By definition, child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation.

Child trafficking is a violation of their rights, well-being and denies children the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Since children cost money to raise, poor families sell them to traffickers. Children are sold into child labor, conscription, forced marriage, and forced prostitution.

- Child labor is the use of children in industry or business, especially when illegal or inhumane. Many plantations in less developed countries use children to tend to crops. There is also the use of children in brick fields, textile industries and rope factories.
-Conscription is the military use of children.
- Forced marriage is very prevalent in South Asia where 46% is married by age 18, and in sub-saharan Africa where 38% are married before the age of 18.
-Forced prostitution or involuntary prostitution is sex slavery that often takes place as a result of coercion, which is persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

Even though slavery existed before the 1400s, the 1400s marked the start of European slave trade.

Later through the 1600s, other countries became more involved in the European slave trade, such as Spain, North America, Holland, France, Sweden and Denmark.

Child trafficking has been around just as long as slavery. It continues behind the scenes and is widely popular due to large demand.

It wasn't until during the Enlightenment period that people started to question the morality of child trafficking.

The fight against trafficking began by making slavery illegal. In 1904, an international agreement against the white slave trade was created. World War One halted these plans but were picked up again in 1921. The League of Nations held a conference in Geneva. The term "white slavery" was changed to "traffic of women and children". This was done to make sure that trafficking was dealt with in all countries.

Child trafficking began to pick up after the fall of Soviet Russia in 1991. Many of the countries ruled by Russia became poor, causing child trafficking to spread throughout all of Europe.

Contemporary locations of reported child trafficking is in Africa, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Europe, Haiti, India, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan and the United States.

Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states. The United States is a source and transit country and considered one of the top destination points for victims of child trafficking.

Tier 1: States whose government fully comply with the minimum standards for elimination of trafficking.

Tier 2: States whose governments don't fully comply with the minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to meet those standards.

Tier 3: States that don't fully comply with the minimum standards, but are making efforts to meet the standards. They also have an absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking or the number of victims is increasing. There is also failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts.

Tier 4: States whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are making no effort to do so.

Child trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world.

161 countries have been identified as being affected by trafficking.

600,000-800,000 people are bought and sold across international borders each year

50% of all trafficking victims are children, most of them girls.

The two most common forms of child trafficking is sex trafficking and forced labor.

50% of all trafficking victims are children, 80% of them girls.

The reason that human trafficking is hard to stop is because of the lack of data.

Many countries lack the legal instruments or political will to participate in the international protocol against human trafficking.

There are many organizations that fight against child trafficking. Non-profits all around the world are commited to ending child trafficking through rescue and rehabilitation of children from trafficking.

Children's Rescue Initiative is an international organization that actively rescues children and slaves from human trafficking and child labor. They believe in the cycle of rescue, restore and raise up as a key to fighting slavery. After children are rescued from slavery, they are transported, with their families to a safe location where they are fed, given medical attention, comforted and are also given a free education.

Children's organization of Southeast Asia is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of human trafficking and child exploitation through education and community empowerment. This organization sets itself apart because they target the underlying problems that make people vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers, which is education. Their philosophy is prevention through education.

Child trafficking is a horrendous crime that affects millions of children and their families all over the world, ranging from child labor to sex trafficking. It is a reality that most people in the world would just like to turn their heads away and ignore. But it happens everyday to innocent children. There are organizations that work to rescue, rehabilitate and prevent trafficking. I chose to present child trafficking as a prevalent problem in our world because it is a problem that most people try to avoid discussing.