TY - UNPB

T1 - Adoption Practices Fueling Child Trafficking in Ghana

AU - Sarpong, Rex Osei

AU - Mensah-Ankrah, Chris

PY - 2018/2/23

Y1 - 2018/2/23

N2 - Adoption is one of the oldest social institutions. Nevertheless, adoption still raises highly emotive issues because of its fundamental implications for the meaning of familial ties. Questions on whether adoption serves the best interests of children, who should be allowed to adopt and the role of Governments in regulating such decisions are frequent subjects of debate. Yet, despite the heightened attention to these issues, much of the information on adoption remains anecdotal. Inter-country adoption (ICA), - that is adoption that involve a change of country of residence for the adopted person is a practice that has gained popularity over the years, and there is every reason to believe this trend will continue. The rational of this paper is to give an overview of Adoption (domestic and Inter-Country) using Ghana as a case study. Ghana over the years has practiced a de-facto adoption, which is facing enormous challenges such as, abduction, sale of children and trafficking. All attributed to the changing phase of adoption and the rise in adoption worldwide. The paper will provide a background on adoption, particularly Inter-country adoptions ICA, which has gained much popularity and the main problems it, both addresses and brings. Finally the paper will look at the case of Ghana in particular, and, finally, provide some directions for policy and further research.

AB - Adoption is one of the oldest social institutions. Nevertheless, adoption still raises highly emotive issues because of its fundamental implications for the meaning of familial ties. Questions on whether adoption serves the best interests of children, who should be allowed to adopt and the role of Governments in regulating such decisions are frequent subjects of debate. Yet, despite the heightened attention to these issues, much of the information on adoption remains anecdotal. Inter-country adoption (ICA), - that is adoption that involve a change of country of residence for the adopted person is a practice that has gained popularity over the years, and there is every reason to believe this trend will continue. The rational of this paper is to give an overview of Adoption (domestic and Inter-Country) using Ghana as a case study. Ghana over the years has practiced a de-facto adoption, which is facing enormous challenges such as, abduction, sale of children and trafficking. All attributed to the changing phase of adoption and the rise in adoption worldwide. The paper will provide a background on adoption, particularly Inter-country adoptions ICA, which has gained much popularity and the main problems it, both addresses and brings. Finally the paper will look at the case of Ghana in particular, and, finally, provide some directions for policy and further research.

KW - Adoptio

KW - Inter-Country Adoptio

KW - Child Traffickig

U2 - 10.2139/ssrn.3123813

DO - 10.2139/ssrn.3123813

M3 - Preprint

BT - Adoption Practices Fueling Child Trafficking in Ghana

ER -