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General Information
Summary: Presentation of a paper by Dr. Rima Salah, UNICEF Regional
Director for West and Central Africa, at the First Pan-African Conference
on Human Trafficking, Abuja, 19-23 February 2001.
Definition of child trafficking
Where trafficking is happening in Africa
Why trafficking occurs
UNICEF strategy
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What is child trafficking:
In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly defined child trafficking
as:
"the illicit and clandestine movement of persons across national
and international borders, largely from developing countries and some
countries in transition with the end goal of forcing women, girl and
children into sexually or economically oppressive and exploitative
situations for the profit of recruiters, traffickers, crime syndicates,
as well as other illegal activities related to trafficking, such as
forced domestic labour".
"In
West Africa, millions of youth are affected by this brutal, entrenched
trade," writes Ms. Salah.
Children are exchanged for prostitution, for begging and soliciting,
and for work on construction sites, in small shops, in factories and
in domestic service labourers on plantations, and in mines. Top
Where:
Studies have revealed clearly established trafficking routes involving
Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina
Faso, Guinea and Niger. While some of these countries are suppliers
of trafficked children, others are receivers, and others are transit
countries. Some countries are both suppliers and receivers. We are
still at the very early stages of defining the issues and generating
the data that will help us to better understand these movement patterns.
Top
Why:
In this region, West and Central Africa, poverty emerges
as a major and ubiquitous causal factor. Indeed, all of our countries
are experiencing relatively high level of poverty and large proportions
of the population live below the poverty line - the average being 40%,
but rising to extremely high levels of 72% in a few countries. Thus,
in the context of extreme poverty, the motive for the transfer of children
is often economic.
But poverty alone does not explain the prevalence of child trafficking
in all countries.
Indeed, some of those most heavily involved in child trafficking do
not necessarily have the worst social indicators, nor possess the worst
cases of poverty. So, we need to come to grips with the fact that there
are other factors - indeed a very diverse and complex list of factors
- that contribute to and fuel the business of child trafficking. Let
me briefly discuss just a few.
1. Lack of vocational and economic opportunities for the youth
in the rural areas. Families seeing no economic opportunities
at home will often place children with families or friends in areas
where they believe the prospects for gainful employment may be greater.
Children in these communities become easy prey for traffickers who
promise trade and work opportunities.
2. Insufficient and/or inaccessible educational opportunities.
The motive for moving children from the protective envelope of the
family is often the search for education rather than the search for
work. Traditional practices of placement and child movement within
the extended family circle for educational purposes contribute to
this factor. Top
3. Ignorance on the part of families and children of the
risks involved in trafficking, such as risks of serious maltreatment,
rape, torture, exposure to HIV/AIDS and even to psychological risks
linked with separation, and emotional isolation. Sadly, our world
in the 21st century is far less friendly and hospitable than we would
like. It is an increasingly dangerous and threatening place for children.
But for many parents - especially those from culturally insulated
families and traditional communities, the idea of harming a child
is alien to their reality and frame of reference.
4. Traditional migration of adults within the framework of economic
activities. Here the problem is rooted in the movement of families,
nomadic peoples, and those who leave the protective and insular environment
of the village - where everyone keeps the children - to the far less
friendly and supportive realm of the urban/peri-urban slum.
5. High demand for cheap and submissive child labour in the informal
economic sector. Children provide cheap labour and submit to abusive
situations. They are often unaware of their rights or are powerless
to seek assistance. Their vulnerability and eagerness to please make
them attractive targets for the ruthless and greed driven predators
in today's world. Top
6. Opportunities to travel provided through easy means of communication
and transport, experience shows that border areas, or areas situated
along major routes, are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.
7. The desire of the youth for emancipation through migration.
Studies have shown that children see in migration, not only the perception
of becoming a better person, but also, the adventure of personal travel.
8. Institutional lapses such as inadequate political commitment,
non existent national legislation against child trafficking, and absence
of a judicial framework allowing for the perpetrators and accomplices
of trafficking to be held responsible and punished for their acts.
Unicef Strategy
UNICEF has committed itself to promote basic education as
a preventive and protective strategy, as well as deploying its communication
capacity to advocate the rights of all children. Currently 34 countries,
in all regions, are experimenting in tackling child labour through
education.
1. Raising public awareness
2. Promotion of education as a preventive strategy,
3. Strengthening partnerships and cooperation, and
4. Establishing a legal and penal support system
For human trafficking to be controlled, it is essential to have a legal
framework which accomplishes two things:
1) Regulation of the movement of minors, and
2) Establishment of penalties for acts that constitute trafficking.
Unfortunately, in most countries of the sub-region, there is no legal
disposition qualifying trafficking as a punishable offence, defining
its constitutive elements and the acts associated with it. Top
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