Can DNA Stop Child Trafficking?

This article explains how the international nonprofit DNA-Prokids uses DNA sampling to reunite child victims to their families. They attempted to use this service with the assistance of the American Red Cross in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake last year, but Haiti refused.

Additionally, the article describes a pilot program in Guatemala for international adoptions. The result was that over 90% of the 220 individuals placing the children for adoption were not biologically related to the child.

This methodology is expanding. “Some “Level 3” countries (defined by the State Department as a country whose government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for protecting children from traffickers and is not making a significant effort to do so), are both source and destination countries. One example is the Congo, where foreign militias abduct Congolese children and impress them as soldiers. Others are Iran, North Korea, Sudan,  and Somalia.

DNA Pro-Kids has begun to address this problem through signing separate protocols with  individual nations.  Eight protocols now exist, with Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, Sir Lanka and Thailand; and an additional 10 are currently being negotiated.

The organization also works actively with the United Nations GIFT program, a collaborative effort with criminal justice agencies in 117 countries to stop military abductions and other types of human trafficking.”

http://thecrimereport.org/2011/01/19/can-dna-tests-stop-child-trafficking/
[The Crime Report 1/19/11 by  Carol Moore]

The topic of DNA’s use in international adoption will be discussed on REFORM Talk in future posts.

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