New report : “The Sale of Children and Illegal Adoption” by Nigel Cantwell

New report on the Sale of Children and Illegal Adoption published by ECPAT, DCI and Terre des Hommes

Discover the new co-published report, written by Nigel Cantwell (founder of DCI and international consultant on child protection) covering the study made by DCI in the area of sale of children and illegal adoption.

Illicit practices in relation to the adoption of children have been a serious concern for many decades, particularly – though not solely – with regard to those involving the transfer of children abroad (intercountry adoption). The 1980s saw a phenomenal increase in allegations of malpractice and the realisation that the legal and human rights framework for intercountry adoption was wholly inadequate to prevent children being “legally adopted” as a result of illegalities at various stages in the adoption process. These concerns came to inspire in particular the emphasis, in international standards, on protecting the rights of children for whom intercountry adoption might be envisaged or is already under way.

In 2016, the current UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud de Boer Buquicchio, commissioned a research paper on “illegal adoptions”, both domestic and intercountry, to inform the thematic report on this subject that she presented to the 34th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2017.

The present publication is an adapted version of that research paper. Its main focus is on illegal intercountry adoptions. It seeks to pinpoint in particular the systemic factors that create the conditions in which illegal adoptions can thrive and to propose effective responses on the part of all actors, with special attention topreventive approaches.

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