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Comprehensive child protection systems 2011, para. 31b
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to prevention, comprehensive legal frameworks should:] Develop and implement strict international and national adoption laws foreseeing: (i) adoption as a last resort; (ii) the identification of suitable measures, which include the placement of children with their biological or extended family; (iii) preference for national adoption over international adoption; and (iv) the obligation to conduct compatibility studies between the adoptive family and a child given up for adoption, keeping in mind the best interests of the child, with a view to avoiding the sale of children for illegal adoption;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive child protection systems 2011, para. 42e
- Paragraph text
- [The most effective responses are multidisciplinary and take into account the various types of short-, mid- and long-term care and assistance that child victims require for their full recovery and reintegration. True efficacy requires that responses be:] Able to offer safe and child-friendly alternative or residential care that accommodates the basic needs of child victims, is governed by child protection norms and standards and is subject to regular monitoring. To that end, it is essential to establish minimum standards for alternative and residential care. All registered centres must be required to submit monthly reports on the arrival and departure of children and details related to their care and transfer;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of children from sale and sexual exploitation following humanitarian crisis due to natural disasters 2012, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Natural disasters destroy or disrupt the normal conditions of life and the care of children and can, in turn, disrupt, deny and delay the realization of their rights. In such situations, children are more likely to be unidentified, hastily fostered, adopted or placed in long-term care institutions, without the possibility of tracing their families, reunification or safe return. Their vulnerability increases their risk to sale, sexual and other forms of exploitation as they may be inappropriately and/or illegally removed from their communities - sometimes by well-meaning individuals who wish to ensure their safety, or by those seeking to profit from the chaos.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of children from sale and sexual exploitation following humanitarian crisis due to natural disasters 2012, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Family tracing and reunification is one of the principal strategies emphasized by international organizations and aid agencies to ensure that child protection is incorporated into emergency response programmes. One such tool is the Inter-agency family tracing and reunification (FTR) programme which seeks to facilitate family tracing and reunification in an emergency and strengthen the capacity of governments to register children. The Working Group on Rapid Registration and Interim Care for Unaccompanied Children, in consultation with the Haitian Government's social welfare department, developed standard operating procedures for family tracing and reunification following the 2010 earthquake. As a result of their efforts, 1,303 children were reunited with their families or caregivers in Haiti. In Eritrea, UNICEF supported 5,407 orphans and vulnerable children through family reunification, foster care group homes and domestic adoption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of children from sale and sexual exploitation following humanitarian crisis due to natural disasters 2012, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- Efforts should be undertaken to accurately record the basic details of a child's identity, including the name of the child and her/his parents, details of their residence and community, the date of evacuation, and to whom the child was entrusted for care. Each child should receive a copy of his/her file which should stay on their person and should include travel documents. Each child should have a name tag pinned to his/her clothing which also indicates the name of the child's community of origin. When possible, a photograph of the child should be taken and included in the files. Copies of files should be given to parents, national authorities, the organization responsible for evacuation (if necessary) and a neutral monitoring agency, such as the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The demand for adoption has augmented concomitantly with a decrease in adoptable children, creating conditions for abuse, corruption, excessive fees amounting to sale, and the illegal adoption of children. Data from European countries shows that there has been a decrease since 2004 in intercountry adoptions, in particular owing to better child health, effective family policies, the strengthening of legal and institutional frameworks and the concerns of countries for their international image. Conversely, demand for adoption has not dropped, creating an environment conducive to abuse and leading to pressure on countries of origin, including through excessive costs by adoption agencies, briberies and corruption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive, rights-based and child-centred care, recovery and reintegration programmes 2015, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- When it comes to reintegration, many organizations measure success by the number of children who are returned to their families. However, consultations with children who had experienced reintegration programmes identified a number of areas that they felt had to be considered to assess whether a child had been successfully reintegrated, namely that the basic needs of the child were met (e.g. housing, health, food and water); that the child had emotional support, safety and a relationship with the family and community; that the child had developed internal strengths; and that the child was either in education or employment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sale of children for the purpose of forced labour 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Criminal activities are among the services children may be forced to undertake and are considered a form of forced labour. ECPAT UK has highlighted the situation of children engaged in forced labour in cannabis production in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who have been trafficked from other countries. The children are forced by organized criminal groups to work in cannabis factories under hazardous conditions and with no possibility of leaving. Criminal groups use debt bondage and threats of reprisals against the children and their families to prevent them from escaping.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sale of children for the purpose of forced labour 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Inadequate monitoring and regulation of the activities of intermediaries can easily result in abusive practices. Intermediaries may use deceptive methods to lure families into releasing a child, or attract children into situations amounting to forced labour. The high fees required for the service is likely to put children and families in situations of debt bondage. Intermediaries may manage the full placement process, taking care of all necessary documents, which are then confiscated, preventing victims from leaving. Intermediaries may be directly linked with criminal networks aiming to exploit workers. Lack of work contracts and dependency on the recruiter for documentation and debt repayment paves the way for forced labour. In most cases, recruiters are aware of the forced labour conditions in which children end up and use deception to recruit them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sale of children for the purpose of forced labour 2016, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- The sale of children for the purpose of forced labour is a multifaceted phenomenon with diverse root causes, risk factors, manifestations and effects. Families may use the sale of children for the purpose of forced labour as a coping strategy for survival. Children, whether sold or entrusted to a third party, may fall into the hands of traffickers, who will in turn sell them for forced labour. They may also end up under the control of criminal organized groups. Demand for products with competitive prices is also a pull factor for the sale of children for forced labour and labour exploitation. In conflict situations, lawlessness and social, economic and institutional breakdown, as well as deliberate conflict strategies, may lead children to be abducted and sold for the purpose of forced labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The Convention provides in article 20 that a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State. The care envisaged in the Convention can include foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of children. In that context, adoption should be understood as one possibility among several alternative child protection measures to provide a family environment to the child. In addition, the development of international child rights norms and standards shows that the placement in institutions should only be used as a measure of last resort, when it is absolutely necessary and when it is in the best interests of the child.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Article 21 of the Convention sets the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration in all matters related to adoption. In addition, its implementation obliges States to ensure that the adoption of a child is authorized only by competent authorities who determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that the adoption is permissible in view of the child's status concerning parents, relatives and legal guardians and that, if required, the persons concerned have given their informed consent to the adoption on the basis of such counselling as may be necessary. Article 24 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and article 4 of the European Convention on the Adoption of Children (Revised) also require the best interests of the child to be the paramount consideration in adoption processes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In addition, in respect to intercountry adoptions, article 21 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes the principle of subsidiarity and the prohibition of improper financial gain for those involved in the adoption process. It also establishes that the same level of safeguards and standards for domestic adoptions apply in the context of intercountry adoptions. Regarding the principle of subsidiarity, article 21 states that intercountry adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child's care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child's country of origin.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The subsidiarity principle must be applied in accordance with the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, which involves supporting efforts to keep children in, or return them to, the care of their family or, failing that, to find another appropriate and permanent solution, including adoption. While looking for permanent solutions, or in cases where they are not possible or are not in the best interests of the child, the most suitable forms of alternative care have to be found. States also have the duty, as set out in article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to assist parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities, and to ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The abduction of babies (e.g. through kidnappings or by falsely informing parents that their baby was stillborn or died shortly after birth), the improper inducement of consent (e.g. through misrepresentation, bribery or coercion) and improper financial gain (e.g. through payment for the child or the payment of bribes to intermediaries involved in the adoption process) are among the most common methods used in the sale of children and illegal adoptions. Inherent to the methods is the falsification of documents (e.g. birth and medical certificates, the identification documents of the biological mother, DNA test results and relinquishment or abandonment declarations) and the bypassing of regulations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The placement of children in alternative care settings, in particular in residential facilities, is often a first step leading to a determination of their adoptability. The false assumption that all children in such institutions are adoptable has widely contributed to illegal adoptions, as children can be taken without the appropriate consent even though they still have a parent, family member or other kin willing and able to care for them. In Nepal, for example, intercountry adoptions have been interrupted by receiving countries owing to the insufficiency of the procedures in place to determine the adoptability of a child.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Large-scale illegal adoptions have also taken place in the context of conflicts or authoritarian regimes and their aftermath. During the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, for example, the authorities abducted hundreds of children from parents considered to be opponents of the regime. In most cases, arbitrarily detained pregnant women had their children removed once they had given birth; in other cases, children were arrested along with their parents and then separated from them. All the parents were forcibly disappeared or murdered by the regime. The babies were registered as the biological children of families close to or linked with the regime or of the individuals who had abducted them, and in some cases were given up for adoption. The falsification of documents was widely used to officialize such illegal acts and illicit practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The above-mentioned motivations for carrying out illegal adoptions often overlapped, as was notably the case in Spain throughout the Franco regime and during the first decades of democracy. Indeed, the practice of illegally adopting children for ideological and religious reasons soon morphed into a profit-driven criminal activity. Thousands of newborn babies were reportedly abducted from their parents by criminal networks involved in large-scale illegal adoptions. Medical personnel and clergy members actively participated in the abduction of children. Newborn babies were abducted from hospitals and subsequently told that their parents had died. The children were then given to other parents following the falsification of documents and, in certain cases, payments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Illegal domestic adoptions continue to occur in countries with weak child protection systems, in much the same way as they used to, in other words with the involvement of criminal networks and the participation of State officials and targeting vulnerable populations such as families in economic hardship. In China, there have been several cases of criminal networks abducting, trafficking and selling babies for the purpose of illegal adoption. Moreover, there have been reports of family planning officials being involved in improperly inducing consent from parents in order to sell the children or transfer them for domestic or international adoption or forced labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In several instances loopholes have been used to conduct private and independent intercountry adoptions, which are prohibited by the 1993 Hague Convention, as the absence of oversight seriously jeopardizes the integrity of the process. Prospective adoptive parents have, for example, resided temporarily in countries of origin long enough to be able to conclude a domestic adoption and then brought the adopted child back to their country, thus bypassing the intercountry adoption process. Similarly, in Uganda foreign parents have been granted legal guardianship of children and taken them abroad where they then concluded a domestic adoption in the receiving country. The conversion of a kafalah guardianship arrangement into a domestic adoption, once the child has been brought back to the receiving country, has also been used to circumvent intercountry adoption procedures under the 1993 Hague Convention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- International commercial surrogacy is a growing phenomenon quickly overtaking the number of intercountry adoptions. The international regulatory vacuum that persists in relation to international commercial surrogacy arrangements leaves children born through this method vulnerable to breaches of their rights, and the practice often amounts to the sale of children and may lead to illegal adoption. Indeed, several countries do not recognize such arrangements and, in order to establish a parent-child relationship, national laws often require parents to legally adopt the child born through international commercial surrogacy. However, if the international commercial surrogacy arrangement is found to amount to the sale of a child, the adoption too will consequently be illegal under international standards. Such a situation underscores the need for States to ensure that they are not inadvertently legitimizing the sale of children born through international commercial surrogacy by granting adoption orders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- In respect of intercountry adoptions, the enabling environment points to prevailing conditions in countries of origin (such as limited domestic care options, laws that influence the determination of adoptability and the lack of adequate resources to verify the origins of children and to ensure the free and informed consent of biological parents) and to the approach taken by receiving countries, including the pressure they exert and the conditions they accept in order to secure children for adoption, as well as the lack of information provided to prospective adoptive parents. In addition, corruption and impunity allow illegal acts and illicit practices to proliferate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The fact that intercountry adoptions are mediated by private agencies means that they too can enable illegal practices. This is particularly true in respect of private agencies that are not authorized to work as adoption accredited bodies. Such agencies usually finance their operations by charging fees to prospective adoptive parents. As those fees will not be forthcoming unless the agency secures children for adoption, some agencies employ methods or accept conditions that encourage the commission of illegal acts and illicit practices. In some instances, the demand for adoptable children creates an unhealthy competition among agencies. Adoption agencies often claim that they lack knowledge of illicit practices or that they lack control over intermediaries in countries of origin. However, the financial gain behind the illicit practices, which is often linked to money-laundering, often puts such claims into question.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Issuing "fitness-to-adopt certificates" to an unlimited number of prospective adoptive parents is dangerous when the number of adoptable children is relatively small. That discrepancy is not only a cause of frustration among prospective adoptive parents but may also contribute to a level of unsatisfied demand that can lead some prospective adoptive parents to consider options involving illicit practices. It can also fuel calls for greater efforts on the part of the authorities of receiving countries to identify more sources of adoptable children, generally in countries of origin that are not compliant with the 1993 Hague Convention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Some central authorities in countries of origin consider the setting of quotas as a positive measure to filter demand and repel pressure from receiving countries. Others, however, argue that quotas are instituted to address the actual demand and consequently do not resolve the issues raised by excessive demand. International Social Service, a federation of non-governmental organizations, has long argued for "a reversal in the flow of files" to ensure that intercountry adoptions are processed in the best interests of the child. Such a reversal would mean that adoption applications should only be sent to the authorities of a country of origin in response to a request made for prospective adoptive parents appropriate for a specific child in need of adoption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The various parties involved in illegal adoptions are reluctant to report or denounce suspected illegalities because of the possible implications. The birth parents are the notable exception, at least those whose children have been abducted or placed for adoption without their informed consent; unfortunately, they are the least likely to file a complaint, as many of them fear the consequences or lack the appropriate knowledge and access to remedies. Most adoptive parents do not know with certainty whether the adoption process involved illicit or criminal practices, although they may come to suspect as much during or after the adoption process. The responses of prospective or adoptive parents to such suspicions will depend on a number of factors, including the extent to which they feel they were directly implicated and their assessment of the likely consequences of notifying the competent authorities. Complaints filed and collaboration extended by adoptive parents increase the chances of success of criminal investigations and prosecutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Guatemala presents one of the few examples of investigation and prosecution efforts having been made with the aim of dismantling criminal structures. In 2011, with the support of the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, the Public Prosecutor's Office proved the existence of a criminal structure involved in trafficking in children for the purpose of illegal intercountry adoptions operated by owners of residential facilities with the complicity of lawyers, registrars and judges. Despite the convictions, the case illustrated the difficulties in balancing the conflicting needs and desires of those involved in adoptions (adoptees, adoptive parents and biological parents) and the interests of justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- In all cases of systemic illegal adoptions, States must ensure redress for victims through remedies that include reparation for victims and support to adoptees in their search for their origins. The experiences of adoptees trying to establish the truth behind their "abandonment" and illegal adoption are telling, as are the obstacles they encounter and the good practices of competent authorities. Gradually, efforts are being made to facilitate the search process. For example, an adoption manual has been developed by the adoption service and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea, containing information on the steps to be taken searching one's birth family. The search for truth and origins is one of the main issues addressed by associations of intercountry adoptees. Such initiatives are still rare, however.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Various countries emerging from conflict or an authoritarian regime have been confronted with allegations of systematic illegal adoptions as part of past large-scale abuses. Few countries have responded to victims' calls for truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, however, and none have done so in a comprehensive manner. Argentina has pioneered such responses, in particular in relation to enforced disappearances, through truth-seeking and accountability. Genetic tracing and the establishment of a national genetic database have played a key role in identifying disappeared children who were subjected to illegal adoption and in efforts to seek judicial accountability. Moreover, the "disappeared" children, now adults, are stepping forward to uncover their biological origins and some are playing a role in the prosecution of their adoptive parents.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In the face of poverty, inaccessibility to basic social services and lack of opportunity, families find themselves unable to ensure the development and safety of their children. They adopt survival strategies that may endanger their children. Some parents emigrate in search of a better future, leaving their children behind, while some children emigrate on their own initiative or at their family's urging, and are handed over, for a fee, to exploiting individuals who push them into work. These children are more vulnerable to all forms of exploitation and abuse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph