Is there a word for people who use children to gain sympathy

single-word-requests

For example, beggars use children to get more money. People who think they can get away with things because they have children around.

The word can be an adjective or a noun.

A ______ person.
A ______.

Doesn't matter.

Best Answer

Just to be clear, at least in most of Europe, it is illegal to use children as pawns for begging. Passersby might be accosted by nomads or Romani people with infants in their arms and be asked for money but these persons will rarely remain on a fixed spot for a length of time.

This probably explains the absence of a specific word for an adult who panhandles/begs with children as the offenders can risk fines, imprisonment, or losing the custody of their children.

However if one is looking for an umbrella term that loosely fits the definition of an adult who exploits children for monetary gains then child trafficker could be used.

The Wikipedia page on child trafficking says [emphasis in bold mine]

Trafficking of children is a form of human trafficking and is defined by the United Nations as the "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and/or receipt" kidnapping of a child for the purpose of slavery, forced labor and exploitation. […] The objective of child trafficking is often forced child labour. Child labour refers specifically to children under a stipulated minimum age, usually 14 at the lowest, being required to work. UNICEF estimates that, in 2011, 150 million children aged 5–14 in developing countries were involved in child labour.

Child trafficking is a serious crime and an accurate accusation for the act of kidnaping and selling children but used loosely, it could refer to adults who use their offspring for forced labour, as it is abusing and trafficking the services of that child.

The word pawn is appropriate to describe the child whose status is being manipulated.

Source: Longman Dictionary

pawn

  1. someone who is used by a more powerful person or group and has no control of the situation.
  • The ambassador was being used as a pawn in the struggle between the two superpowers.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary

A pawn is also a person who is controlled by others and used for their own advantage:

  • She felt she had been used as a political pawn.

From NBC New York

“If it’s even possible that parents are using their babies as pawns to get people to give them donations that’s horrendous and deeply unfair to those children,” de Blasio said at the time, saying he would put his inter-agency children’s cabinet and the NYPD on the case. (2015)

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