By: Anqi Shen, Georgios A. Antonopoulos and Georgios Papanicolaou
Anqi Shen is Senior Lecturer in Law and Policing
at Teesside University, UK. (anqi.shen@tees.ac.uk)
Georgios A. Antonopoulos is Reader in Criminology
at Teesside University, UK. (g.antonopoulos@tees.ac.uk)
Georgios Papanicolaou is Senior Lecturer in Criminology
at Teesside University, UK. (g.papanicolaou@tees.ac.uk)
Supply, demand, facilitation
Child trafficking has a long history in China although it
remerged as a ‘new’ tendency in the last two decades or so.
In addition to a change in scale, the characteristics of child
trafficking have also transformed. As a result it has attracted
the attention of some high echelons of the Chinese establishment who consider it a ‘lucrative business’. For instance, an
expert from the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry
of Public Security (MPS) explains in no uncertain terms that,
“compared with trafficking in women, trafficking in children
is more profitable and easier”.
There are a number of supply, demand and facilitating factors
involved. Some are common to other geographical contexts,
whereas others need to be understood within the unique
local historical, cultural, socio-political and economic context
of China. These include: poverty, high profits and low risks for
traffickers, loopholes in law and ineffective implementation
of law, regional economic imbalance, movement of people
and ‘floating populations’.
Of great significance is the ‘One Child Policy’. This particular
policy is often the platform for the facilitation of internal child
trafficking in a country that favours large families (primarily
in rural areas) and that has a male-dominant culture, placing
higher value on boys than girls.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE GO TO:
http://www.iias.nl/sites/default/files/IIAS_NL61_11.pdf
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