Child Exploitation.org
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The East African Standard
Tourists have sexually exploited more than 10,000 girls in the Coast Province, a
workshop was told yesterday.
Chief children's officer Maurice Tsuma termed the national figure of between
10,000 and 30,000 girls engaging in sex tourism "an under-estimation".
In Africa, Money Isn't Only Reason Young Girls Are Sexually Exploited
Lusaka, Zambia--Wendy (not her real name) was 14 when her father sold her into
marriage. Her husband was an older man she had never met who paid her family
$25 as a lobola, or bride price. He took the girl away from her village in northern
Zambia to a shantytown on the edge of the capital 300 miles away. Now she sits,
aged 16, in a loveless marriage in a shack, forced to cook, clean, and have sex
with a man she doesn't like but who continually reminds her he "owns" her. Did
she want to get married? "No." Does she want to continue her marriage? "No!"
Why did her parents do it? The slender girl shrugs. "They needed the money. It's
the way things are done here." Poverty and the low status of women are fuelling
the sexual exploitation of girls in Africa, the world's poorest continent. Paying
lobola for children is among the more traditional forms of abusing girls, who are
seen as mere commodities to be traded away. But the practice is just a tiny
element of the problem, experts say. AIDS, hunger, and wars have weakened
family structures and sent thousands, if not millions, of young orphans and
desperate girls onto the streets for prostitution as a means to somehow survive.
The myth that having sex with a young girl will cure AIDS is also contributing to
demand. From the refugee camps of Sierra Leone to the city streets of Nairobi
and truck routes of Tanzania, children are offering their bodies for as little as a
sandwich or shoes.
One only has to look around to realise that the notion of the happy “African
Child”, proudly eulogized by the author Camara Laye in his famous book of the
same name has long since gone. Recent events demonstrate that the present
day African environment denies the average African Child any true joy of living.
The African Child continues to suffer the effects of war, poverty, ignorance, mal-
nutrition, under-nutrition, starvation, diseases especially AIDS, exploitation,
oppression and neglect. The African girl child in particular lives under the
constant threat of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
The recent increases in the different forms of child abuse, exploitation and
suffering in Africa is extremely distressing. Under the guise of tradition and
poverty, African children continue to be exploited, oppressed and abused by so-
called adults whose job it is to protect them.
South Africa: Rise In Child Exploitation A United Nations human rights expert has
called for urgent action to stem an apparent increase in sexual violence against
children in South Africa.
In a preliminary report of his visit last month to the country, Juan Miguel Petit, the
UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography, says that he found young children were being targeted as sexual
partners in order to reduce the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. He also reports that
children were being raped by individuals who believe that sex with a virgin will
cure them from the disease.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the victims of sexual violence be given
prophylaxis against HIV/AIDS in schools, shelters and police stations. In addition,
he suggests that access to treatment, care and support be made available to
children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
A scandal over the issue of child labor in West Africa blew up in 2002, when nearly
half the chocolate produced in the United States was linked to cocoa beans
harvested by child laborers in Côte d’Ivoire. Many of these children had been
trafficked from neighboring countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso.
“The cocoa farms are the tip of the iceberg,” said Jonathan Cohen, researcher
with Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “Trafficking in child labor
occurs along numerous routes in West Africa, and governments aren’t doing
enough to stop it.”
Girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch were told to board ships for Gabon,
where they worked as housemaids or in markets. In a September, 2001 case
documented in the report, a boat ferrying hundreds of trafficked girls sank off the
coast of Cameroon, killing nine. Other cases document girls being treated as
virtual slaves, forced to work day and night peddling goods in the market,
fetching water, and caring for young children. Most endured beatings and
psychological abuse, including death threats and warnings they would never see
their parents again.
By Ticky Monekosso in Geneva In Africa, biting poverty has taken its toll on
already weak health and education systems. It has eroded the traditional and
social values that once curbed the exploitation of children.
A class of middlemen growing fat on the profits
Child weddings and sexual exploitation of domestic help have long been common
in sub-Sahara Africa, and middle-aged 'sugar daddies' have frequently provided
girls with money for school fees, books or clothes. But exploitation of children
appeared to have a less commercial dimension than in Latin America or Asia. The
use of domestic labour in private homes has always been one of the most grave
and common forms of child exploitation. But the historical solidarity networks
through which rural families sent their children to urban relatives and friends to
improve their chances of education and employment have degenerated into
money transactions - with a class of middlemen growing fat on the profits. Parents
may be paid as little as £10 to lease their offspring to the Arab Gulf states,
Lebanon and Europe. Turning a blind eye When war disrupts rural economies,
children are forced onto the streets: in Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Sierra Leone
and Liberia, where 10-year-olds are sexually exploited at military bases. In
Luanda, 'catorzinhas' - 14-year-olds - are now fashionable playthings.
West Africa's Trade in Children
Togo's trade in children is illustrative of a larger, regional phenomenon involving
at least thirteen West African countries. Based on the testimony of children and
local experts, Human Rights Watch documented four routes of child trafficking
into, out of, or within Togo: (1) the trafficking of Togolese girls into domestic and
market labor in Gabon, Benin, Nigeria, and Niger; (2) the trafficking of girls from
within Togo to other parts of the country, especially the capital, Lomé; (3) the
trafficking of girls from Benin, Nigeria, and Ghana to Lomé; and (4) the trafficking
of boys into labor exploitation, usually agricultural work, in Nigeria, Benin, and
Côte d'Ivoire.
Children interviewed by Human Rights Watch came predominantly from poor,
agricultural backgrounds and had generally little schooling before being
trafficked. Most were promised that by going abroad they would gain some formal
or vocational education, which they could then use to earn money for themselves
or their families. In numerous cases, children were recruited by traffickers after
running out of money to pay for school; despite a statutory guarantee of free
primary education in Togo, school fees range from 4,000 to 13,000 CFA francs2 (U.
S.$6-$20) per year. Many of the children interviewed were trafficked following the
death of at least one parent. Others had parents who were divorced, or at least
one parent living and working away from home. A growing cause of orphanhood
in Togo, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(HIV/AIDS) was identified by some experts as a possible factor in susceptibility to
child trafficking.
AFRICA: Widespread child exploitation extends to sport NAIROBI, 16 April (IRIN) -
One of the latest examples of the violation of child rights in Africa is the
exploitation of promising young athletes, a UN special rapporteur has revealed.
Head-hunters have been scouting developing countries, especially in Africa, in
search of potential stars - offering their guardians money and then bringing them
abroad, especially to northern Europe. "The problem arises when no [football]
team will take the boy, who is then usually abandoned and left to fend for
himself", Ofelia Calceta-Santos, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography, said.
JOHANNESBURG, 14 Jan 2004 (IRIN) - With an estimated 30 percent of Angolan
children aged between five and 14 forced to work, officials and aid groups
gathered on Wednesday to discuss ways of tackling child exploitation.
The meeting in the southern Cunene province was expected to highlight
children's rights, an issue that has largely been ignored in Angola.
Widespread poverty and social upheavals as a result of the decades-long civil
war are seen as the main reasons why children are forced to work instead of
attending school.
The legal minimum age for employment in Angola is 14 years. However, according
to the International Labour Organisation, many younger children work on family
farms, as domestic servants, and in the informal economy. Family-based child
labour in the subsistence agricultural sector is common.
Sex and death in the heart of Africa
Hungry, frightened and helpless, young women in the Democratic Republic of
Congo are selling their bodies in exchange for food and shelter. And the men
expecting such 'payment' are the UN peacekeepers responsible for protecting
them.
By Kate Holt and Sarah Hughes
25 May 2004
Faela is 13 years old; Joseph is just under six months. Sitting on the dusty ground
in Bunia's largest camp for internally-displaced people (IDPs), she cradles Joseph
in her arms, and talks about how she ensures that she and her son are fed.
"If I go and see the soldiers at night and sleep with them, then they sometimes
give me food, maybe a banana or a cake," she says, looking down at her son. "I
have to do it with them because there is nobody to care, nobody else to protect
Joseph except me. He is all I have and I must look after him."
It is a story that might not sound out of place in any part of the war-ravaged
Democratic Republic of Congo but for one thing: the soldiers Faela is talking
about are not from the rebel groups who have devastated Ituri province, in the
north-east of the country, during the past four and a half years of conflict. Rather,
they are part of the United Nations peacekeeping force, Monuc (UN Mission to
the Democratic Republic of Congo), and are stationed on UN orders next to the
IDP camp in Bunia.
The UN has taken over the local airport, once a bustling trade point that served
the entire Ituri province. The region is rich in natural resources, including
uranium and huge, newly discovered, oil reserves. Bunia airport is teeming with
military personnel, the condition and number of UN planes in direct contrast to
the rusty and abandoned Congolese planes nearby.
After leaving the airport, one passes a series of roadblocks along unpaved roads.
It is just possible to make out the blue helmets of Uruguayan and Moroccan
peacekeepers behind their barriers, which are sandbagged and mounted with
barbed wire. People in a steady stream tramp along the dusty road, but it is
impossible to tell where they are going.
Just off the road, behind forbidding gates where an old supermarket once stood,
is the Médecins San Frontières hospital known locally as "Bon Marché". Near this
are a crowded cemetery, and then the town's centre, guarded by several UN
tanks and a watchtower.
Bunia used to be a thriving commercial centre, but these days it resembles a
frontier town from the Wild West. Its businesses are boarded up, although some
traders continue the struggle to stay open. Paint peels off half-derelict buildings,
rubbish clogs the roads and chalkboards in front of airline offices display the
times of the next flights out of this hellhole. Those who live in the town have
learnt to watch their backs. The streets are heavily patrolled and everyone
scurries home at the first sign of dusk. Gunfire can be heard nightly, usually
between Monuc soldiers and local militia groups. UN forces here, uniquely,
operate under a "chapter seven" mandate, which grants them great power to
keep the peace, and allows them the right to kill. A recent confrontation between
Monuc and the Front Nationaliste Integrationniste (FNI) saw 10 of the militia shot
dead. As the nightly violence escalates, it is increasingly difficult to work out who
this war is now between.
Bunia's IDP camp was established a year ago, after fighting between the Hema
and Lendu ethnic groups in the region escalated. People converged on the land
next to the UN military base, hoping for protection.
The camp is now home to 15,000 people, and sprawls on a hillside near the airport
and the obligatory UN roadblock. Facilities are basic. Row upon row of tents,
made from blue plastic sheeting, spread out from the shambolic central point
where the camp was first established in the heat of the emergency last year. Then
there was no thought for planning, only for providing protection.
Recently, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have attempted to bring some
form of order to the chaos, and given people their own plots of land. In some
parts of the camp there are now neat rows of huts instead of the plastic tents but,
underneath this veneer of organi- sation, life inside the camp remains hard.
Fighting between rival ethnic groups erupts each night, and tension is high.
During the day a thriving market has sprung up, selling everything from food to
guns.
In this world of lost hopes and shattered dreams, Faela's story is a common one.
It is a story of war and of soldiers, of sex and, most of all, of fear. If she is
indifferent to her future it is because violence and submission are what she has
known for much of her short life. Her world, once filled with parents and siblings,
with the ordinary rhythms of every day life, and with hard work and the occasional
celebration, has slowly shrunk, its focus narrowing each day until all that remains
is her son, and what she must do to feed him.
Although slavery is illegal everywhere, it continues to exist in some parts of the
world. Its existence is rarely acknowledged by citizens of advanced industrialised
countries, despite the fact that is a part of the global economy.
The term 'slavery' is rarely used anymore. Instead, slavery is usually referred to
as 'bonded labour' or 'human trafficking.'
The slavery that exists today is wholly different from the form which existed two
centuries ago.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the new slavery. In 2002, the International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) estimated that of the 246
million child labourers in the world, 8.4 million are bonded or forced labourers.
The Life of a Child Slave
How are children enslaved in West Africa? Traffickers usually approach
impoverished families and offer them as little as U.S. $15 to hand their son or
daughter over to an employer. Many of the families who agree to sell their
children hope that their child's employment will lead them to a better life filled
with more opportunities.
After the children are purchased from their parents, they are secretly transported
to nearby countries. The journey is often treacherous and many children perish in
transit.
The trafficker then places the children in 'employment' with a host family, but he
or she receives the children's wages. The children receive no money for their
labour. Trafficked children work in both commercial and domestic sectors. Many
toil on coffee and cocoa plantations. They are also sold as prostitutes.
The children are bonded to the traffickers or to the person to whom they are sold.
It is nearly impossible for them to work off the debt they owe to the trafficker and
the childrens' families rarely have the means to raise enough money to buy them
back.
Child slaves work between 10 and 20 hours per day, often seven days a week.
They are given little to no time for rest, play or education. Often, the children are
not given adequate food, clothing or healthcare. Furthermore, the enslaved
children run a high risk of being physically or sexually abused.
Deepening poverty and the devastation caused by AIDS in many African countries
has led to traditional social supports disintegrating, pushing children on to the
streets:
Egypt
The average age of street children is 13 years. 42,505 children were arrested in
2001; 10,958 were charged with being ‘vulnerable to delinquency’.
Sudan
With poverty rates as high as 90% among the general population, there are 70,000
street children in Northern Sudan, 86% of them boys. The vast majority are
employed.
Benin
An estimated 50,000 are trafficked to nearby countries where they often end up
selling goods on the street.
Democratic Republic of Congo
NGO estimates range from 12,000 to 25,000; the Ministry of Social affairs says the
number is closer to 40,000.
Ethiopia
The war-torn 1980s and 1990s caused large increases in the numbers of street
children; estimates around 150,000.
Kenya
250,000 estimated. (Half of the general population of the country is under 18.)
South Africa
250,000 nationwide.
Gambia
45% of street children say they have been beaten on the street.
The Southern African region is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis unlike any
other. As many as 14 million people, half of them children, are at risk of starvation
in the six affected countries: Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe.
The 1992 famine was almost exclusively drought-related. In this crisis, each of the
affected countries has been stricken by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has
reduced agricultural productivity and food security.
HIV/AIDS has made hunger an even greater peril. An HIV-affected household can
see its income drop by up to 80 per cent, and its food consumption by 15 to 30 per
cent. One in four people in the productive age group (15-49) in this region is
living with HIV.
This means that fewer adults must support more people, and the burden of care
is shifted to society’s weakest and most marginalized, especially women and girls.
Desperate people adopt damaging and high-risk ‘survival strategies,’ such as
selling off land or exchanging sex for food or cash. These strategies undercut
people’s ability to recover and contribute to long term poverty.
"In a region already bearing the full brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the food
crisis presents a new and ominous threat to the survival of the most vulnerable -
the children and women," says Urban Jonsson, UNICEF's Regional Director for
Eastern and Southern Africa.
A ‘window of hope’
Children are especially at risk and therefore represent specific concerns and
challenges. HIV/AIDS infects some 800,000 children in Africa every year. Today 3
million children live with AIDS and over 13 million have been orphaned by AIDS,
most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. There are almost 4 million children orphaned
by HIV/AIDS in these six countries alone and their numbers are expected to
increase to 5 million by 2005.
Children below 14 years of age offer a “window of hope” to stop the spread of
HIV/AIDS. Many of them are still not infected and with proper awareness about
preventing disease and behaviour change linked to this awareness, they have a
better chance of protecting their own lives and other people.
School is the place where children can acquire new knowledge and life skills, and
change their own behaviour to prevent them from getting affected by HIV/AIDS or
being exploited and abused.
But the education system is threatened by teacher absenteeism and deaths, and
the demands on children from households facing lost income and sick and dying
family members are reducing attendance levels.
AIDS orphans - the facts
By 2003 15 million children under 18 had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS worldwide.2
About 12 million of these live in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is expected that this
number will have risen to more than 18 million by 2010.3 Most of the AIDS orphans
who live outside of Africa live in Asia, where the total number of orphans -
orphaned for all reasons - exceeds 87 million. There is however insufficient
information in Asia to provide figures for the number of AIDS orphans in
individual countries.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of orphans in some countries exceeds half a
million, and, in some countries, children who have been orphaned by AIDS
comprise half or more of all orphans nationally.4
Total number of orphans due to AIDS, 2003
Nigeria 1,800,000
South Africa 1,100,000
Tanzania 980,000
Zimbabwe 980,000
Uganda 940,000
DR Congo 770,000
Ethiopia 720,000
Zambia 630,000
Orphans due to AIDS as a percentage of all orphans, 2003
Zimbabwe 78%
Botswana 77%
Swaziland 63%
Zambia 60%
Lesotho 56%
Malawi 48%
Namibia 48%
Uganda 48%
AIDS is responsible for leaving vast numbers of children across Africa without
one or both parents. The first table shows the countries with the largest numbers
of AIDS orphans.
In some countries, a larger proportion of orphans have lost their parents to AIDS
than to any other cause of death - meaning that, were it not for the AIDS epidemic,
these children would not have been orphaned. The second table shows the
countries in which the children who lost their parents to AIDS make up the
highest proportion of the total national number of orphans.5
The rest of this page concentrates on AIDS orphans in Africa, although the issues
described here are present to some extent in many countries around the world.
Variations within Countries
Different areas in a country will not necessarily have the same concentrations of
orphans. Particular areas may have higher or lower percentages of orphans,
largely depending on the local prevalence rates. There can also be substantial
differences between rural and urban areas.6
The Age of Orphans
The age of orphans is fairly consistent across countries. Surveys suggest that
overall about 15% of orphans are 0-4 years old, 35% are 5-9 years old, and 50% are
10-14 years old.7
An Increasing Problem
The scale of the AIDS orphan crisis is somewhat masked by the time lag between
when parents become infected and when they die. If as expected, the number of
adults dying of AIDS rises over the next decade, an increasing number of orphans
will grow up without parental care and love.
"the increased spiral of adult deaths in so many countries means that the number
of children orphaned each day is expanding exponentially. Africa is staggering
under the load." Stephen Lewis8
South Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. An
unknown but substantial number of South African women and girls are trafficked
internally, and occasionally to other countries, for sexual exploitation. Women
from other African countries, particularly Mozambique, are trafficked to South
Africa and, at times, onward to Europe for sexual exploitation. There are
anecdotal reports of men and boys trafficked from neighboring countries for
forced agricultural work. East Asians, mainly Thai and Chinese women trafficked
for sexual exploitation, transit South Africa on their way to South America.
The Government of South Africa does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant
efforts to do so. South Africa has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List due to a lack of
evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons
over the last year. To further its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should
pass a comprehensive law that prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons,
launch a specific anti-trafficking public awareness campaign, and prosecute to
conviction an increased number of traffickers. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in
Persons Report, June, 2005
Of all the truly heinous crimes committed on this planet, the sexual exploitation of
children is amongst the worst. When, in 2002, the story broke concerning the UN
Aid Workers sexually abusing young African girls, we were horrified. The very
people entrusted with the care and aiding of impoverished peoples in Africa were
exploiting them instead. Sadly this is not a new development in Africa, but often
the only way for many years, families could survive-by using their children’s
bodies as barter for food, medicine and clothing.
In North Africa there are private "clubs", where tourists from Europe, Asia and the
U.S. pay to watch young girls being violated, or participate in group sex. I first
heard of this around three years ago, from a person who asked that he not be
identified. He described a club in Tunisia where a large cage was centered in the
middle of a room, with seating all around. In this cage was a young girl no older
than 12. There was an older female present with her, and the child appeared
drugged. After dinner, tables were removed, and prostitutes would walk around
and once the lights were dimmed, begin having sex, as the cage was softly lit and
throbbing music began. A large adult male approached the cage, and entered.
The rapt audience were invited to reach through the bars and touch the child, as
the man deflowered her. The fee for this nights "show" was around $1.000.00 per
person. Both males and females were present, in couples, or alone.
Why does this happen? Often to a family subsisting on less than $3.00 per annum,
a female child is a valuable asset. Culturally, in many African societies, females
are devalued in the first place, so this is not something most are ashamed of. The
young girls of course, have no choice in the matter whatsoever. And they suffer.
Many times according to WHO and other relief organizations, these young girls
aged 9 and up, often come to clinic, barely able to walk, with torn bladders,
massive infections, and are often made sterile by their injuries. Many die in
childbirth, being too young and malnourished to safely undergo the rigors of hard
labor. Those that survive their injuries, and are unable to bear children are
considered useless, and often abandoned by their families, which forces them
back on the streets again. AIDS is a full blown epidemic in Africa, and this is one
reason why.
Judith Matloff of the Christian Science Monitor states: "An idea of the crisis can
be gleaned by studies in individual communities. A YWCA survey in Bo, Sierra
Leone's second-largest city, which is overrun by war refugees, showed that 54 of
90 girls surveyed were involved in prostitution. And in Ethiopia's capital, Addis
Ababa, more than half of 100,000 prostitutes are under 18, according to Save the
Children, an international charity.
One of the worst places for the sexual exploitation of minors is Zambia, where
one of Africa's highest levels of AIDS and five years of harsh austerity measures
that have curtailed free social services have sent armies of girls into the streets."
This is a human problem and exacerbated by inhumane affluent westerners and
opportunistic workers in Africa. Is there a solution? Yes, but like all serious
problems, it will take a huge amount of concern and action by the international
community before it is stopped. I was very frank with the person who disclosed
the "club" scene to me. I told him I felt that anyone who comes from another
country and sexually exploits a child should be imprisoned and held up to public
scrutiny. And they should be compelled to make some form of financial restitution
to the child for such abuse.
The removal of the cultural and societal attitudes towards females should be a
priority. And this can be done with the help of women the world over. It worked in
Afghanistan, and it can work in Africa too. As long as we all remain quiet and don't
demand justice for these vulnerable and exploited children, we are complicit. If it
helps, look at your own young children and grandchildren, and imagine them
going through what these children do everyday. Sometimes it is just too easy to
turn away from an issue like this and hope someone else will take care of it. They
haven't and won't until there is a collective outcry from all of us. Here is an
opportunity to help effect a positive change in someone’s life. Will we care
enough to try?
KAMPALA (ILO News) – The growing army of child labourers in Africa is expected
to swell by at least one million new children per year if current economic and
social trends persist, the International Labour Office warned today in a report
prepared for a tripartite meeting of workers, employers and governments in
Kampala, Uganda. While citing widespread but scattered initiatives to reduce and
eliminate child labour in certain industries, the report, Child Labour in Africa -
Targeting the Intolerable(Note 1) says that " the poverty, population and
education indicators give a potentially bleak picture for the future of child labour
in Africa." The ILO estimates that the number of child labourers in Africa could
surge from today's 80 million to over 100 million by the year 2015, as a result of a
demographic explosion of impoverished people and poor or inadequate levels of
economic growth across much of the continent. As part of a growing international
effort to come to terms with the problem of child workers, the ILO has helped
organize a conference jointly with the Organisation of African Unity in Kampala on
February 5-7, which will bring together representatives from employers' and
workers' organizations and governments of 22 African countries(Note 2) seeking
to develop and implement national policies to reduce and eliminate child labour.
While child labour is found in all regions of the world, it is overwhelmingly a
developing country phenomenon. In percentage terms, Africa already has the
highest incidence of child labour, with approximately 41 per cent of all children
between 5 and 14 years old involved in economic activity (versus 21 per cent in
Asia and 17 per cent in Latin America). The ILO says that over 250 million children
are at work world-wide in countries at all levels of economic development, with
the largest concentration in Asia. Participation rates of children in the labour
force are higher in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly half the
children in the 10-14 age group are working. Estimates suggest that in Benin, 27
per cent of children work, in Burkina Faso 51 per cent and in Burundi 49 per cent.
In Kenya, Ethiopia, Niger and Uganda the estimated rates are between 40 and 46
per cent. In Mali 54 per cent of children are estimated to be working. In Côte
d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Zimbabwe the figures are between 20 and 30 per cent (see
Table). The major factors responsible for the growth in child labour are rapid
population growth, deterioration in living standards and the incapacity of
education systems to cater to all children of school age and provide them with a
decent education. Among developing regions, Africa has the highest participation
rate of girls: approximately 37 per cent of girls work in Africa, versus 20 per cent
in Asia and 11 per cent in Latin America.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of South African Youth
The international literature on the commercial sexual exploitation of children is
vast. Most of the literature focuses on the trafficking of children on the Asian
continent, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia, especially Thailand (Ennew,
Gopal, Heeran, & Montgomery, 1996). Among these are various studies conducted
by antitrafficking organizations. By contrast, very little has been written on the
sexual exploitation of children or on the trafficking of children in South Africa.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children is primarily a street child phenomenon
in Africa's major cities, an issue of survival sex, where children's bodies are
bought for money, food, clothes, or school fees (United Nations Office of Drugs
and Crime, n.d.).
In South Africa, the commercial sexual exploitation of children under the age of
18 years who either voluntarily or are coerced to engage in child prostitution is
reported to be on the rise. There are no reliable statistical data to verify the
number of children who are engaging in child prostitution. Only a few studies on
child prostitution and trafficking have been published. One study, commissioned
by End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking (ECPAT), was conducted by
two researchers in preparation for the Stockholm Conference and focused on the
issue of sex tourism, although children were not interviewed for this study
(O'Connell, & Sanchez, 1996). Children in prostitution have been interviewed in a
few studies that have focused on issues related to marginalized children such as
children on the street and children in the informal economic sector (LeRoux,
1996; O'Connell & Sanchez, 1996; Richter, 1991; Scharff, Powell, & Thomas, 1986;
Smit & liebenberg, 2000; Snell, 1995, 2002; Swart-Kruger & Donald, 1994; Swart-
Kruger & Richter, 1997). Attempts have, however, been made to grapple with the
conceptual issues related to the phenomenon. Reasons have also been sought
as to why children are engaged in prostitution. The Consultative Conference on
the Sexual Exploitation of Children produced a number of research and position
papers on issues related to sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking of
children (Nairne, 1996).A workshop, "The Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of
Children," was convened for staff of Cape Town organizations serving youth and
their families (Nairne, 1996). The proceedings from that workshop indicated: (a)
children were being prostituted by their families, migrant workers, gangs, and taxi
drivers; (b) abandoned children and children living on the street were engaging
in survival sex; (c) children were forced into or engaged in sex work on the city
streets and in brothels; and (d) sex with children was in demand due to the belief
that children are free from HIV (Nairne, 1996).
Who is a Stateless Child?
Nationality establishes what rights and responsibilities are provided to a person,
and grant him/her citizenship. Many people do not have a nationality or
citizenship because they lack official proof of birth. These individuals are denied
rights associated with citizenship.
For clarification, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
defines a child as “a person under the age of 18 unless national law recognize
the age of majority earlier.[1] International law defines a stateless person as
someone “who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of
its law.” Examples of groups who fall under this definition as stateless include:
Roma, Bedoons, Kurds, Palestinians, Tibetans, and millions of individuals without
an official birth certificate or formal papers declaring nationality.
How Many Children are Stateless, and Where are these Children?
An estimated 50 million births per year are unregistered. Sub-Saharan Africa is
the region with the highest percentage of unregistered births; however, South
Asia has the largest number of unregistered children in any one region. Many
countries, like Afghanistan , Cambodia , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Namibia , and Oman ,
have no mandatory birth registration system. The percentage of annual births not
registered in 2000 are as follows, listed by region: Sub-Saharan Africa 71%, South
Asia 63%, Middle East and North Africa 31%, East Asia and Pacific 22%, Latin
America and Caribbean 14%, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) and Baltic States 10%, Industrialized Countries 2%; the
worldwide total has been estimated at 41%.[2]
How are Stateless Children Impacted?
A child lacking citizenship and being defined as a stateless person is affected in
many ways. Without citizenship a child does not have access to basic rights. He or
she is often denied health care, education, the right to residence and travel,
access to justice, and safety and physical well-being. In many countries, stateless
children may not be vaccinated and are not eligible to receive treatment at
medical centers. Stateless children are not allowed to enroll in public funded
schools in many countries, and in other countries they are forced to pay for
schooling which is free to children able to prove citizenship. When these
children grow to adulthood, they frequently are on the margins of society, since
they face significant barriers to basic freedoms like marriage, land ownership,
voting, or opening a bank account.
Stateless children are not able to obtain passports without proof of residence,
and if they leave their country of residence they may not be able to return without
proof of citizenship. A stateless child, without official documents, may be
prosecuted for a crime as an adult. Children without birth records are often
targets for traffickers and child sex exploiters because they stateless children
are often easier to hide and manipulate. It is also easier to recruit a stateless
child into the military because of the inability to prove their actual age.[3]
Why are Children Stateless?
There are several reasons why so many children all over the world are without
nationality. Lack of birth registration occurs in countries where the government
allocates insufficient funds for this purpose or where the poverty of the nation
necessitates priorities other than birth registration. Also, children from poor
families sometimes cannot afford expensive child registration fees, and many
families from rural areas cannot cover the cost of travel to urban centers where
registration centers are typically located. Other parents do not understand the
importance of birth registration or are uncertain about how to register their
children.
There are legal barriers to establishing nationality, especially in countries where
citizenship is determined by parents' nationalities or the birthplace of the child.
Also, many people face persecution due to their race or ethnicity, as some
governments refuse registration services to ethnic minorities they consider
undesirable. These same governments also discriminate against ethnic and
religious minorities by amending laws to marginalize or even facilitate the
expulsion of these groups.[4]
When political turmoil leads to state dissolution or the fleeing of citizens to other
countries, the incidence of children becoming or being born stateless is high.
State dissolution, in general, often leads to people losing their citizenship rights.
In addition, children who are born in refugee camps are often refused the right to
be registered in the state to which they have fled.
Poor families, including families of migrant workers and bonded laborers, face
economic obstacles that prevent parents from registering their children. Social
and cultural barriers also contribute to the increasing number of stateless
children. In many cultures, babies are not delivered in hospitals or medical
facilities but rather in people's homes. In countries that rely on hospital and
medical records for the registration process, these births that occur in homes are
not recorded. Another barrier in registering children results from the cultural
acceptance of abandoning children. The practice of abandoning children is
tolerated or accepted in cultures that have a preference for male children, bias
against interracial marriages and/or stigma against women who are sexually
active outside of marriage. As a result, many children are given to orphanages,
admitted into state-run institutions, left to care for themselves, or killed by their
families by deliberate murder or persistent neglect.
Finally, some cultures or governments require evidence of a child's “legitimacy.”
Most societies define an illegitimate child as a child born out of wedlock. Where
citizenship is granted on the basis of a parent's nationality, legitimacy may be an
important factor in determining which nationality the child “inherits.”[5]
Protecting Stateless Children
New programs initiated by government agencies and community based
organizations aim to help families register their children. Governments are
reaching out to poor, rural and refugee communities. Some governments are also
using technology to make the registration process simpler and easy to use.
Finally, community groups are helping families understand and gain access to
birth registration.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 15: asserts that “everyone has
the right to a nationality” and that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality.[6] Also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 7
(1) states that “national governments must register children immediately after
birth and children enjoy the right from birth to acquire a nationality.” The CRC
requires that governments protect that right as the children mature. According to
the CRC, governments must place their international obligation to protect
children's right to nationality ahead of other national considerations. The CRC
states that national governments have a duty to grant children born in their
territory citizenship if the child is not recognized as a citizen by any other country.
[7]
States that have ratified the CRC are expected to put into practice policies and
programs that guarantee that children's families and national authorities can
secure citizenship for every child in that nation. Every country in the world,
except the United States and Somalia , has ratified the CRC. Somalia has not
ratified the Convention because they lack a formal functioning government.
There are many organizations that can provide you with more information about
stateless children and birth registration. These organizations provide information
about stateless children, and advocate and implement programs relating to this
issue. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) provides information about
birth registration and has a searchable database.[8] The United Nations High
Commission on Refuges (UNCHR) addresses the issue of stateless children and
has information regarding the rights of refugees and internally displaced people.
[9] PLAN International is an international child focused development organization.
They have implemented a birth registration campaign which encourages
governments to establish more effective and accessible systems for birth
registration.[10] These organizations and Youth Advocate Program International
work to ensure that every child is given the right to a citizenship and a
nationality. You can help in your community by educating others about the
problem of stateless children in the world and by supporting the work of
organizations that strive to give every child a country to call home.
Street children vulnerable to sex trade
August 25, 2004
By Angela Bolowana
About 40 000 children in South Africa are involved in child prostitution and the figures are
rising as more and more children are driven from their homes because of poverty, neglect
and abuse.
The child prostitutes - all under the age of 18 - are among 400 000 child labourers in the
country, according to the Network Against Child Labour.
Once on the streets, children are vulnerable to a booming sex trade and trafficking.
The story of Eric could be told a thousand times by the lonely, young child survivors on the
streets who are also targets of child predators.
He left home in 1989 after being sexually molested by his uncle.
He was 10 years old.
On arrival at the Durban beachfront, he soon realised that survival was the name of the
game. Before his escape, the furthest he had been in the city was The Workshop and he
had only seen the beach on special occasions with his family.
"I saw young kids sniffing glue, parking cars, earning some money. But when it came to the
evening, I didn't want to sniff glue - it was not my kind of thing," remembered Eric.
"I started walking around with nothing to do. That's when I met this man. To me he looked
like an ordinary man, a nice guy. First he asked me if I'm hungry. Of course I'm hungry.
He takes me to a restaurant near the parlours, buys me food - hamburger and chips. I
think: 'This is a treat.'
"And then he says: 'You must be tired. Why don't you come with me?' So I go home with
this guy old enough to be my grandpa."
That was the start of a sexual relationship that spanned more than 10 years. Besides the
"emotional" connection he could not explain, Eric said he would go back for the R10 he got
"to do this little thing which disgusted me".
"This was my easy way of getting money," he said. Despite his disgust with the man - he
had also molested two other friends of Eric's - he still defends him. "He wasn't like other
paedophiles that would rape and molest children."
The Network Against Child Labour estimates that of the
400 000 child labourers in the country, more than 247 900 children were involved in
exploitative labour, including prostitution. However, co-ordinator Karen Allen said she
believed the number was grossly underestimated, adding that the real number could be
three times as much. The numbers, she said, were increasing dramatically because more
parents were dying from HIV/Aids, leaving more children living in poverty.
According to Molo Songololo, a non-governmental organisation based in Cape Town, 61%
of South African children live in poverty. Since it started its rehabilitation programme in
1988, Childline has seen "thousands" of people who have sexually molested children.
Childline National Director Joan van Niekerk said when child prostitution was discussed,
street children were often not regarded as victims of the crime. But on the contrary, she
said, street children were the most vulnerable.
Also, she said, the children did not often open up about the crimes unless it was an
explosive situation and when they did they did not know the names of the perpetrators and
did not report the crimes as sexual abuse.
Statistics
"It's extremely difficult to get statistics. We get more information from offenders than
children.
"For the street child in this situation, the habit is supporting them - they are not likely to
report," Van Niekerk said.
She said because of the vulnerability of the children, even tourists whose countries had
strict protective laws for children often preyed on street children for sexual favours.
Some tourists, she said, even made a home in Durban and lived with some of the children,
a move which often seemed reasonable even to some of the children's families who
reasoned that the children were safe and taken care of.
A source, who worked closely with street children, said the male children were vulnerable to
gangs while young girls fell into the hands of drug lords who then forced them into
prostitution.
The gangs, he said, gave the boys food and money in return for sexual favours.
The source, who did not want to be named for fear of intimidation, said: "They buy them
food, they offer protection in exchange for sexual favours."
He said he believed that half of the boys on the streets had been sexually molested,
sodomised and raped.
"It is a very secretive thing, not talked about," he said.
There were 3 120 prisoners in jail for sexual crimes against children, said Maupi
Monyeremane, spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services.
However, thousands more paedophiles are walking free.
Research done by Molo Songololo revealed that South African children were in danger of a
thriving worldwide sex tourism.
"There is an increased demand for sex with children from both South African and foreign
men," said the report.
"There is not only a supply but also a demand, which appears to be on the increase.
"Children are thus placed in a vulnerable situation where they can be trafficked and
sexually exploited."
Allan said there was a dire need for a body in South Africa that was tasked with monitoring
the activities of young people.
She said updated statistics into child labour and child prostitution were not readily available
and that made it difficult for non-governmental organisations and the government to tackle
the problem effectively.
FOR all of us children, particularly those of us living in rural communities of
Pakistan, India and Ghana (where I come from) I thought I was dreaming.
For me, Sophia, a poor girl from a poor family in Ghana going to Australia this was
awesome and historic.
Plan has made this dream a reality. Australia seemed so far away. We have learnt
about Melbourne and the Commonwealth Games through information technology
even before we got here. As a result, we the youth of today, have more and
better opportunities to develop our potential more fully.
This trip, sponsored by Plan International, is just the tip of the iceberg of Plan’s
role in making a difference in the lives of children in deprived communities. Plan
also helps to promote the rights of children by supporting our communities in
projects to fulfill the rights of children in the area of our education, health, water,
sanitation and livelihood opportunities for our well-being and development.
We are here to participate in Plan Australia’s Commonwealth Games Youth Media
Program to develop a platform for information exchange between Australia and
developing countries in addition to building relationships among the youth
groups.
Children today who make up 70 per cent of the Commonwealth are not always
given the opportunity to realise our full potential due to the lack of basic
necessities such as food, education, access to basic health services and to
participate meaningfully in discussions and policy issues affecting us. It is our
hope that this program would help us address these childhood challenges.
I wish to appeal to our leaders and Governments to stop paying lip service to the
plight of children and to commit more resources that are in the best interest of
the child especially in the area of child exploitation, lack of education, lack of a
national identity so that we can have the opportunity to grow up in a more secure,
healthy environment for the survival, protection, development and effective
participation of all children.
Over 48 million children each year are not registered at birth and this has serious
implications on our lives. Without a birth certificate, which is our ticket to
citizenship, our national identity, we children become more vulnerable and prone
to exploitation, abuse, neglect and insecurity.
I hope we take advantage of this unique opportunity to share ideas, share
experiences of best practices from our cultures and traditions, thoughts,
information, and to take action for ourselves back home as change agents in our
respective communities to make a difference in our lives.
The future depends on us, today’s children, who will become tomorrow’s adults
and leaders. So we would like to believe that the Commonwealth will continue to
grow from strength to strength with our rights fulfilled and our potential well
developed through effective and meaningful child participation such as this
Youth Media Commonwealth Games initiative of Plan.
I would like to ask children, youth and adults to commit and contribute to make
the Youth Media Commonwealth Program memorable by being a part of Plan, a
family of people with shared dreams, hopes and a common goal which is to create
a common wealth for all children, especially those living in deprived communities.
On behalf of all children and Plan Australia I say "ayeeko" and akwaaba". Welcome
to the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne March 2006 and have a very nice and
wonderful Youth Media experience.
Orphans and vulnerable children
Africa is experiencing a drastic rise in the number of orphans and other vulnerable children
(i.e. those at risk of physical, social economic and emotional exploitation). Currently it is
estimated that there are 34 million orphans under the age of 15. HIV/AIDS accounts for 13
million of these cases. Many of these children are under the care of an older man or an
older woman.
Estimates indicate that one in every six children in the world today aged between 5 and 17
years is working instead of attending school. Orphaned children or those abandoned by
their parents and relatives, end up in exploitative work in homes, industries, agriculture,
armed conflict and in the sex trade. Others end up on the street in cities and towns, a trend
that has led to the growing number of street children in Africa.
When asked for their views during consultations with HelpAge International, orphans speak
of suffering abuse in the hands of some relatives who see them as a source of cheap
labour.
Grandparents are carers
More and more older people are taking up the responsibility of grandchildren left when
their parents either die from AIDS or migrate to urban centres in search of jobs. Although it
is a straining role due to biting poverty, grandparents struggle to care for their
grandchildren.
They also ensure the children go to school. One teenage girl had this to say of her 82-year-
old grandmother, “Grandma begs the teachers not to send us away.” The care role
undertaken by older people therefore serves to protect children against exploitation.
Older people undertake the parenting responsibility at a time when they should be enjoying
their sunset years and despite the struggle they have to go through due to poverty. Said
one older man caring for four grandchildren in Ahero in western Kenya, “I am struggling to
feed and cloth these children.”
Intergenerational approaches
It is therefore useful that child-focused organisations, not only address the
issues of child labour, but also, in the process, consider those who protect them
from being exploited. A holistic approach to dealing with the problems of orphans
and abandoned children is therefore needed, to not only ensure children are
cared for, but also that the communities they live in do not exploit them.
Orphans under the care of older people and those who fend for themselves are
often a source of cheap labour. Family members, community and local authorities
need to ensure that the rights of orphans under the care of older people and
those heading households are protected.
JOHANNESBURG, 14 Jan 2004 (IRIN) - With an estimated 30 percent of Angolan
children aged between five and 14 forced to work, officials and aid groups
gathered on Wednesday to discuss ways of tackling child exploitation.
The meeting in the southern Cunene province was expected to highlight
children's rights, an issue that has largely been ignored in Angola.
Widespread poverty and social upheavals as a result of the decades-long civil
war are seen as the main reasons why children are forced to work instead of
attending school.
The legal minimum age for employment in Angola is 14 years. However, according
to the International Labour Organisation, many younger children work on family
farms, as domestic servants, and in the informal economy. Family-based child
labour in the subsistence agricultural sector is common.
"Children are hungry and are unable to feed themselves. This leads them to the
streets to seek employment - there really is no other option, given the weak
system of social welfare in Angola. Most often the meagre earnings of these
children help to support unemployed parents and the elderly," Sam Kambarami,
the acting director of Save the Children Fund-US, told IRIN.
Primary school attendance in Angola stands at just over 50 percent, and many
children in the underdeveloped interior of the country also have no access to
basic health care.
"This is an extremely complex issue, which has its roots in the war. Most of the
children who are currently working are doing so because they have lost either
one or both parents in the war. But in some cases, the lack of schools in some
parts of the country means that children have to work at an early age," said UN
Children's Fund's child protection officer, Abubacar Sultan.
It was important to continue with attempts to re-unite families separated during
the war, and provide educational opportunities for children who did not have
access to education, he added.
"There is wide recognition that, in some cases, some families do not have any
choice but to send their children to work. The solution therefore is to consider
how to combine schooling with work that is not exploitative," Sultan explained.
Another key issue raised by participants was reports of cross-border trafficking
of young children into neighbouring countries, especially Namibia and the
Democractic Republic of Congo.
"There is wide consensus that immigration and customs controls need to be
stricter, to ensure that this practice does not continue. It is also quite worrying to
see young girls, who sell goods during the day, involved in prostitution at night,
many of whom have very little knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases,"
Sultan said.
Trafficking of children in West Africa is widespread and increasing. The countries
involved include Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Gabon, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Niger,
and Burkina Faso.
Boys and girls, as young as seven, are trafficked, primarily for their labour. The
journeys involved can be dangerous and there have been reports of children
dying along the route, particularly when travelling by sea in unseaworthy vessels.
The children are smuggled both within national boundaries and across
international frontiers, sometimes with the collaboration of border guards.
Poverty is central to why parents send their children to work. The prospect of
good wages in a wealthier country, such as Gabon or Côte d'Ivoire, seems an
acceptable option. But the realities of what most of these children have to face
along the route and once they reach their destination are not widely known.
Although many of those who are trafficked ultimately do not earn the money
promised and the conditions in which they are forced to live and work range from
basic to brutal, the reality of one less mouth to feed for a poor household makes
a significant difference.
The lure of well-paid work not only attracts parents, but in some cases children
go to 'recruiters' themselves, often believing that they will have a good job in the
city. However, a recent UNICEF report found that only 13 per cent of these
children went willingly.
Apart from the dangerous journey which most of these children face, they are
forced to work long hours in harsh conditions. Their working hours, regardless of
age and sex, range from ten to 20 hours per day, up to seven days a week,
without any time for rest, recreation or education. Basic food, health, sanitation
and clothing requirements are not met, and sometimes they are not paid. In
addition, they face beatings and other forms of physical abuse from their
employer and, particularly in the case of child domestics, are at risk of sexual
exploitation by the family employing them. A significant number run away, but
unable to return home or find alternative employment, they resort to prostitution
to earn a living.
Trafficking from Mali to Côte d'Ivoire
The majority of those trafficked from Mali are boys from the areas of Ségou,
Sikasso and Mopti. Networks for trafficking children to Côte d'Ivoire were
established in the early 1990s following a demand for cheap labour on its cotton
plantations. Most children are recruited by intermediaries and sold on to
plantation owners. But some are promised work by relatives or friends and are
sent through family networks to work on plantations, in mines, in construction
and other types of manual labour where they end up working as slaves.
Because traffickers frequently come from the same region as the children whom
they recruit, it is easier for this practice to be hidden as they may know the
families and the area. If arrested by police at the border it is not unusual for
parents to defend the trafficker saying that he had their permission to take the
child across the border for work. Most believe the trafficker's promise that he will
find the child well-paid work.
According to a Malian national study, children work for between 5000 and 10,000
FCFA (£5 to £10) per month. But, in reality, most get no money at all. Instead, this
salary is paid to the intermediary, or their labour is used to repay the cost of their
transport and maintenance and they can end up working for years without being
paid.
A national study in Côte d'Ivoire found that employers paid intermediaries
between 50,000 and 75,000 FCFA. Intermediaries also earn money by selling the
children to employers.
Isolated from their family, community and culture these children are under the
trafficker's and employer's complete control, vulnerable to abuse and
exploitation. Conditions are basic and with no consideration for safety standards.
On plantations they are poisoned by the chemicals used in farming, they suffer
skin diseases, heat stroke, increased heart rate, malnutrition as well as physical
abuse.
The story of 'ID' is typical of the hardship these children experience. Now 15 years
old, he has returned to Mali after two years, having been trafficked to work on a
coffee and yam plantation in Bouafle, Côte d'Ivoire.
'Our day began at 5am. Carrying heavy tools on our head, we had to walk six
kilometres through mud and stones in bare feet to reach the fields. By the time
we reached them we were soaked through and exhausted. Once we arrived the
overseer showed us the area we each had to plant before the day's end. We were
afraid of what he would do to us if we could not finish the work. This threat and
the threat of being denied food if we could not finish in time forced us to work
quickly. The work was hard and bending all day gave us back pains. If we were ill
and couldn't work we were afraid that we would be tortured to death. One day I
witnessed two of my colleagues being tortured for trying to escape. They became
seriously ill and died.'
Estimates of the numbers of children involved in this human trade vary. Based on
the numbers of children who were repatriated and arrested at the border, the
Malian Consular Office in Abidjan estimates that between 1995 and 1998 more
than 600 children, mainly boys, were trafficked from Mali. In 1998 UNICEF reported
between 10,000 and 15,000 Malian boys were working on plantations in Côte
d'Ivoire. However, this figure does not identify how many were trafficked and how
many are employed legally.
Because of the nature of this illegal trade, corruption and the lack of a
centralised system for collecting data, accurate statistics have not been compiled.
The conditions and the cost
The effect of trafficking on children is devastating. Apart from the deprivations
referred to above, they are in danger of being cut off from their roots, losing
contact with their families and their culture. They are denied the fundamental
rights of education and recreation crucial to their social and psychological
development. Many never return home and can be trafficked more than once.
Even when they do manage to return to their villages, they face difficulties in
adjustment.
There are several international conventions prohibiting child trafficking. These
include the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave
Trade and of Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; the 1989 United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Organisation of African Unity's African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; and International Labour
Organisation Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Despite these
laws, many of which have been ratified by the countries where trafficking takes
place, the number of children being trafficked in West Africa appears to be on the
increase.
What is being done
The urgency of this problem is being acknowledged by the governments
concerned. A significant step was taken on 6 September 2000 when Mali and Côte
d'Ivoire signed an agreement on prohibiting the illegal trafficking of children for
labour between the two countries. The accord states that both countries must
develop legislation regarding the movement of children abroad.
At a meeting hosted by UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation in
Libreville, Gabon from 22-24 February 2000, officials from West and Central
African states agreed to A Common Platform of Action which proposes the
creation of laws designed to protect child workers, improvements in the system
of taking child victims of trafficking into custody, and the strengthening of co-
operation among governments. Members also proposed the establishment of
transit and reception centres for returned children.
Currently, Mali, as well as Benin and Togo, are the only countries in the region
that have formulated specific programmes to fight trafficking.
In 1998, Mali established a Consultative National Commission on Child Trafficking.
It also created the Ministry for Children and Family -- one of its tasks is the
repatriation of children who return from plantations in Côte d'Ivoire. To facilitate
this, in February 2000, the Ministry invited Anti-Slavery to help with the
formulation of a programme for rehabilitating children who had been trafficked to
Côte d'Ivoire. The government is also working with local NGOs on programmes of
rehabilitation.
“I was walking with Arlene and Shelley on the Parade, after school. Four men we didn't
know approached us. They appeared, as if from nowhere and grabbed all three of us.
They shoved put us into a white BMW. We were screaming but were quickly silenced. They
pulled our hair and pushed our heads down so that people couldn’t see what they were
doing. We were pushed down onto the floor in the back of the car. One of them drove the
vehicle while the other three sat at the back holding us down, between their knees.
I was absolutely terrified. I couldn’t move and when we screamed they pulled our hair and
hit us. One of them told us he had a gun and would shoot us if we didn’t stop screaming. I
didn’t know what they were going to do with us and I didn’t know where we were going. At
some point while we were driving, they tied our hands with rope and they blindfolded us.
When the car finally stopped and they told us to get out and follow them. It was difficult to
get out of the car as we couldn’t see and couldn’t use our hands. They dragged us out of
the car and told us to walk. One held me by the arm and pulled me. They took all three of
us to a room and took the blindfolds off and untied our hands and then they left and locked
us into the room.
We stayed in the room locked until what we thought was the next day. We talked amongst
ourselves and didn’t know what was going on or what was going to happen to us. Then the
following day all four men came into the room. Two of them took Arlene and Shelley out of
the room. One of them stood at the door and the other one stood in the room, near the bed
where I was shouting that they should let us go. The one who was standing near the bed
slapped me and punched me in my face. Then one of the others came back. They locked
the door and the three of them came towards me. All three of them attacked me and threw
me on the bed. They tore my clothes off and I was screaming and screaming and I swore at
them and I also scratched one of them. Then the one who drove the car, Zunaid hit me
very hard against the side of my head and he got the other two to hold me down and I was
lying on my back. The guy who was standing at the bottom of the bed pulled my legs apart
and then Zunaid raped me. He stayed on top of me for I don’t know how long, it felt like it
would never stop. The other two were there in the room and by then I didn’t scream or
shout or even try to hit them because it was hurting a lot it felt like it was burning inside me.
I just closed my eyes and wanted it to go away.
When he was done he got up and Eugene came and got on top of me. He also raped me.
After this Roland came and raped me. And then I started screaming. Zunaid became violent
again and choked me. I can’t remember for how long Roland raped me. I lost
consciousness and when I came to again the other one, Jonathan was on top of me.
Zunaid also hit me with a broomstick all over my body.
After all four of them had raped me they left the room with my clothes and the sheet that I
had been lying on. There was blood on the sheet and I was still bleeding after they left. I
think they kept me in the room for four days. I will never really be sure how long it was. I
only saw the four of them and only one at a time after the day they raped me. They either
came into the room to rape me again or to give me food. I didn’t think I would ever see my
family again. I thought they were just going to keep me there and rape me till I die. I felt
completely alone and scared. I spent most of the time when I was alone thinking about how
to get away, or about what they had done to me or about what they were still going to do to
me.
I banged on the door a few times and called to Arlene and Shelley to help me if they could
hear me. I didn’t know if they were still in the house. At that point I didn’t even know the
names of the men who had raped me. I heard other people, some of them girls in the
house, but I didn’t see any of them until they let me out. After the four days two of them
Jonathan and Eugene came and unlocked the door and brought my clothes and told me to
go and wash and get dressed. I was very disoriented and found it difficult to walk. They
showed me where the bathroom was and I lost my balance twice. I used the wall to keep
myself from falling.
Everyone was locked up, in that house. There were eleven other girls there besides the
three of us. Shelley and Arlene had also been raped and beaten. They had been kept with
the other girls and they were raped in the lounge and in the other room. They told me that
they had been raped in front of some of the girls and that everybody stood or sat and
watched. The other girls were all prostitutes and the man of the house Zunaid wanted us to
be prostitutes also. He had already gotten Arlene to go out with the other girls. Arlene didn’
t want to talk about it and I didn’t feel that I could talk to her. She seemed like someone I
didn’t know. Shelley and I stayed at home at night when they went out on the street. They
brought the men home and robbed them and one night there was a fight because the one
man found out that the girls were stealing money from him and he demanded his money
back and Zunaid and the young boy who was there, Sammy, beat the man and threw him
out of the house.
They still raped me but not as often and they forced us to drink alcohol and to smoke
dagga, which really made me feel (unclear). I thought I could get used to it.
One night, two of the girls Sylvia and Charlene stayed behind and talked to us about going
out with them. They said that it was really easy the men just stop and you go to the car and
you tell them it’s R80 and then you bring them back to the house and the boys will follow
you in the car. When you get to the house one of the girls will be waiting in the room, under
the bed and you get the client to undress, and then the girl will take his money from his
pants and you don’t have sex with him. You just push his penis between his legs and it
hurts and he won’t be able to do anything and if he tries to hurt you or fight with you then
the boys will be there to deal with him.
After another few days I went out with them, every night. And one day I managed to
escape. (Long silence). I don’t want to talk anymore.
The road from soldier back to child
Demobilization and rehabilitation are only the first steps
About a third of the world's child soldiers are in Africa. According to a report by the
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, a non-governmental alliance that includes
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, an estimated 300,000 child soldiers, some
as young as seven, are actively fighting in 41 countries, with about 120,000 of them in
Africa. Another 500,000 children worldwide may be in paramilitary organizations. For those
who recruit them, "children are cheap, expendable and easier to condition into fearless
killing and unthinking obedience," the report comments.
Military recruitment is harmful not only for the children themselves, but also for society as a
whole, notes Mr. Olara Otunnu, the UN secretary-general's special representative for
children and armed conflict. Years of schooling are lost and the children grow up to
become alienated adults, prone to violence, he told Africa Recovery. "Today's warfare in
Africa, especially the exploitation, abuse and use of children, is nothing short of a process
of self-destruction.... Look at Angola, look at Sudan, look at Somalia, look at Sierra Leone.
This isn't a small matter. This goes to the very heart of whether or not in large portions of
Africa there is promise of a future for those societies."
Some children are forcibly abducted into government or rebel armies, observes Mr.
Otunnu, but others join for ideological reasons or because viable alternatives do not exist,
given widespread socio-economic collapse, schools that do not function and the break-up
of families. "The fighting groups look attractive relative to what there is," he says.
Mr. Jean-Claude Legrand, a senior adviser to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on the
protection of children in armed conflict, agrees that most children who join armies are not
really "volunteers." They usually join under various economic, social and political
pressures. "You find that some of them just volunteer to get a meal a day. It's a survival
strategy," he told Africa Recovery. "And many of the children are being promised access to
education."
For Djibril Karim, who was recruited into the Sierra Leone army at the age of 13, the goal
was sheer survival. With his parents and brothers killed by rebel forces, Djibril explained in
an interview with Africa Recovery, he wandered the countryside for months trying to find a
safe place, eventually ending up at a small town protected by an army camp. To stay there,
he and other refugee children had to work in the camps for the soldiers. "You had to
collaborate with the military in order to breathe in that town," he recalls. Then as rebels
killed more and more adult soldiers, the army turned increasingly to younger recruits. The
children were confronted with a stark choice: "you can either join us or you leave." And
leaving meant almost certain death at rebel hands.
After less than a week of rudimentary training, Djibril and his mates were sent out into
active combat, where they again were faced with a choice: either die or kill rebels -- some
of whom were themselves children. In his first ambush against the rebels, Djibril initially was
too frightened to shoot. Then those next to him were hit, "and their blood was all over my
face and my uniform. There was no other way out. You had to pull the trigger." Of the
hundred or so soldiers in his unit, more than half were children. "Some of the kids were so
young they couldn't even hold the gun. They had to drag it on the ground."
The experience was dehumanizing. Many, like Djibril, have lost their entire families and
were encouraged by their commanders to simply take revenge. Often the children fought
under the influence of drugs supplied by the adults. Some were required to take part in the
torture killing of captured rebels. "You didn't really care what you were doing," recalls
Djibril. "I didn't think there was any point in being alive anyway."
Young girls also were in the army camp, he says, as "basically captives." They cooked and
did other tasks, and frequently were raped and beaten. Some eventually were also
conscripted into military service.
Two tales of rescue
Horrified by such stories, a number of donor agencies and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have become more active in campaigns to halt the military recruitment of children
and to demobilize and rehabilitate those forced to serve. In the process, they have
succeeded in altering the general climate regarding child recruitment. Not so long ago,
notes Mr. Otunnu, armies and insurgent forces in Africa and Latin America "would proudly
display the young people fighting in their ranks: 'Look at our brave young men. They are
defending the land. They are fighting for self-determination.' Not anymore. They've gone
on the defensiv
"Today's warfare in Africa, especially the exploitation, abuse and use of children,
is nothing short of a process of self-destruction.... This goes to the very heart of whether or
not in
large portions of Africa there is a promise of a
future for those societies."
-- Mr. Olara Otunnu, UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed
conflict
Beyond convincing governments and rebel movements to adhere to international
conventions prohibiting child conscription, the first step often involves rescuing children
already in uniform. Mr. Legrand of UNICEF has supervised child demobilization
programmes in Angola, Mozambique, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) and other countries. Initially, these were mainly "traditional demobilization
programmes," in which combatants were disarmed and demobilized following cease-fires
and peace agreements. But now, says Mr. Legrand, "we are more and more developing
programmes to demobilize and reintegrate children when war is still going on."
In Uganda, Mr. Legrand led a successful effort to obtain the release of 165 child soldiers
from a military camp. The government, which was working closely with UNICEF on other
child-related issues, arranged the cooperation of a local commander. At first, he agreed to
release 40 children from the ranks, but with UNICEF prodding, eventually approved the
agency's direct access to the camp. One consideration was UNICEF's offer to provide a
truck of water each day. "That's the advantage of UNICEF being an organization dealing
with health, water and education," notes Mr. Legrand. "You can mobilize these resources
for programmes on demobilization of child soldiers."
While reviewing the soldiers in formation, Mr. Legrand asked them to remove their caps. He
and his colleagues identified 225 who looked rather young, and after individual interviews,
determined that 165 were in fact under-age, far more than the original number cited by the
local commander. The following day Mr. Legrand obtained the government's formal
agreement for the children's release.
"Unfortunately," comments Mr. Legrand, "you don't have so many governments in that
region that would agree to go through the process with UNICEF." Other countries involved
in the war in the DRC "would never allow us to do that." Nevertheless, release of the
children still required some pressure on the Ugandan authorities, underlying the need for
UNICEF to be bold enough to "challenge our best partners."
In Sierra Leone, there were no such "best partners." UN and other personnel worked
together with local civil society networks to put pressure on both government and rebel
forces to abide by the terms of the peace agreement. They sought to convince the
commanders that it was in their own interests to release the children in their ranks. This
has had some success, even with particularly brutal forces such as the Revolutionary
United Front (RUF). While children remain useful to rebel forces, Mr. Legrand notes,
groups sometimes also desire a measure of international credibility and agree to release
child combatants.
However, in the first group released by the RUF, there were no girls. This was
unacceptable, recalls Mr. Legrand. "We don't want to be an organization demobilizing only
boys. For UNICEF, there is a very strong sense of priority for the most vulnerable, and in
this case the most vulnerable are the girls." Under stepped-up pressure, the RUF
eventually began to free some girls. In the most recent release, there were 66 girls, about
half of whom had babies.
Rupture with the past
Once freed, the children often are taken to transit centres. "The very first thing you have to
do is create a rupture with the military life," says Mr. Legrand. "We try to ensure that the
camps have no military staff." Churches, NGOs and local civil associations run many such
centres. In Sierra Leone, he notes, churches play a major role, while in the DRC civil
society is generally weak, making it harder to set up and operate such camps.
Before returning the children to their families or communities, the centres provide them with
essential health and psychological care, and frequently with basic education and skills
training. Counseling is especially vital, says Mr. Legrand.
However, for many such children, the transition is not easy. Djibril, who was sent to Benin
Home, a transit centre outside Sierra Leone's capital, remembers that the children often
fought with each other, tending to choose sides according to whether they had been with
the rebels or with the army. Over time, tensions cooled among the youths. But they
continued to vent their anger against the centre itself, frequently breaking windows and
causing other damage. Because the original promises to them were "exaggerated," Djibril
maintains, the youths felt frustrated by the centre's limited facilities and resources. "Some
of us were still very angry." At first, they also refused to go to the remedial classes that
were offered and sold the school supplies they were given. Although some eventually
began attending the classes, those only took place in the mornings. "After lunch time we
basically just hung about. There wasn't really much to do."
Other problems result from stigmatization. People outside the transit centres, including
other children, often fear the former child soldiers or resent the special support they are
given. Mr. Legrand argues that it is important to have programmes that involve not only
those who have carried arms, but all children affected by conflict. "The best way we can
help these children is for them to not be considered any more as soldiers. We need to help
them to not be stigmatized forever by this image."
After some months, depending on their circumstances, the children are reunited with their
families. If no surviving relatives can be traced, they are placed in foster homes. For Djibril,
an uncle was found in Freetown and he went to stay with him for a time.
The ultimate goal is to help the children become full members of society again. "The best
thing we can do for the children," says Mr. Legrand, "is to help them reintegrate into their
communities and be reunified with their families. What their family can do and what their
community can do is much bigger than anything we can do ourselves."
Yet reintegration is not a simple process, given the widespread loss of life and lingering
hatreds. "Just rehabilitating the kids and then sending them back to the village is not
enough," says Djibril. Many African societies, including Djibril's own Mende people, have
traditional ways of accepting wayward members back into the fold. He advises people
helping former child soldiers to better utilize such customary rituals of "cleansing" and
reconciliation. Mr. Legrand says this is beginning to happen, as reintegration efforts seek
to "build on the local culture."
Education is key
Even community reintegration will not be sufficient if the children are unable to go to school
or have other ways to acquire skills, jobs or financial opportunities, leaving them vulnerable
to re-recruitment by armed factions. "The best way to support a child is to provide him with
education and an opportunity for an income," insists Mr. Legrand. But in severely war-torn
countries such as Sierra Leone, "we are most of the time dealing with communities where
all basic services have been disrupte
For that reason, he says, donors must look beyond the immediate problems and focus
more on how to overcome the long-term impact of war. Unfortunately, "it's so difficult to
mobilize donors around these issues. They want to provide emergency assistance in terms
of food and basic health. [But] still they don't recognize the importance of providing children
and their communities with an alternative to the economy of war."
Ms. Graça Machel, an expert on children in armed conflicts and a former first lady of
Mozambique and South Africa, has argued that programmes to assist former child soldiers
should last at least three years. In a September 2000 report, "The Impact of Armed Conflict
on Children," she says this is necessary to address children's "longer-term needs for
education, vocational training and psychosocial support. Unless children demobilized from
armies are given alternatives to soldiering, they are likely to be recruited again into armed
groups."
Even with the limited resources now available, a greater focus on education can bring
modest benefits, observes Mr. Legrand. In southern Sudan, for example, some former child
soldiers have received enough training to become teachers, helping provide education to
an even younger generation and thus making them less susceptible to military recruitment.
In Sierra Leone as well, many of those who have been through the transit centres are leery
of again taking up arms. In 2000, when the RUF briefly restarted the war, "they tried to
recruit the children again," Mr. Legrand recalls. "They were very surprised by the
resistance they met."
The new study confirms that forced labour is a major global problem which is
present in all regions and in all types of economy. Of the overall total, some 9.5
million forced labourers are in Asia, which is the region with the highest number;
1.3 million in Latin America and the Caribbean; 660,000 in sub-Saharan Africa;
260,000 in the Middle East and North Africa; 360,000 in industrialized countries;
and 210,000 in transition countries.
Forced economic exploitation in such sectors as agriculture, construction, brick-
making and informal sweatshop manufacturing is more or less evenly divided
between the sexes. However, forced commercial sexual exploitation entraps
almost entirely women and girls. In addition, children aged less than 18 years
bear a heavy burden, comprising 40 to 50 per cent of all forced labour victims.
Approximately one-fifth of all forced labourers globally are trafficked but the
proportion varies widely from region to region, the report says. In Asia, Latin
America and sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of trafficked persons is less than
20 per cent of all forced labour, while in industrialized and transition countries
and in the Middle East and North Africa, trafficking accounts for more than 75 per
cent of the total.
Most forced labour today is still exacted in developing countries where older
forms of forced labour are sometimes transmuting into newer ones, notably in a
range of informal sector activities, the report says. Debt bondage frequently
affects minorities - including indigenous peoples - that have long experienced
discrimination on the labour market, and locks them in a vicious cycle of poverty
from which they find it ever more difficult to escape. Many victims are working in
remote geographical areas, where labour inspection presents a particular
challenge.
The report sheds new light on the emerging forms of forced labour affecting
migrant workers, in particular irregular migrants in rich and poor destination
countries alike. It also examines the labour market conditions under which forced
labour is most likely to occur, such as where there are inadequate controls over
recruitment agencies and subcontracting systems, or weak labour inspection.
The appearance of new forms of coercion in today's globalized economy also
raises some difficult policy questions. The report examines the strong pressures
to deregulate labour markets as part of the overall drive to reduce labour costs
and thereby increase competitiveness.
"Forced labour is the very antithesis of decent work, the goal of the ILO", says
Mr. Somavia. "There is critical need for devising effective strategies against
forced labour today. This requires a blend of law enforcement and ways of
tackling the structural roots of forced labour, whether outmoded agrarian
systems or poorly functioning labour markets".
In many instances, children who have been forced to work as prostitutes are not
accepted back into their families or communities because of the stigma
associated with this type of work. This is particularly true if they are HIV-positive.
It is vital that, once rescued, children should not be put into a similarly vulnerable
position, especially if they have no family or community support, no means to earn
a living, illegal status in a country or poor health. They require shelter,
psychological and social support, training in skills which will allow them to earn a
living and support themselves, empathy and assistance to be reintegrated into
society and find new meaning and purpose in their lives.
The Ultimate Price
Children are continuously being sacrificed by the abusive power of unfeeling and
unscrupulous adults. They are subjected to violence and serious health hazards.
With their childhood denied and all aspects of their development undermined,
their life prospects are severely damaged. These are the tragic and ugly
manifestations of the neglect and failure of societies, communities and
governments to deal with the underlying social and economic causes of children
trapped in the sex trade.
Individuals around the world have a responsibility to see that governments
uphold their international obligations to protect children. The child sex trade will
not be stopped without international scrutiny and pressure.
Most people have no idea how large the problem truly is.
