Child Prostitution and Trafficking and Children in Armed Conflict Chiles High School

Canada is committed to addressing the two topics of Child Prostitution and Trafficking and Children in Armed Conflict. Canada,
having signed the United Nations Charter in 1945, is one of the founding members of the United Nations and has been an active
participant since that date. Canada argues that confronting these critical humanitarian issues is vital to protect the rights of all
children. In order to ensure prosperity to our future generations, Canada collaborates with and works alongside the United
Nations, to find solutions that will eradicate child prostitution and trafficking, and stop perpetrators from using children in armed
conflict atrocious acts that are prevalent around the world.
Canada believes that efforts to eliminate trafficking and recruitment of children must strategically target the factors and offenders
that cause children and families to be vulnerable. These appalling acts occur in a continuous cycle and are largely inescapable
without effectively addressing the root cause(s). Canada believes that we will only see incremental positive and sustainable
change when we address the root cause(s) of vulnerability. Whether one is affected by poverty, limited gender equality, inferior
class, child marriage, or lack of education, all of these factors influence one another, and/or result in a common situation -
vulnerability. Canada firmly believes that the primary factors contributing to vulnerability are poverty/lack of resources, lack of
high quality education and overall poor quality of life. The extreme subpar living conditions stem from multiple issues that differ
by region and country but that all share the common result of causing vulnerability. Canada argues that we must join together
to provide communities, families, and their children with adequate resources including effective educational resources so that
families can maintain standards of living and be less vulnerable and susceptible to the empty promises of traffickers and perceived
required irrational duties that may be placed upon them by other perpetrators that recruit children to become soldiers.
I. Child Prostitution and Trafficking. Vulnerable children - boys and girls within Canadian borders as well as all around the
world - are at risk of being trafficked for the purpose of prostitution. A 2015 report released by the US Department of State to
monitor and combat trafficking describes Canada as a source, transit corridor and destination country for sex trafficking. Foreign
women, primarily from Asia and Eastern Europe, are subjected to sex trafficking in Canada. Canada acknowledges this issue
exists within our borders and is actively seeking solutions. These solutions include building more high-security safe houses for
trafficking victims as well as preventative solutions to address causative factors leading to vulnerable populations poverty, lack
of resources and inadequate education. Being one of the first countries to approve the United Nations Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons , especially Women and Children, Canada seeks to prevent human trafficking by
building strong partnerships domestically and internationally. Canada focuses on four core areas to tackle these critical issues:
1) The prevention of human trafficking; 2) The protection of victims; 3) The prosecution of offenders; and 4) Working in
partnership with others both domestically and internationally. Traffickers lure vulnerable children, including those that are
teenaged runaways, migrants and immigrants, and indigenous Canadians into a life of shame, fear, and further abuse and
vulnerability. Poverty can lead to homelessness, which creates further vulnerabilities and increases risk substantially. For
example, in Canada, eighty seven percent of prostitutes have been homeless at one point in their lives. Canadas efforts to
eliminate human trafficking and child prostitution include developing the Criminal Code of Canada and the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act. In addition, the National Action Plan (The Plan) to Combat Human Trafficking was launched by the
Government of Canada on June 6, 2012 to leverage and build on Canada's international and domestic experience to date, and
monitor progress annually. The Plan consolidates ongoing efforts of the federal government to combat human trafficking through
building upon current responses and commitments to work together with partners to combat human trafficking. A primary
objective of the Plan is to organize resources to better support organizations providing assistance to victims. The Plan also
introduces new initiatives to prevent human trafficking, identify victims, protect the most vulnerable, and prosecute perpetrators.
Canada understands that to effectively combat this issue we must require the involvement of provincial and territorial
governments. Canada also knows that in order to be successful, our governments must work closely with law enforcement, civil
society and others departments and organizations. The Plan moves Canada in this direction through the creation of a dedicated
integrated Canadian enforcement team and the Human Trafficking Taskforce, led by Public Safety Canada and comprised of key
departments. The Taskforce oversees the implementation of the National Action Plan commitments and reports annually on
progress to the public. Canada is committed to providing an unwavering pledge to action through The Plan. We propose
consolidation of all activities into one all-inclusive plan will assist and reinforce cohesive efforts to stop human trafficking, to
assist victims in recovery, to stop perpetrators, and to bring those perpetrators to justice. The Plan provides the ideal avenue to
consolidate existing strategies to stop human trafficking and assist victims, and to propose new strategies to better support
organizations that are providing assistance to victims and protection to foreign nationals, including young female immigrants
who arrive in Canada alone, from being subjected to illegitimate or unsafe work. Canada also argues that it is critical to educate
all populations about child prostitution to establish the understanding that children are the victims of prostitution; child
prostitution is not voluntary. Spreading awareness to establish this crucial understanding will assist all efforts in providing
emotional and psychological assistance to children who are victims; and will also educate and empower future victims and their
families so that they will be aware of and question situations in which a trafficker may be luring them through promises of a
better life. Canada seeks to prevent trafficking from occurring, to protect victims of human trafficking, to bring its perpetrators
to justice, and to build partnerships domestically and internationally to combat this horrendous practice across the globe. We
look forward to sharing our progress that may work in other countries, and learning about other solutions that may work within
Canada.
II. Children in Armed Conflict. With peacemaking being one of Canadas fundamental values, we strongly advocate to
eliminate the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. Canada was the first to introduce the thematic debate on children in
armed conflict during Canadas tenure on the United Nations Security Council in 1999-2000, and hosted the first International
Conference on War-Affected Children in 2000. Canada was also an early supporter of the Office of the Special Representative
for Children and Armed Conflict and currently provides funding to the Office. Canada has provided $2 million to UNICEFs
Children, Not Soldiers campaign to end the recruitment and use of children by state armed forces. The eight states implicated
have all signed Action Plans with the United Nations to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children. The Special
Representative, UNICEF and partners support their efforts to release and reintegrate children into civilian life, and work to ensure
all mechanisms are in place to end and prevent their recruitment and use. Canada was instrumental in helping to create the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which was
adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000 and bans forces of any state from recruiting persons under the age of 18 for
fighting. Canada also endorsed the Paris Principles, which provide guidelines preventing the recruitment and use of children in
conflict. Canada is a State Party of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and a strong supporter of the Courts
efforts to end impunity for serious international crimes, including crimes against children. Canada stands committed to continuing
our work with the international community to ensure that all children have safe spaces throughout the world in which to grow
and learn. In support of one of the six United Nations Security Councils (UNSC) violations against children in conflict
situations, Canada endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration and the associated Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities
from Military Use during Armed Conflict on February 21, 2017. Canada believes that it is imperative that we help put preventative
measures in place to keep rebel groups from having access to schools for use as military training grounds and/or to prevent them
from influencing educational curriculum. Canada understands that in conflict situations, families and communities have reduced
ability to provide safe and secure environments for children resulting in children facing abduction, radicalization, detention,
sexual exploitation, abuse, forced marriage, and enslavement contributing to children facing recruitment and use in war/battles.
Canada has funded numerous projects, including those in Columbia, South Sudan, and West and Central African countries, in
order to initiate the prevention of recruitment and demobilization of child soldiers. Projects focus on areas that include
strengthening accountability, community-based and research work to reintegrate children who were former soldiers, and
preventing the recruitment of new children to become soldiers. Canada established and continues to chair the Group of Friends
on Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations, participating in and leading these groups around the world to advocate
for continued international attention and action on the issue. Canada is committed to supporting development of strategic
solutions to facilitate the elimination of any ability to manipulate children and/or their families into believing that combat is their
civic duty. In order to accomplish essential next steps of this process, Canada calls on the international community to support
efforts to bring multi-faceted solutions that will improve infrastructures and support networks, thereby hindering efforts of rebel
groups preying on vulnerable populations.
Resources:
Government of Canada. National Action Plan. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ntnl-ctn-pln-cmbt. Modified 2017-09-18.
Government of Canada. Departmental Plan 2017-2018. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/dp/2017-2018. Modified 2017-03-09.
Government of Canada, Department of Justice Canada. Combatting Human Trafficking and Supporting Victims. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-
justice/news/2017/02/combatting_humantraffickingandsupportingvictims. Modified: 2017-02-09.
Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development. Children and Armed Conflict. http://international.gc.ca/world-
monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement. Modified 2017-06-13.
U.S. News Best Countries: Canada. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/canada. 2017.
Grant, Tavia. Missing and Murdered: The Trafficked. The Globe and Mail. February 10, 2016.
Newton, Paula. Canada's stolen daughters: Sex traffickers target indigenous Canadians. CNN. February 23, 2017.
Choo, Seo-Young et al. Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking? World Development, 41 (1), 2013, pp. 67-82. 2012-01-16.
Smith, Dan. Trends and Causes of Armed Conflict. Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management.
https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/canada_statistics.html. Updated 2013-12-24.