• 49 alleged child trafficking incidents involving 73 identified victims in 2025
• Girls account for disproportionate share of those affected
• Colombo District records highest number of incidents
• Children particularly vulnerable in disaster-affected regions, tourism hotspots

Sri Lanka has recorded 49 alleged child trafficking incidents involving 73 identified victims in 2025, with girls accounting for a disproportionate share of those affected, Minister of Women and Child Affairs Saroja Savithri Paulraj revealed, bringing renewed attention to a crime that officials say remains deeply concealed within broader patterns of abuse and exploitation.

According to data compiled by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), all 49 reported incidents have been referred to the Police for criminal investigation. Of the 73 identified victims, 51 are girls and 22 are boys, highlighting the gendered dimension of child exploitation.

In terms of geographic distribution, the Colombo District recorded the highest number of incidents with 11 cases, followed by 17 cases across the Western Province and seven cases in the North Western Province. Beyond these areas, authorities have identified disaster-affected regions and tourism hotspots as environments where children are particularly vulnerable.

“These figures indicate a pressing issue that cannot be ignored,” Minister Paulraj said, stressing that reported cases represented only a fraction of the actual scale of trafficking. “What we see in official data are the cases that surface. There are many more that remain hidden due to the highly and deliberately concealed nature of the issue, compounded by fear, stigma, lack of awareness, and misidentification.”

The disclosure comes amid heightened risks of child trafficking during disaster situations, with Sri Lanka currently experiencing conditions that exacerbate children’s vulnerability. 

Sri Lanka remains on Tier 2 in the 2024 United States Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which notes that while the Government is making significant efforts to address trafficking, it does not yet fully meet the minimum standards for elimination. A multi-year-long effort by Sri Lankan law enforcement agencies and counter-trafficking practitioners has improved the situation, yet more remains to be done.  

The report points to low conviction rates, gaps in victim identification, and persistent weaknesses in protection services, particularly for children subjected to sexual exploitation and forced labour.

Child trafficking as a High Court offence

Minister Paulraj underscored that child trafficking was treated as a grave criminal offence under Sri Lankan law and prosecuted at the highest judicial level.

“Child trafficking is a serious indictable offence prosecuted by the State Counsels of the Attorney General’s Department in the High Court,” she said. “The crime is defined under Penal Code Section 360C and consists of three elements: the action, the means, and the purpose of exploitation.”

She explained that the action included recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, or receiving a child. The means may involve force, fraud, deception, or abuse of vulnerability, though the law recognises that children cannot legally consent. The purpose is exploitation, which can take the form of forced labour, sexual exploitation, organ removal, or conscription.

Pointing to a recent conviction, Paulraj said the justice system had demonstrated its ability to deliver strong outcomes when cases were properly investigated and prosecuted. “In March, the Colombo High Court convicted an individual for child trafficking for labour following an investigation led by the NCPA Police Unit. The offender was sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment, fined Rs. 20,000, and ordered to pay Rs. 300,000 in compensation to the victimised child,” she said.

She described the conviction as significant, both for accountability and deterrence, while acknowledging that such outcomes were rare.

A crime that rarely identifies itself

Despite the existence of a clear legal framework, officials acknowledge that trafficking remains one of the most under-identified crimes in Sri Lanka.

NCPA Director – Legal Preethika Sakalasooriya, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said child trafficking had not diminished but had become more sophisticated and concealed. “It is still an issue. In fact, it is more prevalent and widespread now. The problem is that it is often not detected, identified, or properly addressed,” she said.

According to Sakalasooriya, traffickers deliberately ensure their activities are masked within other offences. “Child trafficking is a hidden phenomenon. Traffickers do not bring it into the limelight. It often surfaces disguised as other offences,” she said.

She explained that many trafficking cases initially entered the criminal justice system as complaints of rape, sexual abuse, or statutory offences. “People often do not know it is happening to them. Even when a complaint comes in, most investigators do not recognise it as trafficking. It gets recorded as rape. Only through deeper investigation do you sometimes find a third party who obtained money for offering the child,” she said.

The 2024 TIP Report echoes this concern, noting that Sri Lanka continues to record single-digit trafficking convictions annually, undermining deterrence and allowing traffickers to operate with limited fear of punishment.

A Covid-era case that exposed systemic abuse

One of the most disturbing cases illustrating the evolving nature of child trafficking emerged during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when physical movement was restricted, but online exploitation intensified.

“During Covid, there was a case where a mother’s boyfriend began selling her daughter online,” Sakalasooriya said. “The child was traded to many people, including a Maldivian official, a naval hospital doctor, monks, and politicians. Their names emerged in the media.”

She described a monetised system of exploitation. “The child was offered for services online for a fee. There was a website. Even live pornography was available. Despite movement restrictions, cameras were on, and she was forced to perform sexual acts. A third party handled this,” she said.

The child was under 16 years of age at the time. “She was a minor even at the time of arrest. In anti-trafficking terms, we call that person the handler or trafficker. He used the child’s vulnerability for sexual exploitation,” Sakalasooriya said.

She stressed that the case illustrated how trafficking networks adapted to crises. “Trafficking is not only about physical movement. It is about control, exploitation, and profit,” she said.

When trust becomes the tool of exploitation

Contrary to popular belief, Sakalasooriya said traffickers were often individuals already trusted by the child. “Perpetrators can be boyfriends, close relatives, or even family members,” she said.

In some cases, minors themselves become traffickers without fully understanding the criminal nature of their actions. “There are court cases where the trafficker is also a child, not even realising what they are doing,” she said.

She described a recurring pattern involving deception and coercion. “A boyfriend who is a minor lures a girl. The first act may be consensual. Then he offers her to a friend for money without her knowledge. That is exploitation through intimacy and cheating,” she said.

In other cases, initial consent is followed by blackmail. “A boy takes nude photos during a consensual act and later threatens to send them to her school or parents if she does not provide sexual services to others. He then controls and offers her services,” Sakalasooriya said.

She also cited a recent case from Nintavur where the alleged perpetrator was a father-in-law, with the mother suspected of aiding and abetting. “It is happening. It is just not being reported, not coming to light, and not being identified as trafficking,” she said.

Runaway children and forced begging networks

Another form of trafficking that remains largely invisible involves children forced into street begging after fleeing care institutions. “There is a significant issue with street begging connected to institutionalised children,” Sakalasooriya said. “These children are highly vulnerable, and traffickers exploit that vulnerability.”

She explained that traffickers manipulated emotional needs. “Children in institutions remember their families and long for affection. But courts place them there because the home environment is unsafe. Outsiders exploit this emotional gap,” she said.

Once a child escapes from the institutions they are placed in, exploitation can be immediate. “The moment a child jumps the institution wall, they are alone with no money or protection. Someone can easily approach them with false promises,” she said.

She recounted a case from Colombo where a runaway child had been sold between intermediaries, drugged, burned, and forced into street begging. “Every day, the trafficker collected the money the child begged for. When the child was rescued, it took months before the child felt safe enough to speak,” she said.

Police stresses vigilance and immediate reporting

Police Spokesperson ASP F.U. Wootler said public vigilance and timely reporting were critical in combating child trafficking.

“If anyone suspects a child is being threatened, unattended, or mistreated, they must immediately inform the nearest Police station,” he said. “All Police officers, regardless of gender, are obligated to take immediate action to protect the child.”

He urged the public to report any instance of a child under 18 being exploited for labour or enslaved in any setting. He highlighted the NCPA’s 1929 hotline as a key reporting mechanism and warned that traffickers often target children displaced by disasters, pushing them into prostitution, pornography, and trafficking.

Addressing confusion surrounding trafficking offences, Wootler explained the legal distinction between trafficking and other crimes.

“Smuggling goes on with consent and as a part of deception. Trafficking is totally different. You take the person without consent and go for prostitution, abuse, or exploitation,” he said.

For specialised, round-the-clock support, he directed the public to the Sri Lanka Police Children and Women’s Bureau. 

International obligations and systemic gaps

Responding to questions on Sri Lanka’s obligations under international conventions such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Wootler said these treaties had been incorporated into domestic law, enabling prosecution of crimes against children and women.

However, he acknowledged concerns raised by the NCPA that trafficking cases were often misidentified as prostitution or forced labour, contributing to low conviction rates for trafficking offences. “Public education is crucial so people understand the differences between prostitution, smuggling, and human trafficking,” he said.

He pointed to Police-led outreach programmes, including village visits by women Police inspectors and school-based awareness sessions, as efforts to close this gap.

Monitoring a crime that thrives in silence

Wootler said the Police continued to work closely with stakeholders such as the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority to monitor risks linked to tourism. “Right now we do not see a significant issue, but we are monitoring the situation,” he said.

Minister Paulraj said Sri Lanka’s response must rest on four pillars: prevention, prosecution, protection, and partnership. “Our immediate priorities are raising awareness, keeping children in school, and improving coordination of victim assistance,” she said.

As the TIP Report, ministerial data, and frontline testimonies collectively reveal, child trafficking in Sri Lanka is neither rare nor remote. It is a crime embedded in everyday vulnerabilities, thriving on silence, misclassification, and misplaced trust. Without sustained vigilance, ASP Wootler warned, many more children will remain unseen victims of an exploitation that adapts faster than systems designed to stop it.