FAMILY AND SCHOOL CLIMATE AS PREDICTORS OF CHILDREN’S VULNERABILITY TO CHILD TRAFFICKING

ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to determine if family and school climate
predict children’s vulnerability to trafficking in Anambra State. In
pursuance of the above objective, six research questions and six
hypotheses guided the study. The instrument used for data collection was
a researcher designed questionnaire titled “Students’ Vulnerability to
Trafficking Questionnaire (SVTQ)”. Copies of the instrument were given to
experts in the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to
validate and their corrections were effected. To test the reliability of the
instrument, copies of the instrument were given to 50 Senior Secondary
School students and the result was analyzed using Cronbach Alpha
Statistics. No of respondents used as sample were 1164. The sampling
technique used was multistage sampling design. Stratified random
sampling was used to select the three education zones while simple
random sampling with replacement was used to select the four schools
used in each education zone. Purposive sampling method was used in
selecting 100 children used in each school. The data were analyzed using
Pearson Product Moment Correlation for the research questions and
Multiple Regression for the hypotheses. The findings showed that family
and school climate are predictors of children’s vulnerability to trafficking.
Family socio-economic status, family size, family structure, family climate,
teacher-student relationship and student-student relationship
significantly predict children’s vulnerability to trafficking. Based on the
findings, implications were highlighted and recommendations were made
among them is creating awareness of the modern day slavery-trafficking.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Human Trafficking is any action or transaction that
transfers a person from one person or group of persons to
another for remuneration or any other benefits. Gbadamosi
(2006) describes human trafficking as the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of person, by the
means of threat, or use of force or other forms of coercion, or of
abduction, fraud, or of deception, of abuse of power or of a
position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving of payment or
benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over
another person, for the purposes of exploitation.
Exploitation includes any form of sexual exploitation,
forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery,
servitude or the removal of human organs. Traffickers may
result in an illegal entry into a country and includes internal as
well as external trafficking and displacement of the victim
(International Bureau for Children’s Right (IBCR), 2011).
Human trafficking involves the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, receipt or harboring of persons for the
purpose of exploitation (typically in the sex industry and for
forced labour). Human Trafficking, as explained by
International Organization for Migration (I.O.M) (2007), is
trafficking of human beings which occurs when a migrant is
illicitly recruited, kidnapped, sold and / or moved, either within
national or across international borders. It went further to say
that intermediaries (traffickers), during any part of the process,
obtain economic or other profit by means of deception, coercion
and for other forms of exploitation under conditions that violate
the fundamental rights of migrants.
In Nigeria, human trafficking may include domestic
servitude, illegal and bonded labour, false adoption, sex tourism
and entertainment, pornography, organized begging, organ
harvesting and other criminal activities. Organ harvesting,
sometimes referred to as organ laundering, involves the
trafficking of humans for the purpose of selling their organs for
money.
Child trafficking is modern slavery for children under 18
years. It is a widespread phenomenon in the world in general
and in developing countries like Nigeria in particular. Child
trafficking, according to International Labour Organisation
(ILO), (2004), is a modern form of slavery that involves
displacing a child for the purpose of exploitation. This can be for
exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices
similar to slavery, servitude or removal of internal organs.
Children are trafficked globally and domestically for both
labour and sex. UNICEF (2006) wrote that child labour takes
forms and include domestic servitude, exploitation in
agricultural services, and manufacturing industries, sexual
exploitation, use of children in armed forces, drug trades and
child begging. Child trafficking, according to Reuters and West
(2003), is sex trafficking where commercial sex act is induced by
force, fraud, coercion or one in which the person induced to
perform such acts has not attained 18years of age.
Child trafficking in Nigeria is a demand-driven
phenomenon – the existence of an international market for
children in the labour and sex trade, coupled with an abundant
supply of children from poor families with limited or no means
for education in a cultural context that favours child fostering
(ILO, 2002). In addition, ILO (2002) noted that parents’
unemployment, broken homes, displacement, peer influence
and poor living standards drive children to trafficking. Children
living in rural areas in Anambra State often lack access to
quality education, good health and other basic needs which
make their parents to entrust them into the hands of other
family members who are more financially stable to help them.

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