34 / 60
YLS Special Issue
l
PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN
By Katherine KaufkaWalts
34
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Efforts to Combat Child Trafficking in the US
Victims and Victim-Witnesses
M
ost experts and attorneys work-
ing in the human trafficking field
are familiar with the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act and its subsequent
reauthorizations, yet may be less familiar
with another powerful legal instrument
to keep the United States accountable in
combatting child trafficking--the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution, and Pornography (“OPSC” or
the “Protocol”). OPSC prohibits the “sale
of children, child prostitution, and child
pornography” and defines “sale of children”
as “any act or transaction whereby a child
is transferred by any person or group of
persons to another for remuneration or
any consideration” including forced labor.
While the United States continues to
be the remaining nation in the world to
not ratify the UN Convention on the
Child, it has ratified the OPSC. As part
of its obligations as a signatory to the
OPSC, the US government is required to
periodically (every 4 to 5 years) submit a
report on its activities under the Protocol,
specifically addressing ways in which it is
ensuring perpetrators of child trafficking
are punished, that victims are protected,
and that that meaningful efforts are made
to prevent these heinous crimes.
Non-governmental organizations are
invited to respond to the governmental
reports and submit their own research,
findings, and recommendations. The UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child
considers all governmental and non-gov-
ernmental submissions it receives, and then
issues final “concluding observations” or
recommendations.These recommendations
can be powerful policy tools for advocates
working in the child trafficking field.