ABSTRACT
Child exploitation is a global phenomenon. Children are exploited in every country, in numerous ways, including through trafficking, use in armed conflict, forced labor, debt bondage, and servitude. Although children’s rights law recognizes the dignity inherent in every child and requires governments to protect children from all forms of exploitation, two forms of child exploitation in particular have galvanized the international community: trafficking of children and the use of children in armed conflict. To supplement the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations adopted two Optional Protocols that target the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography and the involvement of children in armed conflict, respectively. This chapter examines the value of these two Optional Protocols and of children’s rights more broadly to efforts to prevent child exploitation. The chapter explores both the substantive law of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols and the procedural benefits of the reporting process. The chapter also discusses the role of children themselves in the development of law, policy, and programs aimed at confronting child exploitation. Ending child exploitation ultimately will require a comprehensive response, and children’s rights law offers a critical tool for governments and civil society.
