Treat The Children Well: Shortcomings In The United States' Effort To Protect Child Trafficking Victims

Draws on interviews with 31 key informants & 39 emancipated survivors & case file reviews to examine problems with the current Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) that center on the tensions between prosecution & child protection. It is argued that federal prosecutors & investigators pressure child trafficking survivors & the welfare professionals to help in investigations & prosecutions, thus ignoring the child welfare concerns regarding the deleterious impact of such stress on survivors. A specific case wherein prosecutors used a subpoena to force child trafficking survivors to testify against their will & compel child welfare professionals to make their clients cooperate is used to illustrate. Legal arguments against the use of subpoenas to coerce testimony are presented, & three measures to ensure the protection of child trafficking victims are suggested. D. Edelman. Tables, Appendixes. Adapted from the source document.