UK police and the border force are on high alert at airports this week, on the lookout for kids being taken abroad for forced marriages.With the peak of the Summer holiday period nearing, the government’s Operation Limelight is an important step in preventing forced marriages of young Brits born in UK from Bangladesh and  Pakistan  families. But it’s not enough. In the The Independent, Adeem Younis writes, “To eliminate forced marriage, we will have to understand what really drives these parents to abuse their own children.”“For many of parents, forced marriage is a last resort when they fear their child won’t find a spouse in the UK. I should know, because it’s what almost happened to me

Nel 2018, Il numero di persone in fuga da guerre, persecuzioni e conflitti ha superato i 70 milioni,I dati raccolti nel rapporto annuale dell’UNHCR Global Trends, pubblicato oggi, mostrano come attualmente siano quasi 70,8 milioni le persone in fuga. Per coglierne la portata, tale cifra corrisponde al doppio di quella di 20 anni fa, con 2,3 milioni di persone in più rispetto a un anno fa, La cifra di 70,8 milioni registrata dal rapporto Global Trends è composta da: 1) rifugiati, ovvero persone costrette a fuggire dal proprio Paese a causa di conflitti, guerre o persecuzioni, 2) richiedenti asilo, persone che si trovano al di fuori del proprio Paese di origine e che ricevono protezione internazionale, in attesa dell’esito della domanda di asilo. Alla fine del 2018 il numero di richiedenti asilo nel mondo costituiva  il gruppo più numeroso, con 41,3 milioni di persone, tra cui gli sfollati in aree interne al proprio Paese di origine, una categoria alla quale normalmente si fa riferimento con la dicitura sfollati interni (Internally Displaced People/IDP).Nel 2018, un rifugiato su due era minore, molti (111.000) soli e senza famiglia. L’Uganda ha registrato ben 2.800 bambini rifugiati di età pari o inferiore a cinque anni, soli o separati dalla propria famiglia. I paesi a reddito più basso sono quelli che accolgono il maggior numero di rifugiati (80%, pari a 5,7 persone ogni 1000 abitanti) mentre quelli a reddito più alto ne accolgono il minor numero (2,3 ogni 1000 abitanti). Il 62% dei rifugiati vive nelle grandi città-

Warlord Bosco Ntaganda becomes the first person to be convicted of sexual slavery by the International Criminal Court.Women and girls conscripted into his army were forced into sexual servitude, amongst multiple horrific crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo including using child soldiers, rape and murder. On World Day for International Justice share the news and invite your network to pledge their support for freedom for girls. The case brought against Ntaganda focused on two attacks that took place over 16 years ago, in 2002 and 2003. The judgement from the court holds Ntaganda responsible as an “indirect perpetrator” for the crime of sexual enslavement of women and girls committed by members of his army.One of their victims was just 11 years old. Ntaganda, whose cruelty and violence earned him the nickname “the Terminator”, will be sentenced on 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity at a later date after judges hear submissions from victims. He could face a life sentence.”

New York billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein has been charged with sex trafficking following accusations that he sexually assaulted dozens of underage girls at his mansion in the Upper East Side.Federal prosecutors charged Epstein with running a sex-trafficking operation that lured dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, to his New York home and a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.He is accused of engaging in sex acts with minors during naked massage sessions and paying them hundreds of dollars. He also asked some of these girls to recruit others.“In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach,” read the indictment. A similafr true story was narrated by Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho in her book “Los demonios del Edén” about Mexican billionaire Succar Kuri (published by Random House Mondadori in 2010,Italian translation  “I demoni dell’Eden”, see in this site “Per saperne di più”,. “Libri” )

A judge has ordered a Utah contracting company to pay 1 million in unpaid wages to 104 children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who were subjected to “oppressive child labor.”Paragon Contractors used children from the sect — an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism — as unpaid workers on pecan farms from 2008 to 2013.The children complained being cold, being given limited access to toilets, and being required to work to keep their families in good standing with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The ruling follows a 2018 order for Paragon Contractors to put $200,000 into a fund for back wages for victims. This new ruling says Paragon must add an additional $813,000 to the fund within a month.

La tabella, anche se risalente a tre anni fa, è tuttora valida e dà una reale immagine della vastità di questo spaventoso problema.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has now signed House Bill 189 into law, which exempts child victims from facing criminal penalties for non-violent offenses committed as a result of human trafficking. oo often victims carry criminal records for acts that their trafficker made them commit. These records follow children the rest of their lives, presenting barriers to obtaining safe and stable housing and employment.But New Hampshire has put an end to this criminalization of child trafficking survivors, and we want to congratulate the Governor on passing this landmark legislation.

Per la prima volta in Italia dei minorenni sono stati riconosciuti colpevoli del reato di tortura. La sentenza è stata emessa dal tribunale per i minori di Milano nei confronti di quattro quindicenni accusati di aver segregato e picchiato per ore un coetaneo in un garage di Varese nel novembre scorso. Tre sono stati condannati a quattro anni di detenzione e 1.200 euro di multa, uno a quattro anni e sei mesi e una multa di 1.500 euro.La legge che ha introdotto in Italia il reato di tortura risale a circa due anni fa.

As a record of the first year of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2018–2021, the report outlines efforts to protect the rights of every child, to open up new opportunities for children and young people, to become increasingly effective and efficient, and to strengthen UNICEF’s partnerships and financial stewardship. Among many other achievements in 2018, the report notes that UNICEF supported birth in health facilities for 27 million babies, three doses of the Pentavalent vaccine for an estimated 65.5 million children, education for 12 million children and treatment for 4 million children with severe acute malnutrition. At the same time, the organization responded to 285 humanitarian emergencies in 90 countries,

Children in Texas can still be charged with prostitution after Gov. Greg Abbott this month vetoed a popular bill prohibiting prostituted minors from being arrested or going to juvenile court.House Bill 1771, authored by Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, would have changed the Texas penal code to not include children in its definition of prostitution. Law enforcement officers would still have the power to apprehend minors they suspected were involved in prostitution, bu t instead of going to jail, the children would be returned to their parents or the Texas Department of Family Protective Services.Thierry said the current system only further hurts children who have been victims of sexual abuse.”We are really depriving them of their liberty,” she said. “They can’t even consent to sex.”