THE EUROPEA

U
IVERSITY CE
TER FOR PEACE
A-7461 Stadtschlaining/Burg
AUSTRIA.

Thesis (Main Draft)

Human Trafficking and Child Labor in Africa:

Mans Inhumanity to Man.

PRESETED BY

Vera
jie Eweh
vera4here@gmail.com

EPU SPRI
G/FALL SEMESTERS
2005

Rasheed Akinyemi
Main Reader

January 2006

ACK
OWLEDGME
T
First of all I will like to give all thanks and glory to God for seeing me through life and
for all the inspirations in life that he has granted to me. I thank my mother and my
siblings for all their support and encouragement through out my study here in EPU; I
thank my husband- Arian for all his encouragement, financial and moral support in life
and during my study and most especially during the research for this paper. I thank my
in-laws for their prayers and support.
I also acknowledge the help of my very good friend- Amanda for helping during my
research and also introducing me to the rescued victims of trafficking. I acknowledge all
the victims of trafficking I met during this research, I pray for strength for them to
overcome their horrific experiences and also I acknowledge all those silent and unheard
voices of those still trapped in this horrific world of human trafficking calling for rescue
and justice. I hope that with this work, many will come to hear their cries.
A very big thank you to the wife of the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and founder Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF),
Chief (Mrs.) Titi Atiku Abubakar for the efforts made towards combating human
trafficking and child labour in Nigeria. My heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Veronica Umaru,
the Nationa coordination of WOTCLEF, Nigeria and all the staff and workers of
WOTCLEF, Nigeria for their support and help during this research. I thank Mrs. Carol N.
Ndaguba, the Executive Secretary of National Agency for the prohibition of Traffic in
Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Abuja-Nigeria and all the staffs for all
their efforts to preventing all forms of human degradation and exploitation.
I will also like to say a big thank you to my readers and supervisors who have been my
guide through out this work and also the staff and fellow students of EPU who work
tirelessly to making the world better place especially, Prof. Dietrich Fisher.
Lastly, I say thank you to my father, though he is not here today to see me cross this mile
stone, but I know that he is looking down from heaven with a big smile sayingI told
you that you could do it Love you daddy..!

TABLE OF CO
TE
T

Acknowledgement

Table of Content

Abstract

Chapter 1 : Background of Study

Chapter 2: Theoretical and Conceptual Framework of Trafficking

Chapter 3: The Root Causes and the Growth of Trafficking in Africa

Chapter 4: Cases Studies of Trafficking Victims

Chapter 5: The Effects of Trafficking on Victims

Chapter 6: Legal and Social Measures in Place to Combat Trafficking in Africa

Chapter 7: Suggestions to Help Combat Trafficking in Africa

Conclusion

Bibliography

ABSTRACT
On a beautiful spring day, I walked through the red light district in Amsterdam
wondering what sort of people will stoop so low as to engage to themselves to this sort of
trade and most especially why. In a bid to find out answers to those questions, I decided
to talk to a lady standing just behind the glasses on the street. She was scantly dressed but
had the most wonderful smile on her face. I thought she was as piece of work and
couldnt understand why she was doing what she did. She appeared really friendly and
when I approached her window, she smiled at me and not long after decided to come out
to talk to me. On talking to her, and piecing two and two together, my heart bled for them
all and my toes curled in revulsion. Finally, I was beginning to understand and even put
faces to all those stories I had heard and read about as regards to this modern day form of
slavery- Human trafficking
Human trafficking has been one of the most controversial topics in the worlds
criminological discourse in recent years. It is seen as a modern day form of slavery which
is as dehumanizing and deadly as slavery in the 16th century.
The International Labour Organization(ILO) has estimated that 250 million children
between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries with an estimated 120
million of these children working on full time basis. Sixty one percent of these are in
Asia, thirty two percent in Africa and seven percent in Latin America. Most children in
rural areas are found in agriculture, many of them work as domestic servants and with
those in the urban areas, they are mainly found in trade and services which in most cases
constitutes of street hawking and prostitution and there are fewer of them found in
manufacturing and construction.
There are two main reasons why this business is thriving. First and foremost it is due to
the harsh living conditions which are a result of poverty and unemployment mostly in the
third world countries and secondly, it is due to the demand that exists in the rich countries
of the West. It is in their economy that the victims are being exploited and the victims
themselves know too little about the appropriate channels to take to free themselves.
Human trafficking is the greatest human right challenge of our time and as the
International Labour Organisation pointed out; it is the underside of globalisation.1
Strangely, trafficking continues to appear to be on the rise worldwide despite all the
efforts being made by governmental and private institutions to help combat it. Many
nations of the world are affected by this nasty trend but the most affected are the
improvised societies of the world like Africa, Asia and most European societies.
In Africa trafficking in human beings has been a flourishing business. In Nigeria alone,
hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are being trafficked to other parts of
the world, mostly in Europe, where they are being forced into all forms of labour, from
1

ILO. 2001. Stopping Forced Labour: Global Report under the follow up of the ILOs Declaration on the
Fundament Principles and Rights at Work. International Labour Conference, 89th Session 2001. Report 1B.
Pg 47.

the most dehumanizing to the deadliest and also in the most unfavourable of conditions
with little or no pay. This global business involving human goods has now reached a
dimension comparable to illicit trades in drugs and weapons and the major victims are
women and children who are forced to work as servants, labourers and most often as
prostitutes in brothels or forced to work in the pornography industries.
Trafficking in Africa is believed to occur at two levels, there is the internal trafficking of
children and young women from rural to urban areas for domestic work and prostitution
and secondly, there is that on the international level which constitutes of trafficking of
women and children into other African countries for domestic servitude, into Europe
mainly for prostitution and into the Middle East predominantly too for domestic labour.
Child labour ranges from four year olds being held in brothels in Calcutta-India to
seventeen year olds helping out on the family farms or being domestic servants to other
people to help substitute their family income in Africa and impoverished European
countries or in most countries of the former Soviet Union. With these, it is quite clear that
poverty is as much a product as a cause of child labour and human trafficking.
Trafficking reduces humans to mere commodities that are being bargained for, bought,
sold, transported and even in most situations resold according to market forces of supply
and demand. The mental and physical trauma that these acts cause for the victims and
their families makes it one of the most degrading forms of exploitation requiring
immediate and lasting measures to be taken to put an end to this nasty trend of human
degradation and mans inhumanity to man.
As already stated, in almost all of the nations affected by this trend of modern day
slavery, it is rather obvious that the combination of poverty, unemployment, gender
inequality (low regard for the female child), inadequate legislation and poor law
enforcement enables the business of trafficking in humans to thrive. In fact, in some rural
communities, it has been a long standing tradition for poorer rural families to send their
children to go live and work with wealthier families, often in the urban centres so as to
earn money for the family back home to survive. But today, this practice has
unfortunately been exploited by traffickers so that many children are in fact child
domestic workers with no access to education, freedom of movement and they are
working long hours in very poor conditions for little or no pay at all.
It is also important to note that not all of these girls and children who migrate from the
rural to urban areas are indeed trafficked. For instance, in most African nations like
Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and also to some extent in Kenya and Ethiopia, it has been
stated/proven that most movement of children is not necessarily facilitated by a third
party and as such is not trafficking. Many of these children move to the urban centres in
order to earn money and then find themselves living on the streets or in the slum areas
and are at this stage vulnerable to abuse, especially for commercial sexual exploitation.
The overall aim of this thesis is to draw attention to this problem of trafficking in Africa
especially in Nigeria and it is also to help inform women and minors of their rights which

will in turn help reduce trafficking in minors and women. It will also look at the law
enforcement agencies and the criminal justice response to trafficking of minors and
women into Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation and also the reintegration of
victims when they return back to the country whether voluntarily or not.
This

paper will try to show the causes and the initiatives made by the governments of
these countries and the international community as a whole to help combat this form of
slavery and also try to suggest a possibly long term solution to end this ugly situation;
some real life cases will also be cited in the course of this work.

For this paper to be able to highlight these points, I have proposed the following listed
below to be the table of content for this work. I will also use some real life stories told by
victims of trafficking in this work.
Data for this work will be gotten from researches carried out in Nigeria on this issue and
also through the internet as well as already published articles. Also other literature written
in this field will be used as well as documents and articles from international
organisations such as the United Nations, will be used mainly for definition of terms.

CHAPTER O
E
BACKGROU
D OF STUDY
My story is very similar to the ones of many women from my countryI was born 25
years ago in a small village in the country side, near Kaduna, in northern ,igeria. My
family is a very big one and my parents are peasantsI decided to go with a few
girlfriends to Lagos. There I met some persons in a discotheque and they suggested that I
could go to Europe to work and study. I paid a lot of money to an agency which
organizes trips to Italy. The money was not enough and so I signed a contract where I
promised to work as a maid for a family in ,aples, and I soon understood that my job
was another oneI was threatened and they said that I had to pay otherwise my family
would have been threatened too.Sylvia2
Trafficking is a great source of worry for many countries in the world today as many of
them suffer the effects of trafficking especially in the developing nations. World wide, it
has been long regarded as a criminal conduct and a lot of treaties have been adopted in
order to suppress it and bring the perpetrators to justice.
It is estimated that about one to two million people are being trafficked around the world
each year and most of the victims are women and children but it is also important to note
that men and boys are increasingly being trafficked as well. Generally, people are being
trafficked for forced prostitution, agricultural bondage or other forms of indentured
servitude.
In an Amnesty International report, published in December 2001, a 27 year old Ukrainian
psychologist and social worker told of being hired as an international company
representative and she was told that her job required her to do a lot of travelling. But
when she turned up for her job, all her belongings were being taken from her and she was
held in an apartment for two months where she was being forced to work as a prostitute.
The conditions were terrible. Another girl was reported to have been kept in a basement
for eight months. It was damp there and she caught tuberculosis as a result of it. Most of
the girls had different diseases- venereal and others related to their reproductive organs. I
do not wish it on my worst enemy.
A study revealed that, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked globally
across international borders while millions are trafficked within countries3. An estimated
total of fourteen thousand five hundred to seventeen thousand five hundred (14,500-

Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation from Nigeria to Italy. As cited in, Carchedi,
Francesco, Campani, Giovanna, et al Trafficking in Women to Italy for Sexual Exploitation Migration
Information Program, Report Commissioned by International Organization for Migration (IOM). June
1996.
3
US State Department. 2005. Fact Sheets: Sex trafficking, The US & Europe.
file:///E:/U_S_%20Cooperates%20with%20Europe%20to%20Combat%20Sex%20Trafficking,%20January
%206,%202005.htm

17,500) persons are being trafficked annually into the United States alone.4 A further
breakdown of these figures shows that from the near East 0-200 persons, from the South
East Asia; 200-600 persons while from Africa, 200-700 persons. From Latin American,
Europe and Eurasia, an estimated 7,000-11,000 trafficked victims are being brought into
the US annually while from East Asia and the Pacific; we have 5,000 to 7,000 persons.
These statistics further reveal that 33% of the women are being forced or coerced into
commercial sex, 23% of girls less than 18 years of age are also forced into commercial
sex as well as 10% of the boys and 1% of the men. 14% of women, 11% of girls less than
18 years of age, 6% of boys and 3% of men are forced into other forms of exploitation.
Of the people being trafficked, the report reveals that 40% of them are sent to East Asia
and the Pacific while 36% are for Europe and Eurasia. Also, 8% of these trafficked
persons are for Near East, 6% for Africa, 6% for Western hemisphere and 4% for South
Asia.5
Human trafficking is said to be a billion dollar illicit industry. It is ranked the third in the
table of illicit trade with a total figure of about 19 billion USD while drugs trafficking
came in first with a total of about USD 400 billion. Arms trafficking came in second with
an estimated total of USD 200-300 billion.6
In the case of trafficking in and out of Africa, a survey carried out by UNICEF revealed
that out of the 53 nation states in Africa, at least 49% of them responded that human
trafficking existed in their respective country. This report further states that 80% of the
young women engaged in prostitution today in Italy are Nigerians. There are various
reasons why this ugly trend has grown from strength to strength. Some of the reasons are
because trafficking of African women and children to other countries is cheap and people
fall easy prey for this because of the lack of jobs and the poverty level is high.
Statistics reveal that the number of Nigerians involved, mostly as victims, varies widely.
It was reported by the Nigerian Police Force and the Women Trafficking and Child
labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) that over 10000 women being trafficked out
of the country were deported for various reasons in a span of about 10 months in 2003.
Nigeria and Italy are heavily affected by this problem of human trafficking as it is
estimated that Nigerians and Albanians make up a sizable proportion of approximately
20,000 immigrant women brought to Italy for the purpose of prostitution7. Under Unicri
supervision projects were set up to protect the rights of women and children by reducing
trafficking in minors (below the age of 18) and young women. Trafficking of women to
Italy dates back to the end of the 1980s when the fear of AIDS rendered drug-addicted
Italian girls unattractive on the prostitution market and the first Nigerian girls began to
4

Estimated ,umber of People Trafficked annually into the US by Region. 2001.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/humantraffickingconf/docs/non103055.pdf
5
US State Department. 2005. Ibid.
6
ICWAD Trafficking Facts. 2004. Trafficking in Women and Children Fact sheets.
http://www.npcbw.org/newweb/icwad_04_trafficking_facts.htm
7
Eurispes. 2001

appear on the streets, especially in the central and northern part of Italy. Nigerians thus
constituted Italys first cohort of forced prostitutes.
Several countries, including Nigeria and Italy have taken innovative steps to eliminate
trafficking in women and to implement protective programmes for those who have
become victims of trafficking. The Nigerian government has expressed its commitment to
prevent and suppress trafficking in human beings. The Italian government is also
increasingly concerned with the high number of Nigerian minors and young women
being trafficked into Italy for the purpose of sexual exploitation and the violation of
human rights it involves.
It is necessary to mention that the issue of trafficking is also a big problem in other nation
states in Africa too. Various reports reveal that in West and Central Africa alone;

200,000 children are being trafficked annually out of the region.

The US state department estimates that 400,000 children are involved in child
labour across West Africa.8

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and
Togo are among the countries in West and Central Africa with very high
trafficking rates.

It is also believed that human trafficking in this region cannot be eradicated until
wide spread poverty is effectively dealt with.9

Conflicts in Western African countries also contribute to trafficking.10
In the Southern region of Africa, Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique,
South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia are source countries for
trafficking activities. Thailand, China and Eastern Europe are the extra-regional sources
for victims trafficked to South Africa.11

Mark Taylor. US State Department/NCM Report.

NCM/Progress in West Africa against Human Trafficking. Report. November 2003.
10
NCM. Ibid.
11
IOM. March, 2oo3
9

CHAPTER TWO
THEORITICAL A
D CO
CEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF
TRAFFICKI
G?
I have been with her for one and half years. Men are brought to have intercourse with
me. When I came I had not known anything about a man. They used a bottle to deflower
me. Alice used to flog me with a big stick. She bought an exercise book where I recorded
all the money I made on a daily basis. If she travelled, she would tell somebody to
monitor the money I realized for that period. Then, she would always tell me to swear
that I would never hide any money or tell police what I do12Faith
There are many definitions given for the term trafficking, but despite these many
definitions that there is for this term, it has universally proven and as such is accepted
that trafficking always involves the use of coercion and abuse of power and trust as well
as insufficient remunerations being given for what ever kind of work the victims are
being made to do, which simply comes down to exploitation. Before I go any further it is
important to find a working definition for the term trafficking and as such it is important
to look at some already existing definition for trafficking in an attempt to find something
suitable.
According to the Wikipedia on Trafficking in Persons, Trafficking is said to be a term
used to define the recruiting, harbouring, obtaining, transportation of a person by the
use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts,
such as commercial sex or involuntary labour. But this definition is in most way not
exhaustive enough for the term trafficking, so to give a more refined definition for the
term trafficking, the UN Convention against Trans-national Organised Crime defines the
term as;
The recruitment, transfer, harbouring or receipts of persons, by means of the threat or
use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse
of the power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving of receiving of payments or
benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control; over another person, for the
purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the
prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services,
slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.13
This definition of trafficking not only defines trafficking as a violation of human right but
also goes in-depth to explain the forms of exploitation that is involved in trafficking but
as we can see it is missing some very key points as regards the means of accruing the
trafficked person. By this I mean that there is no reference what so ever to how they get
12

Nwagbo Nnenyeliek, 2006. Teenage hookers. Article gotten from The Sun Newspaper.
http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/paperfrmes.html.
13
UN Convention against Trans-national Organised Crimes. 2000. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. A/55/383, adopted by the General
Assembly, Article 3. November 2, 2000.

their victims, that is, if they are being stolen or if these trafficked persons are kidnapped
or are handed over to them by their families of by personal choices. With this in mind, I
will also look at another definition of trafficking.
The European Convention on Extradition (CoE) defines trafficking as
the procurement by one or more natural or legal persons and/or the organisation of the
exploitation and/or transport or migration-legal or illegal-of persons, even with their
consent, for the purpose of their sexual exploitation, inter alia, by means of coercion, in
particular violence or threats, deceit, abuse of authority or/of a position of
vulnerability.14
With this definition, the recognition of trafficking as a human right issue is not clearly
stated but the committee recognises it as that as it states that it constitutes a violation of
human rights with the core use of the terms threats, abuse of authority and
coercion.
The Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) in conjunction with other
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) with similar interests around the world,
defines trafficking as,
Any act or attempt involving the recruitment, transport within or across notional
boundaries, exchange, sale, transfer, lodging or reception or person by mean or
deception, constraint (including the use of force or abuse or authority) or by means of
debt bondage with the view of placing or maintaining the person in question, with or
without financial consideration, in a position of servitude(domestic, sexual or
reproductive) in forced labour or in conditions analogous to slavery, in a community
other than that is which the person lived until the moment the deception, constraint or
debt bondage was brought to bear.15
This definition really takes into consideration all the factors as it applies to the African
community in the context of child placement for use for domestic activities, like nannies
and house maids.
The OSCE in 2000 also gave a definition that sees trafficking as a human rights issue.
They gave a working definition of trafficking as follows;
All acts involved in the recruitment, abduction, transportation (within or across
borders), sale, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of persons, by the use of threat, force,
deception, coercion (including abuse of authority), or debt bondage, for the purpose of
placing or holding such person, whether for pay or not, in involuntary servitude, forced

14

European Convention on Extradition. 2000. Trafficking. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers.

The Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women. As sited by Olaide Gbadamosi, Esq. International
Perspective and ,igerian Laws on Human Trafficking. Network for Justice and Democracy. 2006.
http://www.humantrafficking.org/publications/425.
15

or bonded labour, or in slavery-like conditions, in a community other than the one in

which the person lived at the time of the original deception, coercion or debt bondage.16
This definition gives the best and in depth description for the term trafficking. The OSCE
defines trafficking as comprising acts such as recruitment, abduction, and receipt of
human beings. Unlike like the previous definition by CoE, this definition gives an
extensive explanation of exploitation as it includes involuntary servitude and forced
labour and it also makes it clearer that both men and women are targets for human
trafficking.
Trafficked persons are often the most vulnerable in the society (especially in post conflict
situations). The victims range from the very educated to the least educated and are also
from various backgrounds, races and classes.
With all these definitions in mind, we will see that trafficking in persons has a certain
elements to it. Under the Philippines Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, the
elements of trafficking in persons include:

Recruitment, transportation, transfer or harbouring or receipt of persons.

Recruitment, transportation, transfer or harbouring, or receipt of persons within or
across national borders.
Recruitment, transportation, transfer or harbouring, or receipt of persons within or
across international borders.
Threatening victims or using force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud,
deception, abuse or power or position, giving or receiving of payments or benefits
to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person.
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of person for the
purpose of exploitation for such as sexual exploitation, forced labour or services,
slavery or practices similar to slavery, and removal or sale of organs or other
similar acts.17

With these elements in mind, I will therefore say that the most extensive definition so far
is that given by the OSCE even though it still lacks some points from the elements of
trafficking in persons, so based on the elements offered by the Philippines AntiTrafficking in Persons Act of 2003 and the already existing definition by the OSCE, I
will therefore say that,
Trafficking in persons involves the recruitment (by the use of force, fraud, abduction,
deception, abuse of power/trust or through coercion), transporting, transfer, harbouring
or receipt of persons, within the victims country of origin or across borders
(international or national) for the purpose of receiving payment or benefits from the

16
OSCE 2000. Trafficking in Persons. In a Report Presented at the Supplementary Human Dimension
Meeting Human Trafficking. June 2000. http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2001/issue5/obok5.html.
17
The Anti Trafficking in Persons Act. 2003. Second Edition.
http://www.trafficking.org.ph/files/ra9208primereng.pdf

exploitation of the victims whether through sexual slavery, forced labour or slavery or
practices similar to slavery and also the removal or sale of body organs or similar acts.
In East and South East Asia, Africa and across Europe, girls and young women are
particularly at risk from criminals who promise them good jobs or study and then force
them to be prostitutes. These criminals profit greatly while the girls and women suffer
rape and other physical and mental violence. Men that are victims of trafficking are also
tricked into prostitution and forced labour and in most cases without remunerations.
Most people confuse trafficking in persons with human smuggling, so it is imperative that
we try to make a distinction between trafficking in persons and Human smuggling.
According to the Anti trafficking in Persons Act of 2003,

Trafficking in Persons usually involves coercion while Human Smuggling does

not involve coercion.
Trafficking in Persons is characterised by subsequent exploitation after the illegal
entry of a person into a foreign country while Human Smuggling is characterised
by facilitating, for a fee, the illegal entry of a person into a foreign country, and
Trafficking in Persons is considered a human rights issue while Human
Smuggling is a migratory issue.

This reveals that while human trafficking involves the use of fraudulent acts or coercion
with the intent to exploit for the benefit of the perpetrator/trafficker, human smuggling
involves the illegal movement of persons from one country to the other with the consent
of the victim and the intent to violate migratory rules set by the nation of final
destination.
There are other acts considered as acts of trafficking in persons and these acts includes
trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation,
forced labour, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage. Some countries of the
world have included the act of the introduction/receipt of money or other consideration
and in exchange, giving a person/citizen of such country to a foreigner for the purpose of
possible spouse or as a prostitute. And acts considered as promoting trafficking are as
follows.

Knowingly leasing or subleasing property for trafficking purposes.

Producing, printing, issuing or distributing unissued, tampered or fake documents
such as international passports, visas or any other travel documents used by
governments for regulatory and pre-departure requirements for the purpose of
promoting trafficking.
Advertising, publishing, printing, broadcasting, or distributing by any means, any
brochure, flyer, or any propaganda materials that promotes trafficking.
Assisting in the conduct of misrepresentation or fraud for purposes of facilitating
the acquisition of clearances and exit documents for the purpose of promoting
trafficking.

18

Facilitating, assisting or helping in the exit and entry of persons from/to the
country at international or domestic airports, territorial boundaries and seaports
who are in possession of un-issued, tampered or fraudulent travel documents for
the purpose of promoting trafficking.
Confiscating, concealing, or destroying the passport, travel documents or
belongings of trafficked persons, or preventing them from leaving the country or
seeking redress from the government and appropriate agencies.
Knowingly benefiting from, financial or otherwise, or making use of, the labour
or services of a person held to a condition on involuntary servitude, forced labour
or slavery.18

Anti Trafficking Persons Act 2003. Acts that promotes Trafficking in Persons. 2003.

CHAPTER THREE
ROOT CAUSES A
D GROWTH OF TRAFFICKI
G I
AFRICA
I did not carry them without the consent of their parents, I met their parent at
different time and convinced then that I wanted to help their daughters travel to Spain to
work in farms where they will be paid well and their parents believe me and prayed for
journey mercies,urradeen Sunny(Arrested with 8 young ladies in Kano-,igeria).19
For years, trafficking has been a source of great worries for people all over the world but
to be able to reduce or put an end to trafficking in the world today, we first have to look
for the root cause and the reason for the growth of trafficking in the world.
In Africa today and indeed world over, trafficking has been traced to various factors but
acute and overwhelming poverty and poor living standards are the major cause of
trafficking. However, poverty and poor living standards are not the only reason behind
the growth of trafficking, there is also the alarming demand for sex especially in the
developed world and this has in turn boost the sex industries and for these demands to be
met, there must be people to render these services. In the poorer regions, there are also
the problems of lack of education and this factor can be directly linked to poverty. In
most developing world, it is very difficult for educated people to get jobs so one can only
imagine how impossible it will be for the non educated ones to get a job to support them.
So most parents, having experienced the difficulties they have had to face not being
educated will in turn go to any length to ensure that their children are being given an
opportunity to be educated in life and as such most of them end up being victims of this
horrible trade.
There is also the lack of educational facilities in most of the rural areas in African and
other developing countries. Due to the lack of educational facilities in these areas, most
of the dweller has little or no education at all and as such, they have little or no
understanding of the issues and problems of trafficking in the world today. So in an effort
to send their children out to be their eyes in the world, they end up falling for the
stories of promised education and jobs told to them by the traffickers and give their
children out to these people all in an attempt to give their children the opportunities that
they never had or were given in life.
Lack of awareness is another major factor contributing to the growth of human
trafficking in Africa and the world today. In the rural areas of the developing world, there
are so many public amenities lacking, like good and usable roads, electricity, electronic
and print media and a lot more. With little or no access to these amenities, there are
usually no means of gaining access to information concerning trafficking. Most of them
pay to have their children taken away from them not knowing that these children will be
taken into this horrible trade, they think that they are trying to give their children a better
19

Tina Anthony, 2006. Human Traffickers Confesses-How we lure ,igerian girls abroad. Vanguard Media
Limited. December 10, 2006.

future. With this lack of access to information, the dwellers of the rural areas are not even
aware of the problem of trafficking and child labour simply because they have no way of
knowing about the problem and as such are not aware of the methods that the traffickers
use to lure people into the trade, so they have no way to guard themselves and their
children from falling into the nets of trafficking.
There is also the problem of lack of employment and work opportunities. This factor is
once again deeply rooted in poverty which also results in poor living standards. This
factor not only pumps up the flame in human trafficking but also in child labour. Where
there are no jobs and no means of supporting families or self, people tend to turn to
measure to ensure their survival and that of their family members. They do all sort of jobs
available to them no matter how excruciating or degrading just to ensure survival.
In Senegal for instance and as in most developing countries of the world today, children
attending the Islamic schools are forced by their religious teachers to beg for food and
money on the streets all in the name of religion, these children range from four years-old
who are very normal to even the physically disabled children. This kind of life style
makes them vulnerable to exploitation by adults and they are easily drawn into
prostitution, drugs, alcohol and crime as they are not wise enough in the ways of the
world to be able to protect themselves when faced with dangerous situations. As the
products of famine, armed conflicts, rural-urban migration, unemployment, poverty and
broken families, street children are highly vulnerable to trafficking.20
Women and children in Africa have become the most likely victims of trafficking with
over about 40% of Africans living in acute poverty today. It is often common to see a
child being sold for as low as 30 dollars21, it is seen as one less mouth to feed and can
make a huge difference in the life of a family struggling to survive. As already stated in
previous chapters, it is also a common practice for children to be placed in other homes to
offer domestic services in exchange for money or vocational training but most of them
end up as trafficking victims. It is important to state that most families dont just sell or
give out their children for just economic reasons, but most of them want to give their
children the opportunities for a better life and prospects that they can never offer them.
There is also the problem of refugees and displacements resulting from wars and natural
disasters. This can also be considered as a root cause of trafficking because when people
are faced with situations like these, they usually look for any means of survival and most
end up in the wrong hands and places and they are usually forced to trade sexual favours
for food, shelter and clothing. Their situation is also exploited by many and in most cases,
these people end up being trafficked all for a promise for a better life and living
conditions for them and their family.

20
Moor, H. 1994. Is there a Crisis in the Family? Occasional Paper No.3, World Summit for Social
Development. UNRISD, Geneva.
21
Loconto, Alison. 2002. Trafficking of ,igerian Women into Italy.
http://www.protectionproject.org/report/nigeriadoc. Case number 656.

For instance, in the tsunami of December 2005, many cases where brought to the public
eyes when many children who survived the tsunami disappeared from the make shift
camps and of course we could all see the ugly hands of trafficking in it. As a CBS news
correspondent puts it in her report on the tsunami lost children, an untold number of
children of all nationalities have disappeared in the chaos of the tsunami disaster, their
where about are unknown and there are fears that they may have been seized by those
who traffic in sex.22 In the same report, another aid worker stated that just the other
day, we were in a village where we found 700 children that were unaccompanied in
Indonesia and they believe that these children will be whisked into trafficking network
and sold into forced labour or/and sexual slavery in wealthier neighbouring countries
such as Singapore and Malaysia.23
We hear stories like this all over the world where war or natural disasters struck areas of
the world as many children are made orphans from these situations and families are either
separated or members lost, so the survivors are forced to live no matter the
circumstances, some may even be deceived by the traffickers that they are going to take
them to be reunited with their families or stories like that just to end up being trafficked
or sold for sex or forced labour.
Famine and drought are also another root cause for the growth of trafficking and it is
once again directly linked to poverty. Where people are struck with famine, there is a lot
of desperation and fight for survival and people who try to get out of this situation
become really vulnerable to those wanting to exploit their weakness and most of them
end up being trafficked or sold for sex or forced labour.
Outbreak of diseases and all health related issues like HIV/AIDS are also considered to
be root causes of trafficking. This is so because most people die as a result of these
factors and as such, families are torn apart like children become orphans when their
parents die as a result of these and they are then left alone in the world to fend for
themselves, and also mothers are made widows when their husbands die and they have to
fend for their families when most of them especially in the underdeveloped world have
no education or source of income, so they become an easy prey as they will do anything
just to survive and also take care of their children or siblings. Also in some countries in
Africa like South Africa, most people believe that if an HIV positive person engages in
unprotected sex with a young virgin, he will be cured of this disease, and as such, young
children are trafficked and sold in to the sex trade to fulfil the rising demand for this false
believe. This is a big problem today because it not only increases the growth of
trafficking but also increases the spread of HIV/AIDS in the world today.
The most important factor or root cause for the growth of trafficking is of course the huge
demand, growth or explosion of the sex industry in the world today. Human trafficking is
said to be a billion dollar illicit industry and ranks third in the table of illicit trade with a

22

MacVicar, S. 2005. Tsunami Children Lost, Vulnerable. CBS News. January 2005.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/04/world/main664712.shtml.
23
MacVicar, S. 2005. Ibid.

figure of about 19 billion US dollars.24 With facts and figures like this, it is not hard to
imagine why people who profit from this illicit trade will do anything possible to keep
this industry on top and flourishing. They will do anything and go to any length to meet
the ever growing demand in this trade.
With these factors mentioned above and a lot more, one can see that the world is faced
with a very difficult but not impossible task combating human trafficking and child
labour in the world today.

24

ICWAD Trafficking Facts. 2004. Trafficking in Women and Children Fact Sheets.
http://www.npcbw.org/newweb/icwad_04_trafficking_facts.htm.

TYPES A
D EXTE
T OF TRAFFICKI
G I
AFRICA
At first I did not know what they were talking about, until they took me to a flat where
there were other women and told me: "You work here now." When I refused, they said
they knew my family, and if I made trouble they would kill them. I thought of the
possibilities. I was afraid to stay, I was afraid to leave, so I started to work - they forced
me to, with violence25 Majlinda
Trafficking has been and still is a major problem in Africa today as it is all over the
world. Countries in Africa have been identified as a source, transit and final destination
for trafficked victims.
According to the ILOs report on trafficking, Africa has been reported as having the
highest percentage of child workers in the world. The statistics reveal that 80 million or
41% of African children works.26 These children are usually between the ages of five and
fourteen and the largest percentage of these child workers are the female children who are
usually engaged as domestic workers. This is so because in Africa, there has been the age
long traditional practice of placement. Placement is a term used for when a child is
being placed or sent to a home to perform light housework in exchange for a monthly fee,
educational or training opportunities. The children sent out to render these domestic
services are usually from very poor families in urban areas and they are usually sent to
families in the rural centres. But unfortunately, these practices have been exploited by
many traffickers today and these children are being trafficked out of the country or are
being forced into prostitution and in most cases the terms agreed upon are never met.
There are various forms of labour which the trafficked victims made to engage in and
they include:
Trafficking for Prostitution: In this case, the trafficked persons are forced to engage in
sex trade. They are placed in brothels, private homes, tourist establishment and street
corners where they offer sexual activities for money. Women and female children are
more vulnerable to this for of exploitation and this usually occurs in big cities and rich
countries all over the world. (Site cases in under all subs)
Trafficking for Domestic Labour: the victims in this situation are being sent into homes
where they are to work as maids and domestic servants for a fee. The victims are usually
placed in these homes by agents and third parties. But due to the high increase in rural
urban migration, poor families in the rural areas often send their children into the urban
areas to search for jobs in the big cities to help the family back home. These victims are
most usually abused by their employers both physically and sexually and are also made to
work for really longs hours and in intolerable conditions too.

25
The Observer Magazine, 2004. Streets of Despair. Guardian Unlimited. Guardian News and Media
Limited. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1316649,00.html.
26
ILO, UNICEF, 1998. Who Works Where? U,ICEF- Beyond Child Labour and Child Labour in Africa:
Targeting the Intolerable. Geneva.

Trafficking for Agricultural Labour: in this case the victims, who in this situation are
usually male, are being forced to work in farms and plantations for very long hours and
really low wages. In many situations, they are made to live in the farms and plantations
where they work and are not properly fed and taken care of medically too. They are also
abused and treated harshly by their employers.
Trafficking for the Purpose of Alms Begging and Exploitation for Material Gains: this
occurs when religious practices are exploited for material gains. In Senegal and the
Islamic states in Nigeria for instance, it has been a long and legitimate practice that
parents often send their children to religious schools to learn the Koran when they are
between the ages of 5 and 18 year old. But most of the teachers however exploit these
practices by forcing the students into the streets to beg and the money gotten from
begging is collected by the teachers.
These children are exposed to a lot of risk and dangers while out there on the streets
begging and many of them have lost their lives in the process while others affected in
other ways by this.
Trafficking for Voodoo Sacrifices and Spiritual Activities: this involves the trafficking
of people to be used for voodoo and spiritual practices. This is a trend that is very
common in Africa. Many people have been abducted from their homes or on the streets
just to be killed and their organs and body parts taken for spiritual rituals. Many people in
Africa believe that the use of human body parts in rituals can bring riches and prosperity
into their lives, so this is a trend that is as hunting as it is dehumanizing but it is the risk
that people have to live with everyday in most parts of Africa today.
West Africa is considered one of the highest sourcing regions for victims of trafficking
and the government and the international communities are raising awareness to the
problem of trafficking in the region. Reports have stated that in Nigeria, about 40% of the
street children and hawkers are victims of trafficking. Another ILO/UNICEF report
released in 2002 reveals that an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are being
trafficked each year within the West and Central African sub- region alone and are
engaged in forced labour and sexual exploitation.
A breakdown of these figure shows that an estimated ten thousand to fifteen thousand
children work on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast, three thousand Beninese children
were trafficked into Ivory Coast between 1995 and 1999. The report also reveals that
over 8 million Nigerian children are enduring the worst forms of child labour.27 These
children are made to serve as beggars who at the end of the day have to hand over all the
money gotten to their boss, or as domestic servants who in most cases end up being
raped, beaten, abused and even physically disfigured. The children are also made to work
as prostitutes, hawkers and agricultural labourers.
UNICEF estimates 25,000 foreign children are presently working in the markets and
farms in Gabon from which almost half of them are likely to be trafficking victims. The
27

UNICEF, 2001. Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa.

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says thousands of Ethiopian girls are
trafficked into the Middle East, particularly into Lebanon to work as domestic servants,
but these girls are in most cases abused and subjected to physical and sexual abuses by
their employers.28 Reports from Somalia reveal that approximately 250 Somali teenagers
and children, some as young as two or three years old are found abandoned by traffickers
who have taken money from the parents of these children in order to place them in
homes where they can exchange domestic services for training, education or a fee.29
In Nigeria and most countries world wide, the most notorious purpose of trafficking is for
prostitution and this can occur within or outside the nations boundaries but the most
profitable are those that occur outside the nations boundaries, that is known as
international trafficking. As earlier stated, the trafficked victims are usually sent to other
countries outside the African continents where they are being made to work as
prostitutes. The most popular destinations for internationally trafficked victims gotten
from Africa as a whole but most especially from Nigeria are the European countries.
Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and Greece are just a few of the most popular destinations
for these victims.
Apart from prostitution, these internationally trafficked victims also find that they could
also be forced to engage in other chores such as

Domestic Work/Child Minding,

Farm/ Sweat Shop Labour,
Armed Conflict,
Begging,
Drug Couriers,
Armed Robbery,
Gangsters,
Street hawking,
Mining etc.

For the intra nationally trafficked victims, this involves the movement of persons from
one place to another mainly within the same country, so it more like a rural-urban
migration. These victims are mainly children and they often find themselves engaged in
things like;

Domestic Work/Child Minding

Labourers
Street Hawking
Begging
Mining

28
Messele, R. 2002. Ethiopia Focus on Trafficking in Women. IRIN, UN Office for the CO-ordination of
Humanitarian Affairs. IOM, Addis Ababa.
29
A Gap in their Hearts: The Experience of Separated Somali Children. IRIN Web Special on Seperated
Somali Children. OCHA Independent, UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2003.

Organs Removal/Spiritual Activities.

Most intra trafficked victims in Nigeria are usually gotten from the South Eastern part of
the country and are trafficked all over the country but mainly to the South West and the
Northern parts of the country. The states most affected by this as the source states in
Nigeria are Cross River State, Akwa Ibom State, Ebonyi State, Benue State, Imo State,
Anambra State, Kwara State, Bayelsa State and Oyo States and they are usually
trafficked into Lagos State, Kaduna State, Abuja (Federal Capital Territory), Rivers State,
Kano State and Ibadan.
For the main source for internationally trafficked victims, the victims are mainly from
Edo State, Bayelsa State, Cross River State, Rivers State, Kwara State, Delta State, Kano
State and Kaduna State and their main destinations are Italy, Spain, Gabon, Saudi Arabia,
Burkina Faso, Togo, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Niger Republic, Mali, Libya, United
Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium, Republic of Benin and South Africa.30
In Benin Republic as world wide, children are the most vulnerable to trafficking.
Children below the age of 15 are said constitute about 50% of the population in that
country and over 400,000 of them work. Out of these 400,000 working children, 20% of
them between the ages of 6 and 14 do not live with their biological parents and many are
even sent out to neighbouring countries like Nigeria to work.
In Burkina Faso, the case is also the same with that of Benin Republic, the main victims
of trafficking in this country are the children too. Those trafficked within the country are
usually forced into domestic and agricultural labour and those trafficked out of the
country usually find themselves in countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Germany and
Ivory Coast.
Burkina Faso is also a transit country for trafficked victims; this is so because of its
geographical location within the continent, so apart from it being a source country, it also
receives victims from different parts of the continent.
Another destination, transit and origin country is Cote DIvoire (Ivory Coast). It has very
porous borders and also it has a growing/more stable economy when compared with other
African nations. These have made it an attractive country for traffickers. The traffickers
send in their victims into the country where they are exploited.
A study estimated that over 15,000 children are trafficked into the cocoa plantations in
the country yearly. The study also reveals that over 0.5 million children under 18 years of
age work on the cocoa plantations. Some work occasionally during harvesting season
while some work full time on these cocoa plantations, those children that work
occasionally on the plantations are usually relatives of the owner of the plantation while

30

Nwogu, V. 2005. Trafficking in Persons to Europe: The Perspective of ,igeria as a Sending Country. A
Paper Presented at the ASI & OIKOS Conference on Trafficking and Migration: A Human Rights
Approach. Lisbon-Portugal.

the rest are usually from other neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali,
while many of the other children are not certain of where they are from.31
Niger is known to be both a transit and destination country for trafficked victims. It is one
of the largest and poorest countries in Africa. In a report presented by Iiguilas Weila from
the Organisation against Slave Trade, it was stated that Niger is a triangle of shame and
that there are 5 nomad groups with a total population of about 50,000 people who traffic
people. Weila stated that the traditional chiefs in these regions keep young girls between
the ages of 12 and 16 as slaves who at the end of the day are being sold to the highest
bidder. Men from the neighbouring countries like Nigeria come to the triangle of shame
to marry these women and they are kept as mistresses or concubines and are not given the
same rights as the other wives. In most cases, these women are treated like slaves in the
homes of their masters and husbands.

31

Koukoui, D. 2003. ,AHTIWA: Country Reports: Cote DIvoire. Network against Human Trafficking in
West Africa. http://nahtiwa.virtualactivism.net/countryreports.htm.

CHAPTER FOUR
CASE STUDY OF TRAFFICKI
G VICTIMS.
I tried to escape from the first floor window but they caught me, they took away my
passport and said that I was illegal and that they could kill me because I didnt exist
herethey said I have to pay the money back and that I was their property, I will be with
them for the rest of my life that Im not human, just something that can be bought. I was
going crazy thinking my father wanted this Sonya32
In this chapter, we look at real life cases from all over the world of victims of trafficking
and child labour, but most of the focus of this work is going to be on the victims used for
sex industries. Most of the names were changed to protect the identity of the victims.
Resources used for this chapter are mainly cases gotten from research done on internet
and a few others from victims in the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication
Foundation (WOTCLEF) rehabilitation centre in Abuja- Nigeria.
The first case is that of a 17 year old Albanian, Majlinda. Majlinda was 17years old when
her life changed forever. According to her story, she was on her way to help her aunty
with the preparation for her cousins wedding when she was stopped by 3 strange men.
She was grabbed, blindfolded, gagged and bundled into the car. Majlinda was then driven
to Corinth in Greece before she was told by her captors that she was there to work. In her
own words, she said, at first I did not know what they were talking about, until they took
me to a flat where there were other women and they told me that I work here now, she
further recalls that when I refused, they said they knew my family and if I made trouble
they would kill them, I thought of the possibilities. I was afraid to stay, I was afraid to
leave, so I started to work- they forced me to, with violence.
Majlinda was beaten and raped into submission by her traffickers, she was confined to a
flat and forced to entertain as many as 20 clients per night just to meet the monetary
quota of about 1000euros per night. She said that there were good clients and bad
clients, the good clients were those that who only wanted sex from her and the bad
clients were those who not only had intercourse with her but also beat her and stole her
money thereby forcing her to work even more to be able to meet the days quota to avoid
being beaten and abused by her captives. Majlinda was sold for an untold amount to
another chain of traffickers in Italy and so she was moved to Florence-Italy and after a
year in Italy, she was moved to Amsterdam- The Netherlands where she was made to
work in the red-light districts till she met another good client from Afghanistan. He
persuaded her to run away with him promising to care for her and hide her from her
previous captors but unfortunately, after she became pregnant by him, she found out that
all he wanted from her was to get her to work for him as a prostitute. Being pregnant,
abused and forced to work as a prostitute, she lost all hope till she meet an Afghan lady
who came to visit her husband (as she refers to the Afghan man) and she told her story to
32

Jan Smith, 2004. They Said I Wasnt Human but Something That Can Be Bought. An Article in Times
Online. October 14, 2004. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-1307679,00.html.

the lady who in turn told her about a group of catholic nuns in Utrecht who helped ladies
in situations like Majlindas. After the birth of her baby, she went to the nuns in Utrecht
who helped her register her baby and got her tickets back to Albania. She then contacted
her family in Albania but they refused to see her or take her baby in, she said that her
family told her that so far as we are concerned, you are dead because they were
ashamed of her for all she has been through especially having a child out of wedlock.
Majlinda then took refuge in a shelter at Albanias capital, Tirana and was forced to leave
her child at the shelter as she could not mange with the baby on her own and she was also
scared for the safety of her child as she knows that she was being searched for by her
captors.
Majlindas captivity lasted four years and she is now 19 years old. The complete story
about Majlindas captivity can be found in the Observer Magazines article, Street of
Despair.
Another victim of trafficking is Onome. Onome is from Edo State of Nigeria. She was 18
years old at the time of her captivity. Onome is the first child from a family of seven, her
parents are very poor and could hardly afford 3 meals per day not to talk of education for
their children. She managed to get a vocational training as a hair dresser and was lucky to
find a job as a hair dresser in a local salon in her community. The pay was extremely low
and even with that income, she could not do much to up lift the plight of her family. One
afternoon she ran into an old friend with whom she discussed her situation and hopes for
a better job in other to help her family and she was then informed of another friend who
was looking for hair dressers for his sisters salon in Italy. Onome immediately contacted
the other friend who then agreed to help Onome for old time sake.
Happy with the prospect of a better life for her family and herself, she immediately quit
her job in the local salon and sold all her valuable to enable her to raise the required fee
of about 1000euros for her ticket to Italy and also to procure a passport. The guys said
that his sister who owned the salon in Italy would cover the cost for the visa and her
accommodation and other little things when she got to Italy till she could manage on her
own and pay back the cost of everything spent and as such, Onome had to sign the blood
pact at a herbalist/ voodoo specialist to hold her to her oath.
Onome then left for Italy with the hopes of working as a hair dresser but on getting there,
her travel documents were seized and she was then told that she had to work as a
prostitute for her madam as she owed her some outrageous amount that her madam had
spent on her travel documents as well as pay for her house rent and other utility bills, she
also later found out that she was even to pay rent for the place on the street where she had
to stand and get clients and also for the corners she used when she had clients to service.
At the end of the day, she found out that she was hugely in debt to her madam and after
being beaten, gang raped and starved, she had no other choice than to give in. Onome
recalled how she was made to work in harsh conditions for long hours every night and
how she was tortured whenever she was indisposed to work due to her monthly flow.

She was finally rescued when one night after she was beaten, robbed and raped by a
client and was even hit by his car where she broke the bone on her leg, the ambulance
was called and Onome was finally deported back to Nigeria where she is staying at the
WOTCLEF rehabilitation institute. Onome says she is still scared for her life as she
knows that her madam who is a very powerful woman with lots of connection is still after
her. She is also scared for her family as she thinks that they might be in danger as a result
of her escape.
The third case is the case of 19 years old Lillian from Ekpoma in Edo State of Nigeria.
Lilian is also the first of six children and was supposed to be preparing for her final
exams in high school but she was forced to abandon because of lack of funds as her
family could no longer afford to pay for her. Lillian unlike Onome was very fortunate
that she was rescued before she eventually made it to Italy.
Lillian said her parents were talked into letting her travel to Italy to work as a nanny by
her Aunty who in turn said that her bosss wife in the office where she works had hinted
her that her daughter who stays in Italy recently had a baby and had asked her to try and
get a nanny for her to help with the baby, so she went to Lillians mother and asked her to
let Lillian go to Italy to work as a nanny. Lillian further revealed that she was then taken
by her Aunty and her Aunty bosss wife to a priestess shrine where she was asked to take
off her cloths and was tied with a red piece of cloth and then taken to the front of the
shrine. Lillian said that the priestess then started chanting and asked Lillian to repeat
what she said after her as her oath, she was then asked to cut her fingers and feet nails
and also shave her pubic and armpit hair and give to her (priestess), Lillian had to write
out her name and surname and give all of these items to the priestess. In return, the
priestess gave Lillian a necklace and told her that she was going to Italy and that the
necklace was to protect her from getting caught and deported back to Nigeria both on her
way to Italy or while in Italy.
According to Lillian, on the day she finally left her family to begin her journey to Italy,
she was handed over to a Ghanaian in Lagos and she was joined with two other girls and
a boy before they all proceeded to Ghana, she said she was told to say she was a
Ghanaian when she was approached by the immigration officials in Ghana. Fortunately
for Lillian, the officials asked her to speak the Ashanti language which is the national
language in Ghana and she could not, so they were all taken by the officials but
unfortunately their Ghanaian chaperon was later released and the victims sent back to
Nigeria to the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related
matters (NAPTIP) where Lillian helped the officials to identify those who were involved
in arranging her going to Italy. Lillian is now reunited with her family and the trafficker
facing the wrath of the law.
The last case used for this work is one with a rather sad ending. This case begins when a
mutilated torso of a small black boy was found floating in the Thames river in London.33
The boys arms, legs and head had all been hacked off and when investigators took up the
33

John Owen. Feb. 2005. London Witchcraft Murder traced to African Child Trade. An Investigative
Report Conducted for National Geographic Channel. National Geographic News.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0210_020510_tv_witchcraft.html.

case, they were shocked to be introduced into the cruel and dangerous world of witchcraft
and human sacrifices.
With no way of identifying the victim as he had no finger and dental records, the
investigators turned to his bones, stomach and intestine for clues. In the investigations, it
was discovered that the boys body had been deliberately drained of blood as it was
discovered that his throat had been slit and in the stomach, bones and intestines revealed
levels of copper, strontium and lead which was two times the amount found in a child
living in England and using these trace minerals as guide, the investigator gradually
narrowed down the boys likely geographic origin to West Africa.
Further investigation and analysis of the content of the boys stomach and intestines
revealed a strange unidentified plant material and also sand-like mineral and a substance
that resembled small clay pellets and also tiny particles of gold. After investigation and
analysis of the plant found in his stomach, the closest match to it was the Calabar bean,
this plant is an obscure but highly toxic type of climbing vine from West Africa and was
used as a poison by most traditionalists. This was a major breakthrough for the
investigators, also their theory that the boy was from the Western region of Africa was
further strengthened when after further investigations, it was found that the bone
samples/chemistry from the victim matched closely with others gotten from the south
western part of Nigeria particularly Benin. These discoveries coupled with the rampant
ritualistic/voodoo killings in Nigeria, it brought a new scoop to the investigation making
people especially Nigerians wonder if this murder had anything to do with human
trafficking for the main purpose of child labour.
Investigators believed that the boy was brought in to the United Kingdom by a child
smuggling ring but not necessarily for child labour but for human sacrifice and though
the actual killers were not found, the investigation which took them to Nigeria too was
also fruitful as they succeeded in breaking up a major trafficking operation in Nigeria
thereby saving many would be trafficked victims.

CHAPTER FIVE
THE EFFECTS OF TRAFFICKI
G O
VICTIMS
I did not want to go work as a prostitute, I started to cry and said I wanted to go back
homethey told me that if I dont work, I will end up dead and buried in sand in the
desert, I got scared and went to work for them Angela34
Unwanted pregnancies, physical disfigurement, addiction to drugs and alcohol, gang
rapes, sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, emotional and physical stress,
depression as well as death are just a few of the many effects trafficking has inflicted on
its victims.
When victims are rescued from this horrible trade there are the tales of inhumane
treatment and torture is always accompanying them. Some of these victims have lost their
lives and others bear wounds and scars that will always remind them of those dark
moments of their lives. Some of these are physical while the other are emotional,
psychological and also health wise, but it is always certain that these victims bear some
sort of scars even for those who have been in the trade for the briefest period of time.
These victims are being subjected to many forms of abuse but one of the most hurtful
occurs not during the period when they were being held in captivity but when they have
been rescued and brought back to be integrated into the everyday society. Most of these
victims then are victimized by the people around them, even their direct families, and
most of them end up committing suicide to put an end to their miseries, some of these
victims who refuses to see death as an option are being forced to live in unimaginable
conditions and some even end up returning back to prostitution just to be able to survive.
This section of this paper is going to look more into a number of ways that trafficking has
affected its victims and it will try to draw attention to the plight of these victims to help
them gain more sympathy to their plights and more acceptances in their societies.

Health-wise- not only is there the risk of unwanted pregnancies, there are also
the risks of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like gonorrhoea, syphilis as
well as HIV/AIDS.

Depression- this can be very dangerous and is most often ignored by many as it
is an emotional problem so many over look it as not being important. But in truth,
depression can be as dangerous and fatal as any other form of sicknesses and it
can lead to the loss of lives of not only the victim but also of other people.

34

Eugen Tomiuc, 2004. Moldova: Young Women from Rural Areas Vulnerable to Human Trafficking. An
Article gotten from Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty. October 6, 2004.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/10/c28fad55-44c3-4fcc-b3dc-73e93e4d8119.html.


Social Exclusion/Isolation- this can be as a result of lack of acceptance

when the victim is trying to reintegrate into the society. With most of these
victims, they most often return with a child in tow and are forced to face the
stigmatization of having a child outside wedlock. Their families and
acquaintances reject them and they are forced to face the ridicules and hardship
all on their own. This can also lead to depression and suicide.

Drugs and alcohol addictions- many of these victims are almost always
addicted to one form of drug or alcohol which can be as a result of them trying to
escape from the harsh reality of their lives. As we all know, drugs and alcohol can
have a negative impact on our health and can destroy or lives and minds. In other
words, they can kill us!

Anxiety Attacks- these victims live in constant fear of attacks, arrest, danger,
physical abuse, rejection, deprivation and even death. Even when they have been
rescued and brought back for rehabilitation and integration, they always fear that
these agents are out there looking for them and will not stop till they are dead or
returned back to the trade. This fears and anxiety attacks can result in serious
mental, emotional, psychological and physical stress.

Physical disfiguration- most of these victims have been subjected to a lot of
physical abuses and their bodies bear the scars of these abuses. Some of them
return with broken bones, bruises, infected wounds, burns, missing body parts
such as fingers, toes etc. as well as other untreated or badly treated medical
problems.

Emotional scars- there are no ways to describe these wounds other than
emotional scars because these are the scars that are being imprinted in the
memories and minds of these victims. Though one cannot physically see the scars,
they are manifested in many ways such as nightmares and all of the other forms
mentioned here in this section and it can surely lead to suicide and death.
With these points, we can see the effects trafficking have on not only its victims but also
the society as a whole. One might say that these ailments affects the victims directly and
as such is has nothing to do with them or their everyday lives but if we sit and think about
these, we will see that these victims also make up part of our societies and also have their
roles to play in the growth and sustenance of our world and if they are not fit to carry out
their roles, we are all lacking in that aspects of our lives. So directly or not, human
trafficking affects us too so we should be more tolerant, understanding, caring and
accepting to all these victims. But most of all, we should try to be more aware of this
tragic and unfortunate trade and we should work hard and combine efforts to stopping
and totally eliminating human trafficking in our world today.

THE ECO
OMICAL A
D SOCIAL IMPACT OF TRAFFICKI
G I

AFRICA.
All day long, we were locked up in a house, when we did not get enough clients; they
would beat us up and lock us up till 9pm. When I did not want to work, they kept me
locked up for a week and beat me. I got really scared and I tried to swallow pills to make
them get me out of the house (to a hospital) but they simply sold me to another city
Angela35
Human trafficking not only negatively impacts the lives of the victims but it also impacts
the society negatively too and the number of people vulnerable to fall victim of
trafficking are increasing by the day as the traffickers always seems to be one step ahead
of the authorities in combating this trade.
This trade of humans is also expanding due to the ever increasing number of people
trying to seek a better life outside of their countries due to the high level of poverty in
the societies which is as a result of lack of employment opportunities, access to health
care services, education, housing, food and water to name just the basics. Apart from the
group of people who are in search of a better life outside the countries, there are also the
victims of economic migrants, the political asylum seekers, the displaced persons after
natural disasters or war and civil conflicts, those orphaned and widowed by natural and
man made disasters and of course the political instabilities in most African nations. All of
these factors lead to a crippled and stagnant economic also eventually makes women and
children more vulnerable to trafficking as a result of their desperation.
Human trafficking also negatively impacts the victims and the society as a violation of
human rights. It violates the victims right to life, liberty, security and freedom from all
forms of slavery. Many people loose their lives as a result of trafficking, some are
physically dead but there are also those dead in emotionally, mental, spiritual and
psychological ways. No survivor of trafficking is ever the same again even after
rehabilitation as the inner scars always never completely heal.
Trafficking also leads to an increased number of dangerous crimes in the society. Many
of the victims even after they have been rescued and deported back to their home
countries are faced with the problem of acceptance into their families and communities.
This is a big problem for them as at the end of the day they have nowhere to go to or
whom to rely on for safety and care, so most of them end up returning back to crimes like
robbery, drugs and even prostitution for survival and then the whole circle just keeps on
occurring over and over again.
Human trafficking also destroys the labour market thereby weakening the root of the
economy. Most of the people who fall victims of human trafficking are the youths and
children of the society. When these youths and children are forced into this world of
trafficking, they are not only abused and molested, but are also deprived of education and
35

Eugen Tomiuc, 2004. Ibid.

vocational trainings. As such, when they are rescued, they have no knowledge or skills
necessary to break the circle of poverty and as a result make the conditions ripe for
trafficking. Youths are considered the future of a nation but one wonders what the future
of the nation will be like when its youths are not being trained or skilled for tomorrow.
This is a harsh reality that many have refused to acknowledge, these situations just leave
a very fertile ground for trafficking and crimes to fester and grow there by ruining the
nation even further. Now, many people in African nations are crying for lack of
employment opportunities in the country but no one thinks about the future if our youths
today are taken to other richer nations to become prostitutes or work in other dark and
illicit trades but the nations are being deprived of their future skilled workers who would
contribute to sustaining the nation in the future.
There is also the health risk involved in human trafficking which also negatively affects
the society as well as the individuals. Today, there are great concerns and worries over
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the world; the most dreaded of them all is the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which eventually leads to the Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) as it is spreading fast world over and there is still no cure
for it. The HIV-AID virus is killing people world over and it is commonly spread world
over through sexual intercourse so trafficking victims are greatly exposed to the risk of
contracting and also spreading this diseases than any other group of people. With the
increase of trafficking victims, there is no end in sight of the containment of this dreaded
disease in sight any time soon despite all the awareness campaigns being made on it. This
health risk factor also contributes in the growth and sustenance of trafficking while it
destroys the family units and the economic of the society too. Families are plunged into
poverty and a fight for survival when parents or breed winners of families are affected
and in turn die from HIV-AIDS and the rest of the family are forced to do anything
possible to stay alive, they are then highly vulnerable to fall into the trap of human
trafficking as they are willing to do anything to stay afloat in live.
These factors mentioned above has shown clearly that human trafficking not only
destroys the lives of the victims but it also destroys the society and weakens the potential
of a nation as its bases are being destroyed with the lives of the victims. No one knows
what the future of a person is, maybe one of the lives being destroyed by human
trafficking is the one who would tomorrow reveal the secrets of life or maybe he/she is
the one who would eventually find the cure to HIV-AIDS, cancer or other diseases
plunging us today. Maybe one amongst those lives destroyed by trafficking hold the
secret to peace on earth or harmony between humans and nature as well as our
environment, but here they are being deprived of their opportunities to realise their goals
in life by being forced into this horrific world of trafficking.
Maybe not immediate or directly, but eventually and surely, it is us all as humans that pay
the price of this modern day form of slavery. The question we should all ask ourselves
now is if it is all worth it? If it is worth sentencing ourselves and our future generations to
a live of misery, crime, uncertainty and hardship for few moments of riches? Because
when you look at it, it is we as human beings who pay the ultimate price of this heinous
crime not just the individuals who are forced into this illicit trade.

CHAPTER SIX
LEGAL A
D SOCIAL MEASURES I
PLACE TO COMBATI
G
TRAFFICKI
G I
AFRICA.
My boss paid a thousand euros for me. It was just like buying a t-shirt, look it over
and if you like it, you buy itI had to work every night, the clients paid my boss 30 euros
for an hour with me or 128 euros for a whole night,I had as many as 15 customers
Elena36
With the recent world wide focus on trafficking, many nations world over has measures
in place to combating this trend of modern day form of slavery- human trafficking. This
does not necessarily mean that it has been very successful but it is first important to
acknowledge the fact that these laws do exist and we will further look at what these laws
are and how effectively they have been implemented and the weak points or loop holes
that are in these laws. This chapter concentrates mainly on measures (legal and social) as
used in most African nations especially Nigeria to combating trafficking. The African
continent as we know is not only a source continent but also a transit as well as a
destination continent for most of the victims of trafficking. In Africa, not only are these
victims trafficked for prostitution and sexual purposes, they are also trafficked for use in
spiritual rituals as well as for forced labour.
Human trafficking is one of the many problems facing the government today in Nigeria,
it is a trend that at first was unknown, then acknowledged but ignored but now that
situation is changing as the current dispensation is doing all it can to disrupt and
eventually stop this very lucrative business of human trafficking. The government is now
approaching human trafficking via prevention, prosecuting of the traffickers, protecting
the rescued victims and also rehabilitating and assisting them to living in the society
again.
Women has always been regarded as 2nd class citizens in Nigeria, by this I mean that
they are some duties or functions that a woman has never been given the opportunity to
execute and she is always seen as a subject to her family and husband. Her family and
husband determine who she is, what she is allowed to be/do and she is almost always
answerable to them. Though with recent times, especially at the turn of the century, this
situation has changed dramatically, though there are still very obvious traces of this sort
of behaviour in the society. As a result of this, problems such as trafficking, rape and
child labour which directly affects women and children where mostly ignored and swept
under the carpet.
With each new dispensation comes a new pet-project for the wives of the
administrators but the one which has really focused and drawn attention to the problems
36

Nidzara Ahmetasevic, 2003. Bosnia: Sex Slave Recounts he Ordeal. A Report under the Bosnia Crises
Report published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. March 18, 2003.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=157851&apc_state=henibcr2003#.

of human trafficking and child labour in the society is that of the wife of the current vice
president of Nigeria, Hajia Mrs. Amina Titi Abubakar, she named it Women Trafficking
and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF). WOTCLEF which has the
motto, restoring human dignity was founded in 1999 by Hajia Amina Titi Abubakar
and its main aim is to draw attention to and create awareness to the abuse of the rights of
women and children in the society. WOTCLEF focuses mainly not only on human
trafficking and child labour but also on violent domestic abuses on women and children,
youth, child and community development as well as integrated health and education
focusing on HIV/AIDS.
Since it inception, The Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation
(WOTCLEF) has worked tirelessly to achieving its objectives, with some of its
objectives, the foundation has recorded success but with the others, not much has been
changed, but in the overall, it has succeeded in creating massive public awareness to the
issues of human trafficking that was looming the shadows of the society. Awareness
creation is not the only objective of the foundation where it has had a positive impact but
also in the area of rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims into the community.
WOTCLEF has also recorded success in the areas of the establishment of WOTCLEF
rehabilitation and special purpose centre in Abuja Nigeria and also working with
concerned and relevant parties for the enactment and enforcement of appropriate
legislations against trafficking, child labour and violent abuses of the rights of women
and children.
In 2003, WOTCLEF got its main breakthrough when the government passed and put into
effect the anti-trafficking law to help the fight against trafficking in the country. These
laws are the first real serious response the government has ever given to fighting human
trafficking in Nigeria. And in November 2004, a court in Nigeria handed down its first
conviction under the 2003 anti-trafficking law. The court convicted and sentenced a
female trafficker of trying to traffic girls out of Nigeria to Spain, she was sentenced to 3
years imprisonment.
According to the law, exportation and importation of persons from and into Nigeria is a
crime punishable by life imprisonment, another clause states that confining or detaining
another person in any place against the persons will is a crime that has a five years
imprisonment term or a fine of N100,000 ($800) or both. As we can see, these antitrafficking laws also go soft on the perpetrators of the crime in some ways. But these
laws are the strictest that Nigeria has ever had when it comes to trafficking and other
related crimes. It is little wonder why these crimes have continued in our societies today.
These laws and the Nigerian government have come under criticism by many internal and
international bodies stating that the Nigerian government is not doing enough to fight
human trafficking given the fact that it is still a big problem in the country today. The
immigration office as well as the special units in place to fight human trafficking are
infested with corruption, there are even reports of these officials aiding and protecting
these traffickers, some investigations were carried out on such officers but no arrests
were ever made and with those traffickers that were investigated and even arrested, some

of them were/are sometimes never brought to court and the suspects are let off the hook
with no punishments at all.
In addition to all of these, it is also important to commend the government on their efforts
to combating trafficking in Nigeria, even though not very successful at this point but it is
a step in the positive direction to combating trafficking. Nigeria was also one of the first
African nations to sign the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised
Crime, the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by
Land, Sea and Air.37
Nigeria has signed various multilateral agreements as well as Memorandums of
Understanding (MoU) with Italy and Spain that covers trafficking related issues. At the
state level, some anti trafficking laws have also been passed in some states. Edo State
which is one of the states which is highly affected with the issues of human trafficking in
Nigeria introduced in 2000 a law that amended some sections of the Edo State Criminal
Code which criminalises prostitution and hopes that through these laws, the state might
be able to reduce and eventually eradicate human trafficking.
Nigeria and the African nations are not alone in their fight against human trafficking as
they are just a little part in the whole circle of human trafficking. This is now imperative
to mention that there are also other international legislations to help combat trafficking.
Some of which are listed below.
 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Other. 25 July 1951 in accordance with
Article 24. It states that The parties to the present Convention agree to punish
any person who, to gratify the passions of another: (1) Procures, entices or leads
away, for purpose of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that
person; (2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even wit the consent of
that person. (For further reads, see http://www.hri.ca/uninfo/treaties/33.shtml).38
 Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. This was
proclaimed by the General Assembly Resolution 2263 (XXII) of November 7,
1967. Article 8 of this resolution states that All appropriate measures, including
legislation, shall be taken to combat all forms of traffic in women and
exploitation of prostitution of women. (Further reads
http://www.hri.ca/uninfo/treaties/33.shtml).
 The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC 1989).Entered into force 2
September 1990, Article 35 states that, State Parties shall take all appropriate

37

,igeria-Fact finding document. 13-25 March 2006. Landinfo-May2006.

http://www.landinfo.no/asset/224/1/224_1.pdf
38
UN Document Series Symbol: ST/HR/ UN Issuing Body. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic
on Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. http://www.hri.ca/uninfo/treaties/33.shtml.

national, bilateral, and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction, sale of or

traffic in children for any purpose or in any form. 39
 The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
especially Women and Children (Supplementing the U
Convention against
Transnational Organised Crime). General Assembly Resolution 54/129 of
November 15, 2000. The protocols definition of trafficking provides useful
guidance for law reform and criminalisation of trafficking of trafficking and
urges state to take measures to combat and prevent incidents of trafficking. (See
http://www.uncjin.org/Documents/Conventions/dcatoc/final_documents_2/conve
ntion_%20traff_eng.pdf).
 The African Charter on Human and People Right and The Protocol on the
Rights of Women in Africa. Adopted in 1981 and entered into force in 1986. It
states that State parties shall adopt all measures to prohibit any exploitation and
degradation of women. It also urges State parties to protect girls and women
against rape and all the other forms of violence, including trafficking of girls and
women. (See, http://www.equalitynow.org/english/campaigns/africanprotocol/african-protocol_en.html).
 The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Entered into
force November 29, 1999. Article XXIX (a) commits all state signatories to take
appropriate measures to prevent the abduction, sales, and traffic in children for
any purpose in any form, by any person including parents or legal guardians of
the child. (See, http://www.africaunion.org/official_documents/Treaties_%20Conventions_%20Protocols/A.%20C
.%20ON%20THE%20RIGHT%20AND%20WELF%20OF%20CHILD.pdf).
 Law on Immigration, Italy (Article 18). Entered into force July 25, 1998. This
article gives an overview of the problem of trafficking for prostitution in Italy. It
allows for the provision of a residence permit for victims of trafficking in human
beings based on the grounds of social protection. Under this law, trafficked
persons can get a special residence permit when they are in danger as a result of
their attempts to escape from the traffickers. The victims are supported by
NGOs, law enforcement officials and local authorities. It is important to note
that just reporting the crime to the police does not fall under this law to be
implemented for you. (See,
http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=178&lid=1427).
With these few legislations mentioned here, we can see that the governments world over
are indeed working hard to combating human trafficking in our societies.

39

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1997-2003. Convention on the
Rights of the Child. Geneva, Switzerland.

CHAPTER SEVE

SUGGESTIO
S TO HELP COMBAT TRAFFICKI
G I
AFRICA.
When I arrived, we went into a small city in Israel where they showed me around,
introducing me to many people but speaking in Hebrew so I could not understandthey
told me that they were people who might hire meI refused to work, they would not feed
me, they beat me across my kidneys so it would not hurt my appearance. Olga40
Human Trafficking has proven to be very difficult to combat despite all the efforts made
by the government. Though with no obvious solution in sight, it is important not to give
up the fight against human trafficking.
As mentioned in this work especially in the previous section, we will see that there are
indeed quite a number of legal measures such as legislation and laws that have been put
in place to help combat trafficking but there are still a lot of loopholes in the laws. For
instance, the punishments for the trafficker are a bit too mild for this degree of crime.
Also the measures put in place to help the victims who have been rescued are not
sufficient to make them be well integrated into the societies. It is based on these points
that I make the following suggestions.
According to the Nigerian Anti Trafficking Act of 2003, if a person is convicted of
confining or detaining a person in any place against his/her will, then the person get
either a 5 year prison sentence or a fine of a hundred thousand naira (N100,000.00) or
both. This is an equivalent of about Eight hundred dollars (800USD). With a sentence
like this, it is no wonder why the problem of trafficking never goes away. Further, the act
states that for persons convicted abroad (outside the borders of Nigeria) for offences
relating to trafficking in persons they will get an imprisonment not exceeding 2 years and
they get to forfeit their assets to the federal government. So that means that if a person
traffics people into another country where he is legally resident and he is convicted of the
crime of trafficking, he can ask to serve his sentence in Nigeria where regardless of the
fact that he has destroyed peoples lives by trafficking them for all sort of selfish gains, he
gets a maximal sentence of 2 years and that is it.
Yes, it is clear that no matter what the punishments are for trafficking, it will never be
enough to restore the lost or destroyed lives of these victims, but I will advocate for a
stiffer punishment for these horrendous crimes. If the laws are stricter, it will definitely
go a long way to reducing the crime but when traffickers know that when/if ever they are
caught, they can get away easily with their crime.
There is also the problem of corruption in the society, we have heard of cases where the
traffickers are caught but are never brought to face trials, these are cases that just
eventually disappear and the criminals walking free and living large and one wonders
40

The Story of Olga is extracted from Testimonies from Human Trafficking.com.

http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/features ht3/Testimonies/testimonies mainframe.htm.

how come? This is all due to the degree of corruption in the society and also with the law
enforcement. My suggestion here is that, not only should those bad eggs within the law
enforcement be fished out and punished but as soon as there is any person be brought in
or suspected for trafficking, it should be treated with urgency and the government and
NGOs should be allowed to play significant roles to make sure that the persons are
convicted of their crimes if found guilty. On this point, I will also make the suggestion
that the law enforcement agents be given all the support they need to dissuade them from
the gifts offered by these traffickers, by this I mean, good salaries, good benefits,
rewards for service or for heroic acts that leads to the capture and conviction of these
criminals as well as a very stiff punishments for those law enforcement agents who may
be caught receiving bribe from the traffickers with the aim of abating their crimes.
The Customs and Immigration officials should be more equipped with materials and also
better trained in ways to stop trafficking especially within the land borders. There have
been cases where the traffickers have attacked the law enforcement officers at the borders
with heavy and sophisticated weapons when they where stopped. Many officials have lost
their lives in these confrontations all because they are either outnumbered or poorly
equipped to defend themselves.
The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's) which are involved in the rescue and
rehabilitation of the trafficked victims should be well funded and supported by the
government to make their work more thorough and effective. They should be provided
with specialists such as doctors, psychologists, therapists and lawyers to help them work
to save these victims and provide them with the necessary help that they need to get their
lives on track again.
More rehabilitation centres and housing should be built to accommodate the victims,
there should be given vocational training and education to help them build up their lives
in the society and also at the end of the therapy, they should be given grants to help them
get started in whatever trade they have learnt. This will even benefit the whole society as
a whole as more jobs are being created and through this, as many people became aware
of this problem in our society and they will learn to be more accepting to these victims as
well as fight to reduce the crime.
Most importantly, there should be more public awareness on the issue of trafficking and
child labour in our society. There should be media campaigns, conferences, seminars,
talks etc. to help educate the citizens more on trafficking and ways that they can avoid
being victims or who they should contact when they know someone who made be
involved in the crime. There should be a promotion for the rights and protection of the
dignity of women, the female child should be given more chances to realising her
potentials than there is now. She should be given equal right to education as her male
counterpart, she should be encouraged in whatever field she will want to pursue and not
discouraged by being told that it is a field for men only, she should be accepted and
judged on what she has to offer and not on her gender.

Finally and most importantly, people should be made aware of the tricks and means used
by traffickers to lure victims into trafficking and everyday citizens should be rewarded
for efforts made to the capture and conviction of traffickers in the society.
These suggestions by no means cover all possible areas to help fight trafficking but if
implemented, it will go a long way to helping in the fight against trafficking and saving
someone from being destroyed. We all as citizens of the world have our part to play in
this fight, imagine what difference it will make if we all decide to act responsible and
stop helping the growth of this crime by not patronising brothels and places where we see
that these people are treated cruelly? We can all make a difference if we start with
ourselves.

CO
CLUSIO

I saw 15-20 customers a day and the brothel owner gave me drugs so that I would
work. I began to feel crazy and sick, so he gave me some kind of pills which he told me
were for headaches. I later found out that it was Ecstasy..., after three weeks, I was
dependent on the pills and asked for it everyday Olga41
Human trafficking as we have seen is one of the most dehumanizing and cruellest
treatments that anyone can give to another and it is an issue that has been with us for a
very long time and even though it seems at this point that we are not making a lot of
progress to putting an end to this ugly trend, we should by no means give up hope but
instead we should continue to fight to conquer it.
Looking at the causes and effect of human trafficking, it is only imperative for one to say
that we must put an end to it by all means possible and one of the main ways is through
sensitization which brings about knowledge.
Knowledge as we know is power and it is indeed the best tool we can use to combat
trafficking. Through the various suggestions that have been made to help reduce and
eventually eradicate trafficking we will see that sensitization of the masses plays a very
big role. If the people are well informed of this problem and are well educated as how to
deal with the situation, we will indeed make a giant step into the right direction.
In this work, focus has been drawn to the causes, ills and effects of trafficking not just in
regards to the persons directly affected but also to the masses at large but not only to
highlight the negatives, this work also points to possible ways to reduce and eventually
put an end to this trend. Highlights were also drawn to the legislations and laws already
in place as regards to human trafficking and though they are commendable, they are
obviously too lenient these crimes against humanity. Stiffer laws should be passed and it
should be seen to that they are being carried out to grant justices to these victims.
Finally, we know that there is absolutely nothing we can do to take away the pain that the
victims have had to go through but we can indeed do something to help them heal. We
can accept and assist them in anyway we can, we can encourage them to put their pains
and fear aside and build a future for themselves and we should always remember to be
our brothers keeper.

41

The story of Olga. Ibid.

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