What are the risks of child trafficking that adoption professionals should be aware of? How common is child trafficking and what children are at the greatest risk? In this course, we interview Lara Powers, Senior Advisor at Polaris, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery and human trafficking; and Rose-Berthe Augustin, Professor of Law of Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and an attorney specializing in family law and adoption.
This course covers the following topics:
Child Trafficking - Lara Powers, Senior Advisor at Polaris
- According to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation. It is a violation of their rights, their well-being and denies them the opportunity to reach their full potential. According to UNICEF the following forms of exploitation are included within the definition: exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery or servitude, the removal of organs, use of children associated with armed groups or forces, begging, illegal activities, sport and related activities, illicit adoption, early marriage or any other forms of exploitation.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline 1-888-373-7888 (TTY: 711) Text 233733
- How common is child trafficking in the world? In the US? Accurate statistics are hard to come by, but the following are reported by the International Labour Organization.
- At any given time, an estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage.
- It means there are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world.
- 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.
- Out of the 24.9 million people trapped in forced labour, 16 million people are exploited in the private sector such as domestic work, construction or agriculture; 4.8 million persons in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million persons in forced labour imposed by state authorities.
- Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labour, accounting for 99% of victims in the commercial sex industry, and 58% in other sectors
- What are the different forms that child trafficking can take?
- In what countries are children most vulnerable?
- What children are most vulnerable? Despite the wide range of demographic factors, children who belong to vulnerable groups are more likely to become victims, such as those who have been previously abused, youth involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice system, homeless youth, LGBTQ youth, or those who experience familial poverty or other adversities.
- 60% of child sex trafficking victims recovered through FBI raids across the U.S. were from foster care or group homes.
- How can we best protect children from being trafficked? Protecting trafficked children requires timely victim identification, placing them in safe environment, providing them with social services, health care, psychosocial support, and reintegration with family and community, if it is proven to be in their best interest.
- For more information,
- Polaris website.
- The Blue Campaign by the Department of Homeland Security. A national public awareness campaign, designed to educate the public, law enforcement and others to recognize the indicators of human trafficking, and how to appropriately respond to possible cases. Training materials to recognize and respond to human trafficking are available.
Ethical Considerations in Intercountry Adoption and Prohibitions on Child-Buying - Rose-Berthe Augustin, Professor of Law of Quisqueya University Port-au-Prince, Haiti and an attorney specializing in family law and adoption.
- The general process for US families when adopting from a Hague country (meaning a country that has signed this treaty) is as follows:
- Choose a U.S. Accredited or Approved Adoption Service Provider.
- Apply to USCIS to be Found Suitable and Eligible to Adopt: They will need to complete a home study, fingerprints, and a background check as part of this application.
- Apply to the Country of Origin’s Authorities to Adopt and be Matched with a Child
- Submit their dossier to the central authority for adoption in the child’s country of origin.
- Receive a referral for a child from the central authority of the country from which they plan to adopt. The referral will include a report on the child, which should include information about the child’s identity, adoptability, background, family history, medical history, any special needs of the child, the child’s social history, and confirmation that all necessary consents to adoption have been obtained. Parents must decide whether to accept the referral and will receive training from their agency to help them make this decision. Do not obtain an adoption or guardianship order yet.
- Apply to USCIS for the Child to be found Provisionally Eligible for Immigration to the United States as a Convention Adoptee and Receive U.S. Agreement to Proceed with the Adoption.
- Submit a petition for a determination on the child’s immigration eligibility through the USCIS Form I-800 Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative.
- Submit an immigrant visa application to the Embassy or Consulate responsible for processing immigrant visa applications for the child’s country of origin. If everything has been done in the required order and the child is likely eligible to immigrate as a Convention Adoptee, the Embassy or Consulate will issue a letter, called the “Article 5/17 letter”, notifying the central authority of the child’s country of origin that the child appears to be “eligible to enter and permanently reside” in the United States following the completion of the adoption or guardianship in the child’s country of origin. They must not obtain an adoption or guardianship order until you receive this letter.
- The US family then can adopt the Child or Obtain Legal Custody of the Child in the Country of Origin for Purposes of Emigration and Adoption
- Complete the Application Process for a U.S. Immigrant Visa for your Child and Bring your Child Home.
- Talk with the Adoption Service Provider for specific information on any additional nuances and variations in this process for the countries in which they work.
- A separate process applies to children adopted from non-Hague Adoption Convention countries also sometimes referred to as an “orphan process.”
- Such children must qualify as orphans as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) before they can be considered for U.S. permanent residence or citizenship.
- An Adoption Service Provider licensed or authorized to perform a homestudy for your state of residence.(and perhaps also an immigration attorney) can advise the parents of the steps.
- Get more information at the State Department website under Adoption Process/Non-Hague Visa Process.
- You can get more information on the requirements of the Hague Convention, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA), the Universal Accreditation Act of 2012, the regulations implementing the IAA or UAA, and other applicable Federal regulations go to the US State Department website (click on International Adoption) and the USCIS website.
- How do children become available for adoption under the Hague Treaty?
- To be eligible for international adoption to the US, the child must be classified as an orphan under US law, not the law of the country of origin. Under U.S. immigration law, an orphan is a foreign-born child who has no parents, or a sole or surviving parent who is unable to care for the child and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption.
- The child's birth parent or other legal custodian have given freely their written, irrevocable consent for the termination of their legal relationship with the child and to the child's emigration and adoption.
- The child must be under the age of 16 at the time an I-600 petition is filed on his or her behalf with USCIS or a consular officer on his or her behalf. A child adopted at age 16 or 17 will also qualify, provided he or she is a birth sibling of a child adopted, or who will be adopted, under the age of 16 by the same adopting parents.
- What does the Hague Treaty say about “child-buying”?
- What safeguards are in place to prevent “child-buying”?
- Adoptive parents must understand that not all children in orphanages or child welfare institutions are available for adoption.
- Possible ethical issues that can arise.
- Adoptive parents wanting to pay to speed up the process? Are they allowed to do this?
- Is it child-buying to give birth parent money for anything? Care of a sick child? Covering the cost of transportation to a court proceeding?
- In what situations does it come up where agency personnel might be in the position to change a document and what is prohibited?
- Change the birth date if it has been estimated?
- An adoption service provider cannot provide legal advice or legal services to the prospective adoptive parent or represent the prospective adoptive parent before USCIS.
- Adoption agency that wants to fund an orphanage.
- How do we ensure that birth parents understand what it means to place a child for adoption?
- Who is responsible for educating parents on the meaning of adoption?
- What can agency staff do to help make sure that birth parents fully understand?
- Special concerns for ethical lapses in how children become available for international adoption during an emergency situation, such as natural disaster or war.
- Risk of child-trafficking post-adoption if the adoption dissolves.
- Children from failed adoptions and involvement with the US foster care system are at high risk of being trafficked. What can be done to lower the risk of a failed adoption?
*Your course will remain active for 180 days from purchase date.
This course aligns with the following regulatory requirements.
Hague Treaty on Intercountry Adoption*
96.38 (a)(5)
*Important information for agencies on Ethical Considerations and Child-Buying in Intercountry Adoptions and on Hague Training Requirements.