Human Trafficking in [Ghana Street Children in [Ghana] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Ghana] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Ghana.htm
Ghana is a source,
transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes
of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the
country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and the majority of
victims are children. Both boys and girls are trafficked within Ghana for
forced labor in agriculture and the fishing industry, for street hawking,
forced begging by religious instructors, as porters, and possibly for forced kente weaving. Over 30,000 children are believed to be
working as porters, or Kayaye, in Accra
alone. Annually, the IOM reports numerous deaths of boys trafficked for
hazardous forced labor in the Lake Volta fishing industry. Girls are
trafficked within the country for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation.
To a lesser extent, boys are also trafficked internally for sexual exploitation,
primarily for sex tourism. - |
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CAUTION: The following links have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in *** FEATURED
ARTICLES *** The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/ghana.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Children from Preventing Child Trafficking in Voice of www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/a-13-2007-08-22-voa5.html [accessed 6 February 2011] The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) says child trafficking is rampant in fishing communities
along “They are not being held against
their will, but as a child they have no consent. What happens is that some of
these children have uncles or relatives who come to these poor parents in
fishing area, in the village to take them to go and stay with. When they go
there, they in turn give the children to fishermen and collect some money
from the fisherman, and the children go and work for the fisherman instead of
going to school,” Peasah said. Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, Camera Works: Speak Truth to Power,
The www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/onassignment/truth/st/09.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] Juliana Dogbadzi,
enslaved in a shrine in her native ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/ghana.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There are reports of children being given away, leased, or sold by
their parents to work in various sectors.
Children were also reportedly sold into involuntary servitude for
either labor or sexual exploitation. Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61572.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – From
January to May there were 105 cases of child abduction and 131 cases of child
stealing, according to the DOVVISU. On September 4, the Immigration Service
reported its largest interception of traffickers to date when Kulungugu border officials arrested a woman for
attempting to traffic 17 children, ages 5 to 17, to Trafficking was both internal and
international, with the majority of trafficking in the country involving
children from impoverished rural backgrounds. The most common forms of
internal trafficking involved boys from the Northern Region going to work in
the fishing communities along the Children between the ages of 7 and
17 also were trafficked to and from the neighboring countries of Much of the recruitment of
children was done with the consent of the parents, who sometimes were given
an advance payment or promised regular stipends from the recruiter and were
told the children would receive food, shelter, and often some sort of
training or education. Some parents sent their children to work for extended
family members in urban areas. Treatment of children sent to work in
relatives' homes varied. Many children were given to professional recruiters,
usually women, who placed the children with employers in cities. A child in
these circumstances usually was paid between $2.20 and $3.30 (20 thousand to
30 thousand cedis) per month. In many cases, the
children never received the education or vocational training the recruiters
promised. Girls could be forced into prostitution and were sometimes sexually
abused by their employers. Women also were trafficked to
Western Europe, mostly to Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6 June 1997 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/ghana1997.html [accessed 6 February 2011] [18] The Committee further notes
with concern the inadequacy of existing laws in protecting children who are
"adopted" - a situation which has led to abuses such as
exploitation through domestic labor, particularly of girls. Former Child Slave James Kofi Annon, Bringing Children from Slavery to Salvation Grahame Turner, [accessed 6 February 2011] "Of the six of us who were
trafficked together, three of us are alive," began Kofi
Annon. Work
began at 3 a.m. for the children. The day's work included tending and casting
nets, diving, hauling, and countless other challenging tasks. The day ended
at 8 p.m. Kofi
Annon added, "During that typical day, I'd
have one meal." "When you attempt to escape,
the consequences of that are brutal," Kofi Annon explained. "Chance of being caught was
high." This is because the
slaves could go days without seeing more than one vehicle, often the same
boat used by traffickers. That isn't to say he never tried. After being
caught on one occasion, his captors tied a noose around his neck and dragged
him through the community, making an example to other would-be flight risks. Three Chinese jailed for human trafficking www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=164179 [accessed 6 February 2011] Summing up its judgment, the court
noted that the prosecution had been able to prove its case beyond reasonable
doubt. It held that James and Sam engaged in human trafficking by obtaining
tickets and other travelling documents for the
victims and through deceits, lured them to According to the court the victims
on their arrival had their passports and other travelling
documents confiscated by James who in turn threatened, deceived and exploited
their vulnerability. According to the court proceeds of the sex trade were
used to purchase contraceptives, douches and other materials to facilitate
their trade. It dismissed claims by the convicts that the victims and other
Chinese nationals meet at the restaurants to sing. "During the singing
that was when the men selected the victims for sex," the court noted. It therefore concluded that the
convicts through their intentions induced the victims into sex trade and
declined to give them their travelling documents as
well as proceed from the sex trade. Human trafficking: The faces and sorrow at the heart of a
UN report UN News Centre, 13 February 2009 www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29907&Cr=&Cr1= [accessed 6 February 2011] And Kwame’s
young life embraced a dream when his parents were told he would join a sales
business. Instead, he was trafficked to the infamous fishing region around After eight years of backbreaking
labour and heartbreaking abuse, Kwame was freed by
an anti-slavery group in The Growing Menace Of Child Trafficking newtimesonline.com - The Ghanaian Times, 21 Jun 2008 www.modernghana.com/news/170908/1/the-growing-menace-of-child-trafficking.html [accessed 6 February 2011] The latest report that 390 child
slaves are locked up at Krachi in the Volta Region,
published in this paper yesterday, is indeed disturbing, if not disconcerting. According to our correspondent, these
children are under bondage, labouring for fishermen
on five islands in the vicinity of Kete Krachi in the They have lost all their rights
and freedoms for which reason their survival and development are severely jeopardised. Human trafficking is a national disgrace Stop Trafficking, 2008-04-09 www.antitraf.net/home.php?mode=more&id=18&lang=en [accessed 6 February 2011] In Ghana Police set up anti-human trafficking Unit The Crusading Guide, 30 Oct 2007 www.modernghana.com/news/146313/1/ghana-police-set-up-anti-human-trafficking-unit.html [accessed 6 February 2011] On the welfare of the 17 rescued
girls, ACP Yeboah said that he had liaised-with the
Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs to find a temporary shelter to
accommodate them until further notice. Committee on child labour, trafficking inaugurated mobile.ghanaweb.com/wap/article.php?ID=130307 [accessed 6 February 2011] A 21-member steering committee for
an International Labour Organisation (ILO) project on combating child labour
and trafficking was inaugurated in Dr. Slyvester
Sakyiamah, Executive Director of the Social
Research Associates, said the Kumasi Metropolis had
become the destination for most of the children trafficked from the Upper
West, Upper East, Northern regions and other parts the country. He said the
children were found to be cart pushers, bar-keepers, head porters, hawkers
and domestic servants among other exploitative jobs. Dr. Sakyiamah
said due to the nature of the work they engaged in, the lack of shelter and
better conditions of life, some of them become street children, who were
easily lured into robbery, drug peddling, child prostitution resulting in
socio-economic problems. Preventing Child Trafficking in Voice of www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/a-13-2007-08-22-voa5.html [accessed 6 February 2011] The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) says child trafficking is rampant in fishing communities
along “They are not being held against
their will, but as a child they have no consent. What happens is that some of
these children have uncles or relatives who come to these poor parents in
fishing area, in the village to take them to go and stay with. When they go
there, they in turn give the children to fishermen and collect some money
from the fisherman, and the children go and work for the fisherman instead of
going to school,” Peasah said. Brave policewoman rewarded The Mirror, 7-Jul-2007 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] The report said in December 2005,
one Razak Mohammed asked his wife, Joyce Kruwaa, to allow his stepson, Kwadwo
Kwafo, aged nine, to accompany him to visit his
parents at Kintampo in the Brong
Ahafo Region.
She gave her consent because that had been the usual practice whereby
every December, Mohammed went to his parents for items for the Christmas
celebration. The report said this time
around, instead of going to Kintampo, Mohammed took
the boy to Man jailed 30 years for human trafficking At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] The audience in
the courtroom were stunned when Abebrese,
resident of Brepro Nkwanta
near Bawdie in the Wassa Amenfi East District of the Western Region admitted to
attempting to sell one Joseph Narh, a carpenter of
the same village for ritual purpose. But, Inspector Adzadza
said on June 19, 2007, the complainant received a call from Tekpey who informed him (the complainant) that he lied
when he said he wanted him to assist him secure a kiosk, rather he wanted him
(the complainant) to assist him sell one Narh in
the Sewfi area where a human head could be
exchanged for a KIA vehicle. Trafficking of African women is thriving Francois Tillinac, Agence France-Presse AFP, May 10 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/africa/trafficking-of-african-women-is-thriving-1.352453 [accessed 6 February 2011] In January Italian police smashed
several human trafficking rings involving African and eastern European
females and netted some 800 suspects. Outside Human Trafficking Act is too broad [accessed 20 April 2012] A lawyer has described the Human
Trafficking Act, 2005, as "too broad" and as such raises a number
of concerns that need to be addressed to ensure its effective
enforcement. He said, for instance,
the meaning of trafficking in the Act has been so defined as to make it
ambiguous to determine what is meant by "force",
"deception", "harbouring" or
"exploitation of vulnerability." Qatar recruitment is human trafficking - says Legal Centre Gilbert Boyefio, The Statesman,
24/02/2007 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] After the arrival of the first
batch of Ghanaians to the oil-rich Qatar three months ago, several
disgruntled workers complained of conditions there, resulting in a Government
fact-finding mission to investigate the allegations. Workers claimed that housing and food was
poor, that they had not been paid and that their passports had been taken
from them by their employers. High human trafficking profits increases practice in Ghana www.modernghana.com/news/124311/1/high-human-trafficking-profits-increases-practice-.html [accessed 6 February 2011] High profits from human trafficking,
rated the world’s third illicit business has led to increased number of
children being trafficked and transported from Fighting human trafficking: At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] However, in this era of civilisation and development, Ghanaian children, through
no fault of their own, are still being given out or sold to people, being
deprived of their rights to enjoy life to the fullest. People give out their children to
these fishermen in return for monthly, quarterly or annual compensation. Media urged to sensitize people on child trafficking www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=110995 [accessed 6 February 2011] Mrs Hagan said the estimated
population of children between 5 years and 17 years in Mrs Sylvia Hinson-Ekong,
Executive Director of Rescue Foundation Media urged to educate public on human trafficking www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=110861 accessed 6 February 2011] According to her most parents
ignorantly gave their children out to persons forgetting about the dangers
that they could go through. She said the enactment of the law on human
trafficking was in the right direction but called for more collaboration
between security agencies in combating it. Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=59518 [accessed 6 February 2011] Rejoice says she was 10 years old
when she was sold and taken from her home to an unfamiliar fishing village on
the banks of For the next seven years Rejoice
washed, scrubbed, cooked and cleaned alongside two other girls bought by Human Trafficking Law, Act 694 explained [accessed 6 February 2011] Mrs. Sweetie Sowah,
Western Regional Director of the Legal Aid Board, has said parents who offer
their child for trafficking commit an offence under the Human Trafficking
Law, Act 694. She was speaking at a community
puppetry sensitisation programme
on the Human Trafficking Law organised by the
Department of Children at Sekondi. Workshop On Child Trafficking Ends In Bawku www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=77427 [accessed 6 February 2011] The Bawku
Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Abdul-Rahman Gumah, has called for effective networking between the
security services and community opinion leaders to address the high incidence
of child trafficking in the Municipality and to step up surveillance on child
smugglers in the area. Let's Take a Collective Stance Against Child Trafficking From the Editor, Public Agenda ( [accessed 6 February 2011] According to the report, the
country was a source and a destination country for trafficked persons in
2004. WAJU reported that there were
190 cases of abduction and 19 cases of child stealing during the year. Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2009&country=7614 [accessed 6 February 2011] Library of Congress Call Number DT510 .G44 1995 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ghtoc.html [accessed 6 February 2011] GHANA-GAMBIA: Sex slave children trafficked by Ghanaian
fishermen Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=48765 [accessed 6 February 2011] According to the Gambian National
Intelligence Agency, the girls were smuggled into the country without
official papers to work as sex slaves for their Ghanaian masters. Ceesay confirmed
this. She said the girls were forced to “satisfy the sexual desires of older
men” and some were working full-time as prostitutes within the 5,000-strong
Ghanaian community. The Gambian authorities said that
the girls were also made to work long hours smoking fish and selling gari, a popular Ghanaian staple made from cassava. Some
boys smuggled into the Vocational Center for Freed Slave Girls in GlobalGiving Foundation www.globalgiving.org/projects/support-freed-slave-girls/ [accessed 6 February 2011] SUMMARY - Girls, freed from slavery, are
gaining valuable skills by attending a vocational center that was built with
help from GlobalGiving donors. Worst Forms of Child Labor / Modern Child Slavery Youth Advocate Program International YAPI, 7/26/2004 [accessed 6 February 2011] WHERE SLAVERY EXISTS TODAY - Industries in which child
slaves are used exist in all parts of the world. Children are enslaved in the
cotton fields of India, fishing
industry in Ghana, charcoal production in Brazil, gold mines in Peru,
brick producing kilns of Nepal, stone quarries in south Asia, as camel
jockeys in the United Arab Emirates, and as domestic servants and sex slaves
all over the world, including in the United States and other developed
countries. Because they are more easily manipulated, children are typically
given work in the most unhealthy and dangerous conditions. The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/ghana.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Children from Children engaged in hazardous labour www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=58004 [accessed 6 February 2011] A National Child Labour Survey by
the Ghana Statistical Service indicated that out of the over six million
children in Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=41408 [accessed 6 February 2011] "We met on a one-to-one basis
with 96 of the 136 fishermen who are known to employ underaged
labour in Brong Ahafo region," Ernest Taylor of IOM Ghana said.
"All of them promised to free the children. We told them that in
exchange they would receive training and modern fishing equipment, so they
won't have to employ children in future." "We will continue to register all
cases of trafficked children in the region. We will then start tracing
families with the help of the traditional leaders and the fishermen. Once the
families have been identified, we will contact them and provide enough help
to ensure that the return of the children is sustainable," U.S. Labor Secretary Visits with Victims of Child
Trafficking in Bureau of International Information Programs, www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2003/December/20031222155747yeroc1.960391e-02.html [accessed 6 February 2011] During Secretary Chao's visit, she met with nearly 50 children who have
been victims of trafficking. In addition to children from Kokrobite,
Secretary Chao also visited with students from five
schools in nearby villages. The children were trafficked hours away from
their home to the The Tragedy of Female Slavery in Brian Carnell, EquityFeminism,
February 12, 2001 www.equityfeminism.com/articles/2001/the-tragedy-of-female-slavery-in-ghana/ [accessed 6 February 2011] According to the American
Anti-Slavery Group, until the 18th century the offering typically took the
form of livestock or other gifts, but that began to change and priests began
demanding, and receiving, virgin girls as atonement for the sins of their
relatives. Girls, often under the age
of 10, are brought to the priest, ritually stripped of all their possessions,
including clothes, and told they have to do anything the priest tells them.
Most girls are raped repeatedly. Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, Camera Works: Speak Truth to Power,
The www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/onassignment/truth/st/09.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] Juliana Dogbadzi, enslaved in a
shrine in her native All material used herein
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Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
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Human Trafficking in [Ghana Street Children in [Ghana] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Ghana] [other countries]