One man's child, another man's slave

Written by Eli Nyakudya
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 16:13

Every so often but not nearly enough the ugly side of sex is brought to the surface, yet human and sex trafficking is a crime that shames us all. While many of us see sex as an activity that should be enjoyed between two consenting adults, an amazing journey where two people express their love for each other and are brought closer together, there are, unfortunately, those who are neither concerned about consenting nor adult. For these rogue elements an industry has boomed where unsuspecting individuals are kidnapped or “recruited” to be sex slaves in Africa and beyond.

The majority of the world’s population of almost seven billion people are minors who are not yet at a legal age to work. Reports have shown that these minors – both male and female – are being recruited by organisations to perform the kinds of tasks that adults would generally consider as immoral and that aren’t fitting for the mental or physical state of children.

WHAT IS CHILD TRAFFICKING?
 

Trafficking in children is generally held to mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. Although there is an assumption that child trafficking always involves force, kidnapping, manipulation or deception, none of this has to happen for a crime to be considered as child trafficking. But there is ongoing debate about how to measure exploitation and the level at or degree to which it takes place.

Exploitation includes, at a minimum, prostitution of others, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the “removal of organs”. Traffickers are not hooded or masked persons as portrayed in films. They’re often sympathetic, well dressed individuals that attract vulnerable minors.
 

In large parts of the world, and particularly in Africa, most victims of child traffickers are offered by family members in exchange for material goods. Victims have been recruited in many sectors such as the army, factories and on farms.
 

However, the most severe form that should appeal to each humanitarian in us is children being used for sexual exploitation, like the nine-year-old Filipino girl who was rented out, according to a United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) report, for sex by her aunt and eventually sold to a German paedophile.
 

Confused young kids meant to be playing with dolls and toy trucks are drugged and forced into prostitution, their bodies bruised and battered while performing sexual favours to people – mostly men – old enough to be their grandparents. Because they have no authority, child prostitutes are very easily exploited, and their safety is of course almost always ignored. Brazilian anti-trafficking organisation Projeto Trama found that some child prostitutes would see up to 15 clients a night, and the decision to use contraception was left to the client.
 

CAUSES AND PROCEDURES
 

Two centuries ago, trafficking, like slavery, was frowned upon and even seen as a crime – it still is today. Social and economic conditions in Africa make children – as well as parents – extremely vulnerable to this crime.
 

Traffickers go to hunger-stricken villages in war-torn countries with offers of money and a better life and hand pick little boys and girls. The victims are treated as commodities by the traffickers; they’re bought and sold, their fragile bodies used and ultimately destroyed by unforgiving “clients” before they’re shipped off to another job or left to die on the side of the road.
 

It has been estimated that $9.5 billion is generated in revenue each year from trafficking, and $4 billion of that is attributed to brothels worldwide. It comes as no shock then that human trafficking is the third-most profitable criminal activity after drug and arms dealing. Individual cases seem to back up the evidence. When German police arrested 21 people suspected of running a trafficking ring, they found €430 000 in their bank accounts and an extra €43 000 in cash. And in Britain, a man who exploited trafficked victims from Romania and Russia in London and Essex brothels, managed to amass £4 million

before being arrested by police.
 

The child trafficking trade has also gained momentum as a result of the cooperation between corrupt police and government officials – including immigration officials – and the traffickers.
 

In South Africa, it has come to light that children are trafficked internally, sold and raped under an ignorant traditional belief that sleeping with an infant is a cure for HIV/AIDS. Young girls not even old enough to construct a meaningful sentence are subjected to rape by HIV-positive men and then denied education or access to proper health care.
 

In terms of prosecution, it seems perpetrators of child trafficking get off the hook much too often, if they are ever apprehended. Unicef estimates that of the thousands of children trafficked approximately 15 000 are for use as prostitutes or soldiers every year, yet a 2005 study by Eurojust, a European Union agency dealing with judicial co-operation in criminal matters, and the University of Amsterdam showed that there were only 500 child trafficking convictions in the major countries involved over a 4 year period. Moreover, as trafficking mostly happens between countries, the perpetrators can take advantage of the grey areas – between the various countries’ legal as well as their prison systems.
 

So trading in kids can make you big bucks – almost as much as trading in guns or drugs – and chances are slim that you’ll get caught, and if you do, chances are even slimmer of you getting convicted. If you are a person of questionable moral fibre, you’ll no doubt be interested in this money-spinner. Should this not be a priority crime to fight? Should the world not rather invest its efforts in fighting this scourge than going to war, say, or going to the moon?
 

THE IMPACTS
 

Sex trafficked victims often suffer incurable and severe psychological as well as physical stress. With their options of safety and protection very limited, the victims often turn to alcohol and drugs to temporarily ease the emotional trauma. Clinical depression, dissociative disorders and phobias are common after exposure to sexual and other abuse.
 

In some situations unwanted pregnancies occur, and girls are forced to have abortions under threat of losing their jobs and facing destitution. The forced (often so-called “back-street”) abortions often result in death (as they’re performed by dodgy practitioners) or post-traumatic stress disorder for the child as they are exposed to extreme traumatic conditions.
 

Both male and female victims can get infected with HIV/AIDS and are often left without care or support. According to child abuse specialist Nicholas Groth, the greatest damage occurs in children who have been sexually traumatised for long periods and who have faced aggression and neglect.
 

SOLUTIONS
 

There have been concerted international efforts to combat trafficking over the last few years, and African bodies have also raised their voices against the scourge. Adopted in 1990, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child contains a commitment to combat trafficking. In 2002, the African Union (AU) reaffirmed its commitment to combat trafficking with the AU Labour and Social Affairs Commission identifying child trafficking as an operational priority. There is also a growing body of non-governmental organisations – such as Free The Slaves – concerned specifically with fight against trafficking.

Yet a lot of work remains to be done. Specifically, countries should document and monitor child-trafficking practices within their national territory and organise and facilitate the repatriation of children within their national territory in association with child protection agencies such as Save the Children, Terre des Hommes, ECPAT and WAO-Afrique. Community-based organisations can contribute significantly to concrete policy measures undertaken against trafficking. Potential engagement of the media should not be underestimated, though official anti-trafficking campaigns in Africa tend to overlook their partnership possibilities. Rather, media attention may have a greater and lasting impact on public opinion if it is reflective and sustained.
 

Child trafficking also perpetuates the spread of HIV/AIDS and promotes prostitution and drug abuse. Therefore, in their efforts to combat these offences, the world needs to attach child trafficking to the cause. For example, policies on fighting AIDS or the movement of drugs should also include children and how to protect them from these activities.
 

Some children are lucky enough to innocently enjoy their childhood unaware of the evils around them, yet too many others experience ordeals that will leave both their bodies and their spirits permanently scarred. These defenceless children are our children.