Parents complicit in Solomon Islands child trafficking

Logging sites and fisheries are putting Solomon Islands children at risk of exploitation, both in terms of child labour and sexual abuse.

The finding is one of many to feature in a report by the aid agency Save The Children, based on a wide ranging exploration of child trafficking practices in the Solomons.

Researchers discovered that some logging site managers have been finding children for some of their laregely foreign workforce, and there are also reports of girls being recruited for sexual exploitation in Honiara schools.

But Shiv Nair, country director for Save The Children Solomon Islands, says parents are often complicit in child exploitation, and while laws could be re-written to protect children better, enforcement would be difficult.