**Author details**

80 Child Abuse and Neglect – A Multidimensional Approach

**5. Conclusion** 

change and show greater sensitivity towards their child.

ing the integrity and successfulness of the intervention.

research is needed to corroborate the results stemming from our project.

Also, our results point to the usefulness of the AVI intervention as a valuable tool for assessing parental capacity to change. Given that the potential for parents to change is more likely to result from the application of the AVI protocol than as a result of the "psycho-educational' protocol, and that evaluators from the AVI are more likely to observe this improvement, we conclude that the AVI strategy is a valuable tool for accurately assessing parents' capacity to

The work stemming from attachment theory offers a critical theoretical framework that helps identify 1) parental behaviors that influence the quality of the parent-child interaction and the development of the child, and 2) effective intervention strategies to promote sensitive behaviors, which are at the root of a secure child attachment pattern. Taken as a whole, the different attachment-based intervention protocols, whether short or long-term, are particularly promising. While the assessment of some of these protocols has not relied on randomized control trials, they all have been subjected to a scientific investigation. As a result, all evaluated protocols with maltreated children and their parents have supported the beneficial outcomes of this type of intervention strategy on the quality of the parent-child relationship and on the various aspects of the child's development : increase in parental sensitivity, child attachment security, and decrease in child disorganized attachment; greater development or adaptation of the child (e.g. increase in motor development, decrease in child's negative representations of the self and of the maternal figure, decrease in behavioral problems and of symptoms of posttraumatic stress). In summary, the various attachment-based protocols show impressive success rates for vulnerable populations and are therefore important practices to adopt with respect to maltreated and at-risk children. It is important to note, however, that the continuous training and supervision of the evaluators, including extensive understanding of child developmental processes and observation techniques for relational patterns are central in maintain-

Following the preliminary scientific evaluation of the adapted AVI protocol for the assessment of parental capacity at the CPS-UI clinic, we conclude that the contribution of attachment theory to the assessment of parental capacity in child protection cases is considerable and significant. Not only did this intervention strategy allowed for the improvement of parental sensitivity and reciprocity during parent-child interactions of a high-risk vulnerable population, but it also enhanced quality of assessments conducted by evaluators of the CPS, particularly with respect to the evaluation of parents' capacity to show potential for change. This clinical improvement is notable, considering the impact of the decisions made following these evaluation. It is clear that a better understanding of the capacity for parents to change during the evaluation process enables family services that are better suited to answer the specific needs of parents and their child. Nevertheless, to date, these preliminary results offer only a partial understanding of the effects of an attachment-based intervention on the quality of a parental capacity assessment. Future analyses will be conducted with a larger number of participants and will examine the role of other variables that could potentially positively or negatively affect outcomes. Finally, more Chantal Cyr, Geneviève Michel, Caroline Poulin, Valérie Losier, Marilyne Dumais and Ellen Moss *University of Quebec at Montreal, Dept. of Psychology, Montreal, Canada* 

Chantal Cyr *Child Protection Services of Montreal-University Institute, Canada* 

Diane St-Laurent and Karine Dubois-Comtois *University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, Canada* 

Karine Dubois-Comtois *Montreal Sacré-Coeur Hospital, Canada* 

Katherine Pascuzzo *McGill University, Canada* 

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**Chapter 5** 

© 2012 Lutya, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

© 2012 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In the last two decades, increasingly, reports of human trafficking for sexual exploitation have surfaced in the print and visual media, fuelled by the South African Police Service

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Human Trafficking of Young Women and** 

Thozama Mandisa Lutya

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/39202

**1. Introduction** 

organ transplants.

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

mines (Martens, 2003; Martens et.al 2003).

**Girls for Sexual Exploitation in South Africa** 

Young South African women and girls are trafficked internally (within South African borders) and externally (outside the borders of South Africa) for the purposes of sexual exploitation and other purposes, such as domestic labour, for criminal activities, as well as

External trafficking has occurred in this country since colonial times. Molo Songololo (2005), a children's rights organisation, reports that between 1726 and 1834, as many as 36 169 slaves were brought from Indonesia, Java, Ceylon, India, the East Indies, Mauritius, Malaysia and other countries to South Africa to work in mines, and as domestic workers. This was a practice instituted by the colonial authorities to boost the southern African economy by importing cheap labour. Three infamous examples typify the beginning of the trade in human beings internally and externally (Martens, 2003; Martens, Pieczkowski & Van-Vuuren-Smyth, 2003). One known notorious incident was the recruitment, with promises of economic prosperity and educational advancement, of Saartje Baartman, who was transported from the Cape Colony and exploited by European citizens in England and France (Martens et.al, 2003). The promises made to her in her country of origin were not fulfilled – instead, her naked live body was displayed as an object of attraction for everybody to view. She eventually died in France, where her private parts were put on display in a museum. Another, less well-known, example involved European girls who were trafficked into the Cape Colony for the purposes of involuntary prostitution to meet the demand of men for prostitutes (Molo Songololo, 2005). More recently, Mozambican children were trafficked into South Africa to be kept as concubines in the Carletonville

