Girls caught up in gangs are trapped in a cycle of threats and violence and are vulnerable to criminal and sexual exploitation, reports theGuardian.

More than 300 Nigerian boys and men, some as young as five, have been rescued during a raid on an Islamic school in which some of them were found in chains, beaten and sexually abused, CNN reported. 

Georgian authorities arrested last week several members of a child-trafficking crime group, accusing them of illegal production and distribution of child sexual exploitation material.

Thousands of minors have been exploited throughout the European Union and busting criminal networks trafficking children is one of the block’s top priorities, Europol said in a report released on Thursday, the EU Anti-Trafficking Day. 

Seven men were sentenced for participating in an international child pornography production conspiracy The US Justice Department, announced.

Romanian authorities said Tuesday they detained six people suspected of belonging to an organized criminal group that trafficked children to Paris and forced them to steal and beg on the streets.

Italian police arrested seven people on Tuesday after a three-year investigation into a massive child pornography and sex abuse ring operating on the dark web.