Children That Have Been Trafficked Senior Advisor Lars Lööf Childrens Unit Council of the Baltic Sea States

Reintegration means: 1.Assuring the right to adequate psychological, medical and social support. 2.Reunification with family carers. 3.Noncriminalisation of any acts committed. 4.Vocational training or opportunities to study.

The four Cs C C C C ontrol losure ompensation omplicity

Effects of exploitation and abuse in a child Diminishes the childs capacity to be the agent of her/his life. Possible cognitive distortions Emotional distress Loss of trust in adults and in the world Lack of Control

The effect of disclosing Should lead to the childs recognition that he/she was subjected to something unacceptable and wrong Should lead to a feeling in the child of not being in any way responsible Should lead to a reunification with non offending family members Ive always been beaten up I followed him voluntarily My mother thinks I was waiting on tables

Reintegration must take place in close co-operation with the exploited child All attempts at reintegrating a child subjected to trafficking must take into consideration these facts and offer a Holding: –Continuous –Predictable –Stable –Available

To be involved in commercial sex as a child Forced to look like you enjoy it Smile at the guy Pretend that you like him Pressure from others Its OK Youll get used to it Smile Identifying with a part makes you loose yourself There is a script to follow Enhances the feeling of complicity Anyone can see what I did I can never return Complicity

Is it more difficult to recover as a child? Being involved in commercial sex is just one part of the exploitation a child is subjected to –The need to resolve other issues may stand in the way of reintegration efforts Drug dependency, criminality, vagrancy. Dependency issues –The need to be taken care of For every child, there should be someone mad about her/him –The need to belong to a defined group The only possible control of this experience may be to stay quiet

Closure Realising that it is there but that it will not hurt you anymore Sharing the burden – so many children are out there

Compensation Compensation through societys admission through sentencing all perpetrators –Both the traffickers and the buyers. Buying sex from a minor is a crime in most countries in the world. Financial compensation Going public; fight for the rights of abused children

Children That Have Been Trafficked Senior Advisor Lars Lööf Childrens Unit Council of the Baltic Sea States