Child trafficking and child protection in Vietnam, Albania and Nigeria: The law in books and the law in context

Heywood, Loria-Mae

Abstract

Vietnam, Albania and Nigeria have been prominent source countries of child trafficking to the United Kingdom. Such trends have coincided with the prominence of these countries as sources for victims of trafficking within the European Union. In response to this reality, and further contextualized by the international legal obligations that these target countries have in respect of child protection and trafficking prevention, this Paper engages in comparative socio-legal research; it is ultimately focused on unearthing common socio-legal factors in the target countries that can help to contribute to, and contextualise their prominence as sources of trafficking. Operating through a child rights perspective, this research was done via the comparison of international legal provisions focused on the trafficking definition, trafficking prevention and child protection on the one hand, with domestic legal provisions on the other hand. This comparison, contextualized by the social context in which domestic laws were framed, formed the context for the identification of child protection gaps in respective domestic laws. This research further entailed the identification of challenges to the use, implementation and enforcement of domestic laws; this followed the examination of children and trafficking within the socio-historical context of the respective countries, children within the context of migration and child work – prominent themes derived from the Literature Review, and trafficking trends within the respective countries. This research uncovered a few core trends, common across the target countries, that have contextualized their prominence as source countries of trafficking. These have included the misalignment between mentioned trafficking elements and their criminalization; gender-based norms which reflect a diminished value of women and girls and which have facilitated the trafficking of children; histories of conflict, strangleholds on power, domination and control, and external intervention which involved and/or preceded the trafficking in persons; and contrasting attitudes to childhood, child work and child migration between Vietnam, Albania and Nigeria, and the United Kingdom.

Citation

Heywood, L.-M. (2022). Child trafficking and child protection in Vietnam, Albania and Nigeria: The law in books and the law in context. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4960987

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 15, 2026
• Keywords: Law
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4960987
• Additional Information: Law School; University of Hull
• Award Date: Jul 14, 2022