SITUATION OF CHILD TRAFFICKING (Edwin Mumba, Child Protection Officer UNICEF)

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1 SITUATION OF CHILD TRAFFICKING (Edwin Mumba, Child Protection Officer UNICEF) Human trafficking is "a despicable activity, a disgrace for our societies, which describe themselves as civilized. (Pope Francis 24 th May, 2013) ZAMBIA S FIRST KNOWN CASE OF CHILD TRAFFIKING IN 1998 GLOBAL PROSPECTIVE Having accurate information worldwide on trafficking has never been an easy task. Various studies have been conducted by various organizations and slightly different figures have been flagged It is very difficult to arrive at accurate figures about human trafficking for the following limitations: o The clandestine nature of the activity means that it is difficult to know the extent o political emphasis; o the comprehensiveness of various national legal definitions of human trafficking and child trafficking; o the non-recognition of different forms of exploitation; o the availability and quality of official statistics and reporting; o the availability and quality of national structures for victim identification, referral, assistance and repatriation; o Confusion between trafficking in persons and other forms of irregular migration o Many people are not aware that there is a term for trafficking in persons and therefore do not recognize it when they see or hear about it. o Many victims do not report that they have been trafficked or necessarily consider that they are victims of a crime. STATISTICS The UN estimates that trafficking is a $31.6 billion annual industry, of which an estimated $1.5 billion is generated in the North Africa and Middle East region.

2 Human trafficking has surpassed the illegal sale of arms Trafficking will surpass the illegal sale of drugs in the next few years Drugs are used once and they are gone. Victims of child trafficking can be used and abused over and over GLOBAL PICTIRE OF CHILD TRAFFICKING The UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) Report of 2012 Trafficking in persons is a global crime affecting nearly all countries in every region of the world. Between 2007 and 2010, victims of 136 different nationalities were detected in 118 countries across the world, and most countries were affected by several trafficking flows. About 460 distinct trafficking flows around the world were identified during the reporting period. TRAFFICKING FLOWS Most of the trafficking flows are intraregional (i.e. trafficking within a region), With almost half of detected victims being trafficked from a country in the same region as the country of destination. Nearly one fourth of victims were trafficked between regions, and some 27 per cent of victims were trafficked domestically (i.e. within their country of origin). According to U.S. government estimates, 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. Other international organizations estimate that 27 million adults and children are in trafficking situations at any given time. When internal trafficking victims are added to the estimates, the number of victims annually is in the range of 2 to 4 million There are 20.9 Million victims of Trafficking World wide as of 2012 FORMS OF EXPLOITATION IN TRAFFICKING From region to region, there are significant differences in the gender/age profile of detected victims. While European and Central Asian countries report that 16 per cent of detected victims are children, in Africa and the Middle East approximately 68 per cent were children.

3 Women account for per cent of all trafficking victims detected globally; women and girls together account for about 75 per cent. Twenty-seven per cent of all victims detected globally are children. Of every three child victims, two are girls and one is a boy. This shows an increment from 20% to 27% in a span of 3 years COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN, AS MEASURED BY THE EXTENT OF REPORTING OF TRAFFICKING PERCENTAGE OF SOURCES REPORTING THE AFRICAN REGION AS AN ORIGIN, TRANSIT OR DESTINATION FOR TRAFFICKING VICTIMS Origin Transit Destination 92% 41% 44% However, this trend was not homogenous at the global level. Many countries reported a marked increase in the share of detected cases of child trafficking between 2003 and 2010, whereas others reported no increase or a decrease in cases.

4 Among the child victims, there were more detected cases of trafficking of girls than of boys: two of every three trafficked children were girls. In Europe, children are mainly trafficked from east to west, reflecting the demand for cheap labour and child prostitution. Some two thirds of the victims detected in Africa and the Middle East were children. Almost half of the victims were exploited in forced labour, and 36 per cent of victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation. Other forms of trafficking, including for use as child soldiers, for rituals and for other purposes, accounted for 14 per cent of cases in the region. In West and Central Africa the most common form of trafficking is an extension of a traditional practice - often a survival strategy - whereby children are 'placed' in marginal positions within other families. Increasingly this practice is being used to exploit children's labour, both within and outside the home. Children are also trafficked into plantations and mines, while in those countries affected by conflict they can be directly abducted by militias Trafficked children are subjected to: Prostitution, Forced into marriage or illegally adopted; They provide cheap or unpaid labour, Work as house servants or beggars, are recruited into armed groups and are used for sports Trafficking exposes children to violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection and violates their rights to be protected, grow up in a family environment and have access to education. TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN FOR COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN AFRICA

5 ZAMBIAN SCENARIO As other countries challenge of quantitative information Most Research has been on the qualitative side 2005: Congolese woman trafficking 14 children but no legislation then to prosecute her ACCORDING TO THE 2012 TIP REPORT Most trafficking occurred within the country s borders and involved women and children from rural areas exploited in cities in domestic servitude or other types of forced labor in the agriculture, textile, and construction sectors, as well as in small businesses such as bakeries; Children are also brought from villages and made to serve as guides for groups of blind beggars. While orphans and street children are the most vulnerable, children of affluent village families are also vulnerable to trafficking, because sending children to the city for work is perceived to confer status. Zambian trafficking victims have been identified in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Namibia; Zambian boys are taken to Zimbabwe for prostitution. There are also reports of Chinese, Indian, and Lebanese nationals in forced labor in textile factories and bakeries Zambian boys and girls are recruited into prostitution by women who formerly engaged in prostitution. Children/Teenagers are being recruited to South Africa ostensibly as hair dressers, scout movement The recent case of MCDMCH of boys from 6 miles in Lusaka TYPES OF EXPLOITATION THAT CHILDREN UNDERGO (ILO STUDY) Children are most frequently trafficked in order to satisfy a demand for cheap labour. The most common employment cited by children involved in the research were: domestic labour, agriculture, fishing, working in shops (particularly in DR Congo) and ferrying goods for shop owners There is no one characteristic (such as poverty or lack of education) that marks a child as being more likely to be trafficked. It depends on the context. In places where children are trafficked for sexual purposes, girls are almost always the main targets for traffickers (though boys are trafficked for sexual purposes as well). In some areas, children from indigenous peoples or minority groups may be most likely to be trafficked. NEEDS OF VoTs Protection and Safety Basic needs such as housing, food & clothing Legal Assistance Advocacy for emotional / moral support Medical care Mental health services / trauma recovery Education Job training/employment

6 WHY CARE ABOUT CHILD TRAFFICKING First as a FBO we believe in the inherent dignity of every human being This is the basis of human rights Every human being has an inviolable dignity which has to be respected Trafficking attacks the fundamental core of who we are as human beings with dignity CHILDREN S RIGHTS Survival Development Protection Participate Trafficking robs children of all these rights as children cannot grow up normally. Right to play, education, protected all are violated in trafficking UN RESPONSE TO TRAFFICKING Due to increasing cases of trafficking the UN came up with the following initiatives Mooted the UNJPHT (IOM, UNICEF, ILO) Activities conducted [Social mobilization, sensitize labor organizations, Systems improvements with ZP] Coalition building in 12 districts [Kazungula, Choma, Monze, Kalomo etc] Children s coalitions in the named districts coordination [e.g civil society, FBO, GRZ] specifically on referrals at district level Copperbelt, Northern, Eastern Started the drafting of the National Referral Guidelines or mechanism Conducted Research into domestic work and relation to trafficking Shelter for victims- In Lusaka, YWCA, IOM Not enough STORY OF TRAFFICKING IN EASTERN ZAMBIA The Salvation Army in Malawi is working in partnership with the government Social Services department and a local businessman in the Mchinji community to respond to the huge problem of child trafficking at the Zambia/Malawi border. Children are being trafficked on mass from Malawi to Zambia to work as slaves on tobacco farms, as herd boys and child prostitutes. The children are lured away from their homes with the promise of payment and fair employment, often made to the parents. But there is hope for these vulnerable child victims. The Salvation Army has committed to caring for these children who previously just had to sleep on the floor of the social services office. Now the children will be housed in a safe house and given loving care, trauma counseling and psycho-social support. In addition, education and awareness programmes will be delivered to local communities to help vulnerable people understand the issues of trafficking and how to avoid being lured into a trafficking situation. The children are being cared for in a safe house for children rescued from traffickers.

7 STAGES OF CHILD TRAFFICKING INTERVENTIONS QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS What situations could be described as exploitative for children? How would you describe situations that you would classify as child trafficking in your own area? What opportunities exist for the church to be involved in anti-child trafficking activities?