Displacing childhood: Labour exploitation and child trafficking in sport

Human trafficking has emerged as one of the most significant humanitarian issues of the present era, constituting a highly exploitative form of transnational organized crime and operating through a complex weaving of illicit and illegal global networks. 1 While academic interest in human trafficking has long been concentrated on forced prostitution and the predicament of women and young girls, there is also a growing, if still relatively modest, recognition of trafficking for other purposes, opening the door to a more expansive approach that touches upon a diverse array of highly exploitative labour practices. Despite its being virtually absent from academic and political discourse, this chapter will seek to explore the nexus between the phenomenon of trafficking, child labour and the realm of sport, wherein the quest to unearth inexpensive and talented reservoirs of child athletes has fuelled the crystallization of a global trading network in adolescent bodies.