Child Trafficking and Rights Violations: Examination of Child Protection under International and Nigeria Legal Provisions

Abstract

Across the globe, and on daily basis, children are confronted with various forms of violence, which the international community strives to address, albeit unsuccessfully. The aim of this paper is to evaluate international and Nigeria’s efforts towards child protection using the instrumentality of the law; interrogate the effectiveness or otherwise of the international and Nigeria’s legal framework for child protection; and make overarching recommendations on how to achieve effective child’s rights protection. This is against the backdrop of increased child trafficking, and various forms of violence against children despite the existence of municipal laws and international legal instruments (International Office for Migration (IOM), 2019). The research is basically socio-legal and multidisciplinary in nature; hence the methodology, i.e. the doctrinal method, adopted reflects this. The research relies largely on both legal and non-legal documents, which are subjected to evaluation, interpretation, description, and systematization. These processes culminated in the findings that although efforts—legal and non-legal, towards child protection are being made, children remain in a precarious situation globally, particularly Nigeria; and that failure of child protection efforts arises from several factors that continue to enhance child vulnerabilities. It is on the basis of these findings that the research proffers recommendations that can contribute to the on-going processes leading to the adoption of effective measures and programmes that will address the challenges facing the international community and Nigeria in tackling child’s rights violations.