185 cases of infant trafficking were identified in 2017-2020 in Uzbekistan, announced the spokeswoman to the Investigation Department under the Interior Ministry Nargiza Khodjiboeva at a briefing at the Agency of Information and Mass Communications.
According to her, the main reasons behind the trafficking in babies are:
- child's mother has no social protection;
- pregnancy of unmarried women and attempt to hide the child from family;
- demand from childless families for adoption;
- lack of a solid legal framework to prevent child trafficking.
In general, from 2012 to 2020, the number of crimes related to human illicit trafficking decreased six times, but however, the share of trafficking in babies and children has an upward trend.
"The study of the social status of women involved in this crime has shown that many of them live in difficult conditions, experience financial difficulties, and need social support and psychological assistance."
As part of study on the problems of women, more than 6.5 million respondents across the country were reportedly interviewed.
It should be noted that according to the World Trafficking in Persons Report 2018 of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the number of victims of trafficking in newborns in 2014-2017 in Uzbekistan was 195 babies. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the majority of these crimes were committed by the parents of children, mainly women aged 18 to 35, mainly for three reasons: for the purpose of enrichment, concealment of guilt and because of the impossibility of keeping the child.
