Paper short abstract:

The paper examines how the international trafficking discourses and anti-trafficking activities can criminalize populations resulting in antagonism between child protection organizations and parents whose children they aim to safe.

Paper long abstract:

Despite international legal framework and conventions identification of trafficking of children is not always straightforward. Scholars have highlighted that the definition of child trafficking in The UN Trafficking Protocol gives an ample space for interpretations. Many times statistics on trafficked children are unavailable and at times contradictory. It is problematic that the statistics are often produced and used for raising of funds and for advocacy; the higher the numbers the higher the income will be. While some tend to include almost all cases of children who work at a young age others restrict the definition to include only victims of sexual exploitation. The aim of the paper is to examine how the international trafficking discourses and anti-trafficking activities can criminalize populations resulting in antagonism between child protection organizations and parents whose children they aim to safe. The paper is based on fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Gambia in 2009.