COVID-19 EFFECTS ON YOUTH TRAFFICKING

What is youth trafficking

Child trafficking means the recruitment and/or transfer, harboring, or receipt of children for the purposes of exploitation.

Child trafficking may occur with the intention of forced labour, sexual exploitation, and child marriage.

A study released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) illustrates the devastating impact of COVID-19 on victims and survivors of human trafficking and highlights the increased targeting and exploitation of children.

Traffickers took advantage of the global crisis, capitalizing on people’s loss of income and the increased amount of time both adults and children were spending online.

Children are being trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced marriage, forced begging, and for forced criminality.

COVID-19 effects on racialized communities

• The 35 Jane cut through many hard-hit areas.
• Racialized and working-class neighbourhoods were Toronto’s COVID-19 epicentre.
• Immediately north is a low-income, predominantly Black neighbourhood.
• Black Canadians report far worse health outcomes related to COVID-19.
• Black Canadians were also more likely (43% to 56%) to report layoffs or reduced working hours in their household.
• More worried, over the next few months, about paying rent (36% to 45%).

What are some potential long-term effects of COVID-19?

The National Institutes of Health refer to long-term COVID-19 symptoms as PASC, which stands for post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2.

More common terms include post-COVID syndrome, long COVID, or long-term COVID. People living with post-COVID syndrome are sometimes known as “long haulers.”

According to the CDC, the most common lasting symptoms are:

• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Cough
• Joint pain
• Chest pain

Other issues include:

• Cognitive problems
• Difficulty concentrating
• Depression
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Rapid heartbeat
• Intermittent fever

Since job security became a serious issue during the pandemic, recruiters took advantage of vulnerable youth.

Reminder:

Human Trafficking is a process – this process often involves being recruited, tricked, and exploited for labor. (Not just sex work)