Welcome Back!

You have Gifts for Good in your basket.

Checkout Now
Continue shopping for more gifts

Welcome Back!

Last time you were here, you were looking to help vulnerable children and families. Your support can save and change lives.

Donate Now
Learn more about our appeals

Millions of children worldwide experience the worst violations of their rights each day. When a child is exploited, they are stripped of their right to education, to live free from violence and to grow up healthy.

At ChildFund Australia, we believe that every child should experience a childhood in which they are nurtured, protected and given access to opportunity. We have extensive programs aimed at preventing exploitation and supporting vulnerable children globally. Through our child protection program, we work in partnership with national governments, civil society and communities to raise awareness of child protection issues and implement protective measures that keep children safe from harm.

Here are some of the ways we protect children from exploitation:

Keep reading to learn more about what is classified as child exploitation and how ChildFund Australia and our local partners are tackling some of the biggest threats to children’s safety, including early marriage, child labour and online child exploitation.

What is Child Exploitation?

Simply put, exploitation occurs when someone takes advantage of another person for their own benefit.

The rights of children to be protected from exploitation are outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) of which Australia is a signatory. The specific definition of child exploitation is outlined in Article 36, which refers to child exploitation as any situation where a child is abused, harmed or used by another person for economic, sexual or personal gain.

The legal definition of exploitation remains notably broad to capture the range of forms of violence that can be committed against children. This is because child exploitation is multi-faceted issue that includes practices like:

Child Labour

Many children and young people across the world engage in paid and unpaid work like helping around the house or taking on a job during the school holidays. These activities can help children in their development. However, poverty, displacement and violence has driven many other children into hazardous forms of work. This is what we would refer to as child labour. For instance, factories where children are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions for little or no compensation.

Child labour is any work that deprives children of their rights, dignity and childhood, and that is harmful to their physical and mental wellbeing. Globally, one in ten children, accounting for 160 million children, are forced into child labour. In the world’s poorest countries this increases to more than one in five children. The consequences of child labour for the rights and wellbeing of the child are immense. In nearly every case, children are forced to leave school, and often less likely to access the health care they need.

Child Trafficking

Trafficking occurs all over the world, and 27 percent of all human trafficking victims are children. Both boys and girls are vulnerable to child trafficking and can be trafficked for a range of reasons like forced labour, recruitment into armed groups or sexual exploitation. However, girls are disproportionately targeted, and make up two out of every three child victims. Girls are often trafficked for forced marriages or sexual exploitation.

Child Online Exploitation

As the digital world and social media platforms become an integral part of children and young people’s everyday lives, the risk of online child sexual exploitation has grown exponentially. Child online sexual exploitation refers to the use of technology or the internet to facilitate the sexual abuse of a child. Most commonly this includes grooming, live streaming, consuming child sexual abuse material, and coercing and blackmailing children for sexual purposes.

Reports indicate that the volume of child sexual abuse material has increased by 87% in the last 5 years. A recent report by the ChildLight Global Child Safety Institute revealed that more than 300 million children a year are victims of online sexual abuse and exploitation. This is a problem of global scale that requires real solutions to keep children safe online.

All forms of child exploitation have an immense impact on the wellbeing, development and rights of children and young people. Ending child exploitation is critical to guaranteeing all children can enjoy a childhood free from harm.

What makes a child vulnerable to exploitation?

Poverty

Poverty is a significant factor in heightening a child’s vulnerability to exploitation. When families are facing financial challenges, and in the absence of community or government welfare or safety nets, children may be more likely to be forced into work or early marriage to support their families.

In many communities, child protection structures that could prevent child exploitation and help survivors are either non-existence or ill equipped to respond to the violence children face at home, in the community and from strangers. We are working with partners in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Bangladesh to strengthen formal and community-based child protection mechanisms, improving child protection case management and referral pathways.

Harmful gender norms

Discrimination and structural gender inequalities create conditions that drive women and girls’ vulnerability to violence and exploitation. Harmful gender norms contribute to increasing women and girls’ risk of experiencing exploitation and violence, these include:

  • the normalisation of gender-based violence
  • lack of autonomy over financial resources
  • unequal access to education
  • lack of representation of women in decision-making processes

Every year, 12 million girls are forced into early marriage before the age of 18, and one in five girls are married in childhood across the globe. Early marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens both their wellbeing and futures. When a girl is forced to marry before the age of 18, she is more likely to drop out of school, experience domestic violence, and have worse health outcomes than her peers.

Conflict and Displacement

For children living in conflict zones, or who have been displaced from their homes, the risk of exploitation is multiplied. For instance, children living in precarious conditions, such as in refugee camps, are more vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation and forced labour.

In the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, child labour, gender-based violence, early marriage and exploitation are real threats children face every day.

ChildFund is working with our local partner, EDUCO, to set up child friendly spaces where children can learn, play and connect. These spaces are helping children to understand their rights and the protection issues they might face in the camp, including early marriage and child labour.

What makes children vulnerable to online exploitation?

The internet has revolutionised the way children and young people socialise, unlocking new ways of learning, accessing information and communicating. It has become an essential part of their daily lives bringing immense and exciting possibilities. But the digital space – whether on social media, online gaming or messaging sites – exposes children to malicious actors, and potential harm.

In the online world, children are at risk of:

  • child online sexual exploitation and abuse
  • economic exploitation
  • sextortion and
  • trafficking

However, the remarkably rapid fast-paced development of the online world means that the risks young people face online can put governments, civil society, parents, teachers and young people on the back foot when it comes to responding to online safety risks. Primary research conducted by ChildFund Australia in the Pacific and South-East Asia found that while children and young people are confident in their online abilities, they do not always have the digital skills or awareness to protect themselves online.

Online safety for children is a top priority for ChildFund Australia, and we are helping children and their communities to take action to protect their rights and wellbeing in the online world through our Swipe Safe program and app. All children should have a safe online experience, and Swipe Safe puts online safety solutions in the hands of young people so that they can enjoy the benefits and opportunities that come with a more connected world.

ChildFund Australia’s role in combating Child Exploitation

Combating child exploitation requires collective action. It is the role of governments, communities, civil society, educators and caregivers to ensure the protection of children. Here at ChildFund, we work with local partners and government agencies to build and strengthen child protection mechanisms alongside supporting children, caregivers and educators to learn more about the exploitation risks facing children in their community.

Keeping young people safe online in Laos

Phouthdavanh, 14, is a youth trainer in her community in Sayabouly Province, and is helping her friends interact safely online. Through ChildFund’s online safety training course, Phouthdavanh has gained invaluable knowledge and skills, becoming more aware of online risks and a more confident communicator. She says she now recognises the crucial role young people like herself can play in highlighting children’s rights in the digital world.

“I have learnt how to encourage young individuals to think critically and take necessary measures to protect their personal information and adopt safe social media practices,” says Phouthdavanh, adding she now understands the potential dangers of revealing too much online.

Strengthening formal child protection systems in Vietnam

Vietnam’s National Child Helpline (NCHL) has been instrumental in prioritising child protection across the country since its launch in 2004. The helpline receives over 500,000 calls annually and recently launched a dedicated app to reach more children and their communities.

Luu (11), from Hoa Binh province, says she feels much safer knowing that she can ask for help with just a click of a button: “It’s like I have another friend to protect me. I use the app to report issues such as bullying or violence. Plus, it’s really easy to use.”

ChildFund Vietnam, together with the Department of Child Affairs, has made important upgrades to App 111 to strengthen and expand the country’s Child Protection System and Service for children and their families. 

Protecting displaced children from exploitation

At just 15, Minul* has become an active advocate in his community for the rights and wellbeing of children. Living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh since he was ten years old, Minul has faced countless threats of exploitation and violence. But, since joining ChildFund and EDUCO’s Adolescent Boys Club, run at one of our child friendly spaces, he has gained important life skills, and become an advocate against child labour and early marriage.

“I have seen the distressing reality of children becoming victims of child marriage and child labour, and it deeply troubles me,” Minul says. “However, as a member of the Adolescent Boys Club, I am now in a position to help stop these harmful practices.”

Tackling Child Exploitation Together

There are many ways you can help protect children from exploitation. To make a difference today you could:

  • Donate: When you support one of our appeals or child protection programs, you are helping children and young people to stay safe.
  • Fundraise: Host an activity or event to raise much-needed funds for one of our child protection programs. It can be as easy as setting up a Facebook fundraiser or hosting an event with your friends, family or community.
  • Speak out: If you think a child might be a victim of online harm or exploitation then you can learn more about how to deal with different types of serious online abuse and the steps you can take for reporting on the eSafety Commissioner website.

By supporting ChildFund Australia’s initiatives and spreading awareness about different forms of violence against children, individuals and communities can contribute to building a safer world for children, so that they may grow up free from exploitation and harm. Donate today and help keep children safe from harm.

FAQs About Child Exploitation

Child exploitation refers to when a child is taken advantage of, abused or harmed by another person, whether economically, sexually or through other means. The core element of child exploitation is the abusive use of power or trust to manipulate and control the exploited person.

Child exploitation incorporates a range of forms of violence against children, including:

  • Child labour
  • Early marriage
  • Child trafficking
  • Online child exploitation
  • Child sexual exploitation

Child labour is an example of exploitation and defined as any work that deprives children of their rights and is harmful to their physical and mental wellbeing. For instance, children may be exploited in domestic work or forced to work in dangerous or hazardous conditions, where they are unpaid or underpaid and cannot leave due to threats or lack of alternatives.

Children may also face threats of exploitation online, including grooming, and coercion and blackmail for sexual purposes. Over the last five years, the volume of child sexual abuse material has increased by 87%, and this will likely only grow as more children come online and AI software becomes more readily available.

Child exploitation material (CEM) refers to any content depicting the abuse of children, such as child pornography. International laws, like the Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography, aim to combat the creation and distribution of CEM.


You can learn more about ChildFund’s child protection initiatives and policies here.

*Names have been changed to protect individuals’ identities.

Think back to your childhood. Were your parents, family and teachers invested in ensuring you grew up to reach your full potential? This support is essential for children to develop into adults who are healthy, educated, and have the necessary social skills and learned behaviours to enable them to contribute to and participate in society. 

Unfortunately, poverty has a devastating effect on a child’s development. The impact can be direct, such as malnutrition and illness, or a lack of access to education.

A life of poverty can put a child’s physical health, social skills, behavioural learning and emotional wellbeing at risk. 

If we are going to reduce poverty, it’s important to understand how a childhood of disadvantage can affect a child’s development.

You can also download this blog post as an infographic for reference:

How many children live in poverty in 2024?

Across the world, 333 million children live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $2.15 per day. That’s about one in every six children globally.

Despite making up only one-third of the global population, children make up half of those living in extreme poverty. And the consequences of child poverty are grave. Children who grow up in poverty are twice as likely to die in childhood than other children, often lack access to nutritious food or clean water, and might be forced to drop out of education.

Child poverty is avoidable, and we can build a world where every child grows up healthy, educated and protected from harm. By addressing the root causes of poverty and implementing programs, ChildFund helps ensure that future generations will have better opportunities and fewer children will suffer from the debilitating effects of poverty. By donating to ChildFund’s programs, you can make sure children are not robbed of their childhood because they are living in poverty.

You can find out more about the causes of poverty here. Now let’s look at how poverty can affect child development.

What is child development?

Child development is the sequential process of physical, social, behavioural and emotional changes or learnings that enable a child to become a healthy adult. 

A child’s development is informed by their environment and experiences, particularly at ages 0-5. During this period, the brain develops the most and the fastest than at any other stage in life. As children develop, they’ll learn:

  • Fine motor skills
  • Gross motor skills
  • Phonological awareness
  • Play and social skills
  • Self-care and organisation
  • Sensory processing
  • Speech sounds
  • Language
  • Written communication

Now let’s look at how poverty can affect these processes, and act as an obstacle to children learning the skills they need to become healthy adults.

Poverty can affect a child’s health

Growing up in poverty increases the likelihood that children will have poor health.

Physical health

In many rural communities families survive on low incomes, which means it can be more difficult to ensure their children have optimal physical health. This can be impacted by:

  • Malnutrition: In large families or areas affected by drought, children may not have enough to eat, which stunts growth and suppresses the immune system. 
  • Preventable diseases: Not all cultures value vaccinations in the same way we do, which means children overseas may not be vaccinated against preventable diseases. 
  • Low brain function: Malnourished and exhausted children aren’t able to actively participate in their education, which may lead to poor performance and force them to leave school.

Children without a proper education can often be forced to work as unskilled and manual labourers, usually in agriculture, mining, or manufacturing. These jobs are physically intensive, low paid, and many children aren’t old enough to handle working in such tough industries. They are at a higher risk of injury and exploitation by their employers.

Mental and emotional health

Children who grow up in poverty are at greater risk of developing psychological  problems in childhood and adulthood. This is because young children learn about themselves and the world around them by growing up in a safe and carefree environment. Lack of play can impact child development as during play, children explore, observe, experiment and solve problems. 

Many children living in developing communities have little time for play and recreation. Children need toys, books, and safe indoor and outdoor space to make the most of their play. Outdoor play also exposes a child to nature, which helps inspire their creativity, and develop a stronger immune system.

Children need the opportunity to play alone and in groups to build their social skills. During group play, a child acquires additional speech sounds and organisational skills from the other children in the group. 

Young people in disadvantaged communities carry the burden of far less enjoyable, and far less carefree, extracurricular activities – from daily water collection on foot, to working on the family farm, to caring for siblings and undertaking household jobs while parents are at work. This lack of time presents a huge obstacle to play and free time.

A child’s environment can also affect their mental and emotional health. If parents are stressed because of debt, low income or poor quality housing, their children are more likely to become stressed or anxious, affecting the child’s wellbeing.

Child Poverty can impact a child’s education

School in Don Phong commune, Vietnam

Education is vital to a happy and healthy childhood. One of the biggest impacts of poverty on education for children in developing communities is access to a quality education, and the ability to actively pursue an education beyond primary school. For some families the cost of education and school supplies might be too much and consequently, children are forced to stay at home or work themselves.

Chenda* was in grade two when she learned that her family couldn’t afford to keep her in school. She was forced to drop out, and instead spent her days doing chores at home. “After doing housework, I had nothing to do. I was unhappy. I wanted to go to school like other children.”

Without intervention, hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of being shut out of education because of poverty.

ChildFund’s local partner in Cambodia helped Chenda to return to school by paying for her uniform, books and other school supplies.

“I now have a school bag, pen, writing book, pencil, shoes, and school uniform,” Chenda said. “I was very happy the day my grandfather told me the teacher had asked him to send me back.”

With your help today, more children in poverty like Chenda can get the chance to be excited about school – and their future.

How does school contribute to a child’s development?

Attending school regularly helps a child to reach their academic potential, develop life skills and provides an opportunity for social interaction with other children. 

Every child’s maximum academic potential will vary, and each will be stronger across different aspects of the curriculum. Academic potential is influenced by:

  • Natural talent: Some students will naturally be more suited to particular lessons or classes than others based on the way their brain functions. 
  • Brain function: Children with low brain function will have reduced thinking capacity, problem-solving ability and information retention. This will impact how effectively they engage with the curriculum.
  • School environment: Access to quality educational facilities and supplies is essential for a child to receive a quality education. A school environment should be safe and stimulating. 
  • Home environment: A stable home is an essential refuge for children. It’s also a quiet place where they can do their homework, read and ask their parents questions about what they’re learning at school. 

While not taught directly, school provides an opportunity for children to develop important life skills including:

  • Problem solving
  • Critical thinking
  • Teamwork
  • Communication
  • Organisation
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Independence

School also facilitates opportunities for social interaction with other children in a number of ways, such as:

  • Play time at recess and lunch
  • Group projects
  • Sports, music and artistic pursuits 
  • Cultural festivals and celebrations

How can poverty affect a child’s education?

Poverty can have a detrimental effect on a child’s education. It can prevent the child from accessing quality facilities, or leave them unfit to actively engage with their studies. 

Poverty affects children’s education in the following ways:

  • Distance: Children living in rural areas might not have a school in their town or village. This means their families need to decide between a long and potentially dangerous journey to school, or their child missing out on an education.
  • Quality: Not all schools are equipped with the supplies, facilities or staff to provide the education that children need to help them develop.
  • Exclusion: Children might be excluded from school by their parents or community. This can happen due to cultural values surrounding gender, ethnicity, caste and religion. 
  • Health: Physical, mental and emotional wellbeing are critical for optimum performance in school. Children in poverty often suffer from poor health, and can have difficulty concentrating on their schoolwork, or miss days because of illness

Poverty affects child development, but it doesn’t have to

Poverty deprives millions of children around the world of the opportunity to learn and grow through play and school. This means the affected children miss out on vital learning and development opportunities, but they don’t have to. 

Prasak, a 14-year-old boy living in a rural community in Battambang Province in far northwest Cambodia, was at risk of abandoning his education because of the long distance he had to walk to school and the dangers he faced along the way. ChildFund Cambodia is supporting Prasak with a bicycle and helmet so he can travel to school safer and faster, as well as with uniforms and school supplies.

“I’m happy to have the bike because I’m not late to school anymore and I’m not exhausted from walking,” he said. 

Donating to ChildFund is an effective way to support vulnerable children like Prasak and Chenda and help them escape the cycle of poverty. Your contributions provide immediate relief and pave the way for sustainable, long-term improvements in their lives and communities. Learn how you can help a child enjoy a happier, healthier childhood by supporting ChildFund. Or help children who have to travel long distances to travel to school by purchasing a bicycle to make this journey a little easier. 

By subscribing, you agree to receive communication from ChildFund Australia.