Child harvesting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the systematic sale of human children. For the practice of accepting custody of an infant or child in exchange for payment, see baby farming.
In 1904, Elizabeth Ashmead of Philadelphia was arrested, along with several of her associates, and charged with running a "baby farm".

Child harvesting or baby harvesting refers to the systematic sale of human children, typically for adoption by families in the developed world, but sometimes for other purposes, including trafficking. The term covers a wide variety of situations and degrees of economic, social, and physical coercion. Child harvesting programs or the locations at which they take place are sometimes referred to as baby factories or baby farms.

Sources[edit]

Pregnant women may face economic or social duress, or, less commonly, outright coercion to give up their newborns.[1] There are rare reports of women who are not yet pregnant being impregnated to produce infants for sale.[2]

Baby farms have been reported in Nigeria[3] and Thailand.[4]

Nigeria[edit]

Child harvesting in Nigeria is a subset of human trafficking. It often takes place in structures disguised as maternity homes, orphanages, clinics and small scale factories[5] where pregnant girls live and deliver babies in return for monetary compensation. The trend is precipitated by various factors including a social premium placed on child bearing and social stigmas around infertility and teenage pregnancy. A black market for newly born babies has developed in parts of the country to provide infants to wealthy families who prefer cheaper clandestine methods as a substitute for surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, assisted reproductive technology, or adoption through social services.[6]

The majority of the women whose children are sold are young unmarried women from lower-income households who are scared of social stigmatization as a result of an unwanted teenage pregnancy. Some of the young girls come to the baby factory after searching for abortion clinics, though others have been kidnapped.[6] Most of the discovered baby factories are found in Southern Nigeria with high incidence in Ondo, Ogun, Imo, Akwa Ibom Abia and Anambra.[6]

The first publicly reported case of a baby factory was published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2006.[6] In 2008, a network of baby factories claiming to be orphanages, was revealed in Enugu, Enugu State (Nigeria), by police raids.[7][8][9] In 2011, Nigerian police raided two more hospitals, thereby dismantling two baby factories: in June, thirty-two pregnant women were found in Aba, Abia, in a hospital of The Cross Foundation;[10][11][12] in October, seventeen pregnant women (thirty according to some sources[13][14]) were found in Ihiala, Anambra, in a hospital of the Iheanyi Ezuma Foundation.[15][16] Five more baby factories were discovered in 2013, and eight more were discovered in 2015.[6] Infertile women are noted to be major patrons of these baby factories due to the stigmatization of childless couples in Southern Nigeria and issues around cultural acceptability of surrogacy and adoption. These practices have contributed to the growth in the industry which results in physical, psychological, and sexual violence to the victims.[citation needed]

Methods[edit]

Baby factories[edit]

Poor women in Kenya have also used illegal street clinics to deliver babies to be adopted by richer women for payment.[17] These are sometimes known as "baby factories".

While they can be voluntary, women can also be kidnapped to be forced into a baby factory. Baby factories in Nigeria have coerced or abducted women to be raped in order to sell their babies for adoption.[18][19]

Kidnapping rings[edit]

Organized rings in Nairobi are known to abduct the children of homeless mothers. This is usually while the families are sleeping on the street but also through gaining the trust of the mother.[17] In 1990s, it was rumored that child snatchers commonly roamed the country in Guatemala, which has lax laws regulating adoption.[2] The state can also be involved in such schemes. During the One Child Policy in China, when women were only allowed to have one child, local governments would often allow the woman to give birth and then they would take the baby away. Child traffickers, often paid by the government, would sell the children to orphanages that would arrange international adoptions worth tens of thousands of dollars, turning a profit for the government.[20]

Matching unwanted children[edit]

Women who have an unwanted pregnancy have been approached, often by healthcare professionals, to instead deliver the baby to be sold to those looking for a child to adopt. Police have broken up such schemes in India[21] and Egypt.[22]

Markets[edit]

Adoption[edit]

Child harvesting is particularly associated with and prevalent in some international adoption markets.[23][24][25]

Forced labor[edit]

See also: Prostitution of children

Child harvesting may also be involved in situations in which children are trafficked to provide slave labor.[12][7] This could include in plantations, mines, factories, as domestic workers, or as sex workers.[12][7]

Ritual sacrifices[edit]

There have been a very few allegations of some child harvesting programs that provide infants to be tortured or sacrificed in black magic or witchcraft rituals.[10][15][11][26]

Prevention[edit]

Tackling baby factories will involve a multifaceted approach that includes advocacy and enacting of legislation barring baby factories and infant trafficking and harsh consequences for their patrons. Also, programs to educate young girls on preventing unwanted pregnancies are needed. Methods of improving awareness and acceptability of adoption and reducing the administrative and legal bottlenecks associated with this option for infertile couples should be explored to diminish the importance of baby factories.[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Thai Police Free 14 Women From Illegal Baby-Breeding Farm In Bangkok, The Huffington Post, February 24, 2011
  2. ^ a b Tuckman, Jo (13 March 2007). "£700 for a child? Guatemalan 'baby factory' deals in misery and hope". The Guardian. p. 25.
  3. ^ Smith, David (2 June 2011). "Nigerian 'baby farm' raided – 32 pregnant girls rescued". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "Thai Police Free 14 Women From Illegal Baby-Breeding Farm In Bangkok". Huffington Post. 24 February 2011.
  5. ^ Eseadi, C., Ikechukwu-Ilomuanya, A. B., Achagh, W., & Ogbuabor, S. E. (2015). Prevalence of baby factory in Nigeria: An emergent form of child abuse, trafficking and molestation of women. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research Methods, 2(1), 1–12.
  6. ^ a b c d e Makinde OA, Olaleye O, Makinde OO, Huntley SS, Brown B. (July 2015). Baby Factories in Nigeria: Starting the Discussion Toward a National Prevention Policy. Trauma Violence Abuse [Internet]. (cited July 24, 2015)
  7. ^ a b c Nigerian 'baby factory' raided, 32 teenage girls freed, AFP, Jun 1, 2011
  8. ^ Police Raids Reveal Alleged Network of 'Baby Farms', Fox News, November 15, 2008
  9. ^ 32 teens freed in Nigeria "baby factory" raid, CBS News, June 2, 2011
  10. ^ a b Nigeria 'baby farm' girls rescued by Abia state police, BBC, June 1, 2011
  11. ^ a b Nigerian 'baby farm' raided – 32 pregnant girls rescued, The Guardian, June 2, 2011
  12. ^ a b c Police in Nigeria free 32 pregnant teens from 'baby factory;' newborns sold into labor, sex markets, Daily News, June 2, 2011
  13. ^ Police Arrest 30 Pregnant Teenagers, Proprietor At Anambra Motherless Home, 247ureports, October 15, 2011
  14. ^ Police arrest 30 pregnant teenagers, others at motherless babies home Archived 2013-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, October 16, 2011
  15. ^ a b Nigerian baby factory raided Archived 2016-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, News24, October 16, 2011
  16. ^ 17 pregnant teenagers arrested in Anambra baby factory, The Nation, October 15, 2011
  17. ^ a b "The baby stealers". BBC News. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Nigeria 'baby factory' raided in Lagos". BBC News. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Nigerian's battle to keep her baby". BBC News. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  20. ^ "'One Child Nation' Exposes the Tragic Consequences of Chinese Population Control". Reason TV. 2019-08-16. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29.
  21. ^ "India: Cops bust 'baby farm' where you can buy an infant for $1,400 – Crime – Dunya News".
  22. ^ "Egypt Police Bust Baby Trafficking Ring". news.com.au.
  23. ^ Geoghegan, Andrew (2009-09-15). "Fly Away Children". ABC Online. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  24. ^ "International Baby Harvesting and Adoption-Abduction". adoption-articles.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
  25. ^ Press, Berkeley Electronic. "SelectedWorks – David M. Smolin". works.bepress.com.
  26. ^ "Child harvesting/ Baby factories". June 2013.
  27. ^ Makinde, Olusesan Ayodeji; Olaleye, Olalekan; Makinde, Olufunmbi Olukemi; Huntley, Svetlana S.; Brown, Brandon (July 24, 2015). "Child harvesting". Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 18 (1): 98–105. doi:10.1177/1524838015591588. PMID 26209095. S2CID 9985947.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Child_harvesting&oldid=1223550869"