The Role of Social Work in Assisting Children Victims of Child Begging

Every year in Romania, a significant number of youth and children fall victim to different forms of exploitation: sexual exploitation, forced labour exploitation, exploitation for begging, exploitation by forcing to commit juvenile delinquency. According to the studies published by the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (ANITP), in 2016 the number of victims was 756, 14% lower than in the previous year. In 2017, the number of victims continued to decline, registering 662 victims, and in 2018 the number is even lower, 497 victims.At the national level, the obligation of begging as a form of human trafficking ranks 3rd in the order of exploitation, after the sexual and forced labor. According to ANITP in 2018, 67.4% of the victims were sexually exploited, 20.1% through forced labor, 5.2% exploitation through begging, 1.6% obligated to commit crimes. This study was performed on professionals involved in providing support services to children, victims of child begging, which included several components: firstly, to identify the factors that favour this phenomenon; secondly to identify the methods by which the victims are forced to beg, thirdly identifying services provided by public and nongovernmental organizations, and presenting challenges encountered in the reinsertion of victims in their families and communities; and fourthly to identify the roles of the social worker regarding the intervention. A secondary-data analysis was performed using the case files and the support services reports.


Keywords: child trafficking, exploitation, forced begging, support services