Child Trafficking or Teenage Migration? Bolivian Migrants in Argentina.” International Migration, 43(4), 54-87. 133 document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions o

This paper considers the usefulness of the concept of child trafficking in the context of teenage migration from Bolivia to Argentina. The paper starts with an overview of the international context in relation to child trafficking for labour exploitation and then proceeds to examine the situation in Latin America. It argues that child trafficking in general and for labour exploitation in particular is a neglected issue in South America where it is often not perceived to be a problem. Child trafficking for labour exploitation is, how-ever, a widespread phenomenon which takes place in close connection to both internal as well as international migration and is often related to cul-turally embedded forms of patronage. The paper then turns to the specific case of Bolivian migration to Argentina where it identifies its character-istics and recent trends in order to better situate child trafficking. Four cases of child trafficking for labour exploitation are presented in order to examine (1) the reasons for wanting to migrate, (2) the modes of recruit