author/publisher
Mike Dottridge, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis, Training Material/Resources,
Keywords
Good practices, Identification (of Victims), Protection, Victims of trafficking, Trafficked persons, Sex tourism, Pornography, Sexual exploitation, Palermo protocol; Child trafficking; Best Interests Principle, Child Victims of Trafficking, Separated Migrant Children, Unaccompanied minors, Family reunification, Guardian, Family Tracing, Age Assessment, Freedom from Detention, Interim Care, Health, Education, Training, Integration, Adoption, Return, Remaining in a Host Country/Country of Asylum, Child protection systems, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Reflection period, Residency permit, Identification, Social assistance, Victim protection, Advocacy, Civil society, NGO, Human Rights approach,
Summary
The UNICEF Guidelines set out standards for good practice in the protection of and assistance to child victims of trafficking – from identification to recovery and reintegration of the child. The Guidelines are based on relevant international and regional human rights instruments and provide a straightforward account of the policies and practices required to implement and protect the rights of child victims of trafficking. The Guidelines aim to help governments and state actors, international organizations and NGOs develop special protection measures for child victims of trafficking. The Guidelines focus on the steps needed to protect and assist anyone under 18 who is believed to have been trafficked, and to make decisions about their future. The Guidelines do not discuss the steps needed to prevent children from being trafficked. The Guidelines summarize basic information about child rights as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other relevant international legal instruments. As noted, the UNICEF Guidelines cover 11 specific aspects concerning trafficking of children: 1. identification of children as victims of trafficking; 2. appointment of a guardian for each trafficked child; 3. questioning by the authorities; 4. referral to appropriate services and inter-agency coordination; 5. interim care and protection; 6. regularization of a child’s status in a country other than their own; 7. individual case assessment and identification of a durable solution; 8. implementing a durable solution, e.g., possible return to a child’s country of origin; 9. access for children to justice; 10. protection of the child as a victim and potential witness; and 11. training for government and other agencies dealing with child victims.
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