Assessing Public Health Strategies for Advancing Child Protection: Human Trafficking as a Case Study

21 Pages Posted: 15 Jan 2013 Last revised: 8 Feb 2013

See all articles by Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

Georgia State University College of Law

Date Written: January 14, 2013

Abstract

Ensuring the well-being of all children is one of the great challenges of our time. Despite concerted efforts in the United States to protect children, research reveals that millions of children suffer harm each year. Frequently, when policymakers and child advocates speak of “child protection,” they focus primarily on abuse and neglect in the home. Often, child protection does not contemplate violence against children in the community. The inside/outside-the-home divide is somewhat of a false dichotomy, however, as the two realms are interrelated. Children who suffer abuse and neglect in the home are frequently at heightened risk of exploitation outside the home. This symposium essay focuses on the community-based issues of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children, with a view to elucidating the merits of public health approaches to harm against children. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children are significant issues in the United States. This essay briefly outlines the current framework for responding to child trafficking. It then discusses what a public health approach could add to antitrafficking efforts. Finally, this essay seeks to draw lessons from a public health approach to child trafficking that might inform child protection strategies more broadly.

Keywords: human trafficking, children, public health, child protection, violence, prevention

JEL Classification: I18, I31, K30, K32

Suggested Citation

Todres, Jonathan, Assessing Public Health Strategies for Advancing Child Protection: Human Trafficking as a Case Study (January 14, 2013). Brooklyn Journal of Law and Policy, Vol. 21, pp 93-112, 2012, Georgia State University College of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013-05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2200456

Jonathan Todres (Contact Author)

Georgia State University College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 4037
Atlanta, GA 30302-4037
United States

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